Drunken Immortal restaurant - even if the immortals come to this restaurant, they would be hooked on the fine food here. This is Xianyang"s most famous restaurant, and Wen Shouzhen is the most famous chef in this restaurant.
There is saying that famous restaurant made chefs famous, but the reverse is also true - that famous chef lend their fame to the restaurant!
Wen Rou follow Fang Dashi, and quickly re-met the 3 other chefs in Drunken Immortal Restaurant.
The round and plump chef Yang immediately wiped his hands and with enthusiasm, greeted Wen Rou; His disciple is only 14-15 years old, and like his Shifu, is a round and plump man, and named Yuan Zi.
The tall and bulky man with a huge pot belly is chef Zheng. He is a quiet man, and is not good at making conversations; but his son and disciple Zheng Ergou was very enthusiastic. He immediately cut a piece of juicy radish and pa.s.sed it to Wen Rou for her to chew on to relieve her thirst.
The last chef did not turn around at all, and just continue to skilfully manage the dough of flour in his hands. All Wen Rou saw is the back of this chef.
"Sister Rou Er, this is chef Zhang." Fang Dashi informed her.
"Chef Zhang." Wen Rou crept close and called out.
"En" Chef Zhang then raised his head, glanced at Wen Rou, and grunted an "En" sound to acknowledge her, and continued on his work.
"Sister Rou Er, let"s go! I bring over there to take a look!" Fang Dashi saw the att.i.tude of chef Zhang, and was furious.
He pulled Wen Rou out and immediately whispered to Wen Rou, " Chef Zhang is also highly skilled and his cooking skills are top-notch. He is just slightly inferior to Shifu. But this man is very resentful person. A few years ago, he had a chef battle with Shifu and lost. All these while, he had been nursing a grudge against Shifu. He is an odd man out. In future, when you work in the kitchen, just stay away from him."
" Chef Wen, chef Wen!"
At this time, Zhu Zi suddenly barged into the kitchen, and immediately cried out, "This is bad! This is really bad!"
"Zhu Zi, what had happened?" Fang Dashi inquired.
Zhu Zi sighed, "This is bad, a lot of men from restaurant opposite our restaurant, "Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant" had swamped into our restaurant, and is looking for chef Wen. Even chef Gao was there! I think these men are up to no good.
Chef Zhang immediately barked, "I guess Wen Shouzhen had created trouble!"
The other two chefs just stood aside and did not say a single word.
"Oh? I go and take a look!" Fang Dashi looked around and discovered that the other chefs within the restaurant had no intention of stepping in. Therefore, he could only go out and find out what these men are up to.
Wen Rou also followed.
The 3 chefs was surprised, and finally followed after them.
In the dining area, other than the majority of the customers, there are many familiar faces from Heavenly Fragrance restaurant.
Heavenly Fragrance restaurant chef Gao had folded his arms, and just sat in the middle of this group of men.
Manager Lee was standing at a side, and trying to reason with him.
"Chef Gao, we are all in the same trade, and right now we are opened for business. Our Drunken Immortal Restaurant is very busy. Why not you come at a later time when both of us are not so busy? This will also be beneficial to Heavenly Fragrance business."
"What business? All our Heavenly Fragrance regular customers had been s.n.a.t.c.hed by your Drunken Immortal restaurant. Yesterday, young master Fan came to our restaurant, and after dining there, sneered at us and indicated that our cooking skills are inferior to your Drunken Immortal Restaurant. Today, we will not do any business, and just came here to see what type of enchanting potion did Drunken Immortal restaurant gives their customers to hoodwink them into coming here!" Chef Gao was very agitated, and he slammed his palm onto the table.
"Chef Gao, you have really come at a wrong time. My Shifu is really not in the restaurant today. If you want to pit your cooking skills against his, why not come back on another day?" Fang Dashi immediately stood up and said.
Chef Gao immediately sneered, "Are you telling me that the Drunken Immortal Restaurant only have one chef – Wen Shouzhen? That the rest of the chefs are all tortoises?"
As soon as they heard these words, chefs Yang and Zheng immediately bowed their heads, and even chef Zhang kept quiet.
Who did not know about chef Gao?
Xianyang’s two biggest restaurants, Drunken Immortal Restaurant and Heavenly Fragrance restaurant are more or less equal in fame and popularity.
Wen Shouzhen is the head chef of the Drunken Immortal restaurant, and chef Gao is the lead chef of the Heavenly Fragrance restaurant!
