The Cheat Emperor of the Culinary World

Chapter 102: Chapter 101: Authentic Restaurant Review

Fu Yu had just walked over when Jiang Mo leaned over the serving counter.

”Chef Fu, the customers at this table are internet celebrities who make restaurant review videos! I’ve watched their recordings. These people go around eating and then rate the restaurants. The thing is, they always find faults!” Jiang Mo warned.

”They operate under the guise of authentic restaurant reviews. That chain barbecue joint hit the trending list because of their review video.”

Fu Yu was taken aback!

Qianlima often received review influencers of all sorts.

Some were known for their massive appetites, some for appreciating gourmet food, and some who ordered without eating, only to promote endorsed products.

However, their objectives were quite uniform!

They used the pretext of exploring eateries to gather their own followers.

Just a while back, Fu Yu heard from Dai Li that some influencers reached out, wanting to discuss collaboration.

Their team would promote the restaurant for free, but the restaurant needed to cover some costs and provide free meals.

However, the front-of-house manager rejected this offer.

Qianlima Restaurant already had stable patronage and was somewhat famous in the province.

They didn’t need to spend more on promotions.

Not to mention, without paying, several influencers would still voluntarily make review videos, so there was no need to spend extra money.

But this ”authentic review”...

How do they conduct it?

Fu Yu looked at Jiang Mo, who seemed as if facing a formidable enemy, and humbly asked, ”What kind of flaws do they usually pick on?”

Jiang Mo, who often enjoyed browsing these short videos and review content, replied, ”There are many, like poor taste, or not fresh ingredients. However, this lot always finds faults, like picking bones from an egg. If there’s nothing wrong with the dishes, they might say something about food incompatibility harming health, anything to create buzz!”

Isn’t this coming here just to stir up trouble?

Just as they were talking, Sun Qingning joined them, catching Jiang Mo’s words, and exclaimed, ”You’re not talking about those influencers from the barbecue review, are you?”

Jiang Mo nodded, ”It’s them.”

Sun Qingning quickly turned to Fu Yu and said, ”We can’t take this order. I’ve also seen their videos. It’s said that if the restaurant doesn’t make arrangements beforehand, they would talk nonsense! Even if there’s nothing wrong, they’ll find something!”

”Moreover, it seems they came to our restaurant before to talk about collaboration, but the manager rejected them.”

Fu Yu didn’t expect it to be the same group from before.

So, they came back this time clearly to make trouble!

But...

This restaurant is open for business, and when customers make orders, how can we refuse?

Thinking of this, Fu Yu instructed, ”Prepare the ingredients, I’ll cook right away.”

Sun Qingning widened his eyes, ”No, didn’t you get it? They’re here to pick faults. If you cook...”

Fu Yu looked at Sun Qingning and seriously said, ”We’re chefs. When customers make orders, unless the boss says otherwise, we should cook according to their requests.”

Sun Qingning stared at Fu Yu in disbelief for a while, reluctantly snorting.

He thought: Just because he got a permanent position, he’s acting all high and mighty! Such a show-off!

Fu Yu didn’t bother explaining further.

This is a service industry, and the customer is king.

The king now orders food, and they just have to cook.

As for what happens afterward, they could only adapt to the changes as they come.

Moreover, Fu Yu had confidence in his culinary skills.

He didn’t believe that dishes he meticulously prepared could be faulted!

Even if there were bones to pick from an egg, they’d have to find them, right?

Besides, he had a uniquely exquisite badge in hand...

With fresh prawns ready, Fu Yu blanched some spinach.

Watching the leaves swirl in boiling water, Fu Yu inexplicably recalled Jiang Mo’s earlier remark.

[If there’s nothing wrong with the dish, then they’ll claim food incompatibility harming the body...]

He hadn’t really paid attention to food incompatibilities before now.

Now it suddenly came to mind, so Fu Yu took the opportunity to glance through the [Complete Guide to Food Incompatibility].

The opening line read: Each ingredient has its unique effects, but sometimes inappropriate combinations could turn beneficial effects into causes of illness, which is what we refer to as food incompatibility.

It made a lot of sense!

As he read further, Fu Yu was stunned.

The next sentence was clearly written: Overemphasizing food incompatibility can limit our dietary diversity. The notion of food incompatibility is one of the longest-standing myths in food history.

Fu Yu: ”!”

What...

This feeling of self-contradicting is too much?

He hadn’t really memorized complex food incompatibilities before, though he’d heard common ones like spinach with tofu or crabs with persimmons.

Driven by curiosity, he looked up spinach and tofu.

[Spinach and Tofu: Tofu contains calcium, and spinach has oxalic acid. Eating them together can form calcium oxalate, which may lead to kidney stones.

Recommendation: Pre-blanch spinach when eating it to reduce oxalic acid content and decrease calcium oxalate formation, thereby enhancing calcium absorption from tofu.]

Oh...

So this Complete Guide is actually an encyclopedia on how to circumvent food incompatibilities while cooking.

To say it’s useless, it seems quite useful.

But to say it’s useful, its utility isn’t that significant.

After all, who checks every dish for nutritional loss avoidance before cooking?

Generally, people just follow conventional recipes.

But he didn’t know before, and now that he had this skill, he could browse through it leisurely from time to time.

After all, more knowledge doesn’t weigh you down.

The spinach was blanched, rinsed in cold water.

Drained and cut into small segments.

Add wasabi, rice vinegar, a bit of salt, and sugar.

Since he wasn’t sure of the customers’ tastes, he placed the wasabi oil separately on a small plate for them to mix as they wished.

Mixed evenly, then plated it.

Qianlima’s design for this dish involves pressing the spinach into a cylinder, sprinkling it with toasted sesame seeds, and arranging blanched prawns around it.

The prawns used were fresh Argentine red shrimp, known for their rich, tender meat and exquisite taste.

Overcooking would hinder the best tasting experience.

The final plating was completed.

The private room where this table was situated was handled by Wang Yuxuan.

She came to the kitchen with a good-natured reminder, ”Hey, it seems my table has review influencers. I noticed their setup equipment when I passed by.”

Sun Qingning handed over dishes with a snort, ”We already know, it’s the same group the manager previously rejected.”

Wang Yuxuan was surprised, ”Ah! It’s them? Didn’t the talks fall through? Why are they here again?”

Sun Qingning rolled his eyes, ”To pick faults!”

Wang Yuxuan asked worriedly, ”Then what should we do?”

Fu Yu saw this, hurriedly saying, ”Qingning, help me get the crab claws.”

Despite not agreeing with Fu Yu’s actions, Sun Qingning, as Fu Yu’s assistant, still had to comply with his words.

Wang Yuxuan looked at Fu Yu with a dish in hand.

Fu Yu nodded, ”It’s fine, just take it over.”

Wang Yuxuan could only carry the dish away.

Fu Yu refocused on preparing the lemon crab claws.

At the same time, Wang Yuxuan served the dish to the customers’ private room.

Their customers were live-streaming.

The host was a young pretty girl, looked slim, speaking merrily to the camera, quite charming to see.

Opposite her stood two men.

An elder one was busy shooting at the camera,

while the younger focused on his phone, occasionally jotting down quick cues on a whiteboard for the host.

”I guess this is the 13th old-brand restaurant we’re reviewing, right? Some of these joints have genuinely great culinary skills, producing delicious dishes, while others rely purely on brand effect. I wonder how this restaurant is, if it can stay true to its origins and offer authentic local cuisines...”

The female host smiled sweetly at the camera as she spoke.