Although he is no longer young, he is a very experienced chef with decades of cooking experience under his belt.
Right now, head chef Wen is not in the restaurant. n.o.body else dared to accept his challenge.
These men are here to create trouble, and if they stepped up, in the event that they lost, it will affect the good name of Drunken Immortal Restaurant.
Yuan Zi and Ergou stood behind their Shifu, and were furious at this challenger as they gritted their teeth and clutched their fists.
"Wen Shouzhen is probably hiding inside and dared not to accept my challenge!" Seeing that no one dared to accept his challenge, chef Gao was very please and got more arrogant, "Looks like he is a tortoise that hide his head in the tortoise sh.e.l.l!"
The men from Heavenly Fragrance restaurant immediately broke into loud laughter.
"Who is the tortoise scolding?" Wen Rou shouted.
"The tortoise is scolding Wen Shouzhen!" Chef Gao answered without thinking.
"Right! It is you, the tortoise, that is scolding my dad!" Wen Rou clapped her hands in glee, and then pointed a chef Gao, "What an old tortoise!"
Chef Gao recovered his wits, and immediately angrily shout, "Woah, your Drunken Immortal Restaurant do not have any one else? Just send a young lady to speak for you?"
"So what if I am a young lady? I respect you as the lead chef of Heavenly Fragrance restaurant and call you chef Gao out of respect for you. Let"s not talk about my dad"s cooking skills! To tell the truth, even my cooking skills is much better than a villain like you!"
These words astounded all within the restaurant.
Everyone who was in the restaurant, regardless of whether they were customers, waiters, chefs, kitchen helpers or men from Heavenly Fragrance restaurant all gazed towards the same point.
This young lady with bright, big eyes, dressed in a grey-blue robe, that dared to stand up to chef Gao was actually Wen Shouzhen"s daughter!
"I will not engage in a war of words with a young lady like you. If you have the skills, back it up with your actions, and not your words! I, Gao Yunpeng, challenge your Drunken Immortal Restaurant to a chef battle today! Who dares to accept my challenge and take me on?" Chef Gao slammed his palm on the table and stood up.
Everyone was surprised by the declaration of chef challenge.
Everyone looked at one another, but no one dared to accept the challenge.
"Pai" the sound of a palm hitting a table rang out.
"I will accept your challenge and take you on!" Wen Rou straightened her back and slammed her hand on the table, and refused to back down.
The guests immediately broken in whispers and gossip among themselves.
Wen Rou took advantage of the chaos, and put her hand behind her back and gently ma.s.saged it. Just now, she had used too much strength to bang on the table and her palm hurts.
"Hahahaha! This Drunken Immortal Restaurant had no other chefs? They just send a lady to beg me to let them go. I, Gao Yunpeng, am not willing to be looked down by my peers. Even if I win, there is no glory in winning a kid. They would only say that I am bullying you! Hahaha!" Chef Gao laughed, and the men from Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant also laughed.
The men from Drunken Immortal restaurant were furious, and it looks like a fight is brewing!
"If you are so scared, you can run away and escape back to your restaurant!" Wen Rou shouted. Her words only infuriated chef Gao.
"You got guts! All right! I will grant you your wish! You represent Drunken Immortal Restaurant! If you lose, do not cry and bawl!" Chef Gao retorted.
"Lady Rou, do not be rash!" Manager Li"s face turned white, and immediately rushed forwards to advise her.
This is not a game. A young lady, who just come to learn cooking, dared to say such words, and wanted to represent Drunken Immortal Restaurant to accept a chef challenge? This is clearly a case of "an ignorant person having no fears!"
"Manager Lee, relax, I have everything in control!" Wen Rou looked at Manager Lee, and confidently a.s.sured him.
"This….." Manager Lee was quite confused. This look of confidence, this aura, it is exactly the same as Wen Shouzhen.
"Manager Lee, do not worry! There is also me!" At this time, Fang Dashi bravely stood up, and knock against his chest twice. He stood in front of Wen Rou, and shouted, "My Shifu is not in, but his disciple will accept the battle!"
"Brother Shi Tou." Wen Rou softly called out.
He was the same as ever. Whenever there is trouble, Shi Tou will always stand up for the family.
"Haha, great! I, Gao Yunpeng, will take on both of you at once! Both of you can join forces with each other. Today I if I win, I would defeat both Wen Shouzhen"s daughter and his disciple! This is not embarra.s.sing! Hahahaha!" Chef Gao immediately laughed out loud.
"Wait a moment!" Wen Rou immediately cried out.
"Oh? Young lady, if you are scared, it is still not too late for regrets! Hahaha!" Chef Gao continue to snicker at Wen Rou.
"The chef battle had no stakes, and is very boring! I had heard that chef Gao"s ancestor was an imperial chef, and had a cook book containing the recipe of all food he cooked in the imperial kitchen. Why don"t we use this as a stake? If I win, that ancestor cook book will be mine!" Wen Rou stepped up, and her words send a chill into chef Gao"s heart.
This young lady had the air of a great chef. If she is older, I may be worried and be more careful. But right now she is too young and too green to be a match for me. Chef Gao thought to himself.
"All right! I will agree with this bet! But I, Gao Yunpeng, also have a request. If you lost, the Xianyang best restaurant sign will belong to Heavenly Fragrance Restaurant. Your father, Wen Shouzhen, will also stop being a chef, and go back to wash vegetables." Chef Gao rise up, and try to overwhelm Wen Rou with his aura.
"All right, this is an agreement!"
This pair of young and old, short and tall, skinny and tall opponents just stood there and glared at each other. The air around them was very tense, as if a spark is all it need to cause an explosion!
Manager Lee was very anxious. Looking at the fighting stance adopt by Wen Rou, even nine heads of cow could not pull her back from engaging in a chef battle with chef Gao.
He immediately called Zhu Zi to go to old man Qiao"s mansion and quickly summon chef Wen back!
"Chef Gao, you are the guest, you decide on the question?" Fang Dashi asked, and he looked like a valiant general that is out to take on a villain.
"Why don"t we do this, you and me, we both cook one dish, and ask the customers here to judge the dishes. This should be fair." Chef Gao proposed.
"Chef Gao, if each of us cook a different dish, it would be hard for the customers to have a fair evaluation. After all, it is hard to compare apples to oranges. Why don"t we decide on one dish, and we both make the dish and let the customers choose the dish they prefer?" Wen Rou immediately made a counter-proposal.
"All right! Then you decide what dish should we cook?" Chef Gao asked.
"Waiter! One order of Red Braise Pork Belly, and make it quick! I am so hungry that I am about to collapse!"
Just when the two of them were undecided, a big burly man rushed into the restaurant and shouted out. On his shoulders was a large pick, and he should be working in the mines.
"Then let’s cook red braised pork belly!" Wen Rou and Chef Gao immediately said at the same time. And this matter is settled.
"Please show us the way to the kitchen!" Chef Gao requested.
Wen Rou and Fang Dashi walked in front, and chef Gao followed behind. Looks like something interesting is going to occur!
All the guests in the restaurant also stretched their neck and begin to gossip.
They thought that Wen Rou is likely to lose for sure.
Manager Lee seem to be on pins and needles as he keep slapping the back of his right hand against the palm of his left hand and asked, "Why is chef Wen not back yet?"
"Today I will let you know what is "Men Tan" style of red braised pork belly!" Chef Gao shouted and he pulled up his sleeves. From a bag, he pulled out a jar of wine, and then he pulled out several ingredients from his aides. There were Osmanthus, hawthorn, mushrooms, dried tangerine peel, almonds, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots etc. Looks like he was well prepared!
Oh? Wen Rou just looked at the ingredients, and shook her head and smiled, "Brother Shi Tou, do you still remember Father"s pot of red braised pork belly?"
"En, although I have not single-handedly cook it, I have seen Shifu cooked it many times!" Fang Dashi nodded his head.
"Great! Brother Shi Tou, let us complete this dish of red braised pork belly, and defeat that old tortoise!" Wen Rou smiled.
Chef Gao was seething with anger when he heard Wen Rou refer to him as "an old tortoise".
Actually, when she was reborn, other than her tongue and nose become more sensitive, she still had a trump card up her sleeves - her knowledge of cooking that she had acc.u.mulated from her previous life!
Although she had tried creating the brine, she had not really cooked before in this life, and it did dampen her confidence in her cooking skills somewhat.
Other than the knowledge she had, Wen Rou could not be 100% confident that she could create this dish of red braised pork belly.
But, with Brother Shi Tou beside her, even if her cooking skills were lost, she could direct Shi Tou to cook accordingly to her knowledge. The two of them together will be able to complete Father"s super tasty red braised pork belly!
Chef Gao may have great cooking skills, and could defeat many top cla.s.s chef, but he does not know the secret of this red braised pork belly!
This chef battle, it is as good as ours!