Meanwhile, Chef Li convened a meeting with the chef team in the kitchen. The kitchen was brightly lit and surrounded by a variety of fresh ingredients. “Guys, we have a new challenge. Large chain restaurant companies are coming, and we have to work harder on the dishes. Everyone should bring out their own ideas and work together to develop new dishes.”

Chef Xiao Wang stood up and said, “Master, I want to combine Korean kimbap with Singaporean bak kut teh and make a bak kut teh kimbap roll with some special sauce. What do you think?”

Master Li’s eyes lit up: “This idea is interesting, but you should be careful not to have too much soup in the Bak Kut Teh, otherwise it will affect the taste of the seaweed rice roll. Does anyone have any other ideas?”

Chef Xiao Li said: “I want to combine Korean barbecue with Singaporean laksa to make a laksa barbecue rice, blending the aroma of barbecue with the rich soup of laksa. Just thinking about it makes me very appetizing.”

Chef Xiao Liu also said: “I think we can combine Korean kimchi with Singaporean seafood to make a kimchi seafood baked rice, baked with cheese, which should be very popular.”

Master Li smiled and said, “Okay, everyone try it. Start with a small-scale production to see the taste effect, and then make adjustments. Remember, the two flavors must be perfectly blended, and there should be no abrupt feeling.”

Xiao Zhang was busy contacting various food suppliers. He sat at his desk with a stack of supplier contact information in front of him. He first called a long-term vegetable supplier: “Hello, Mr. Zhang! I’m Xiao Zhang from Wang’s All-System Restaurant. Our restaurant business has been developing well recently, but we are also facing some competition. Can you give us a better discount on the vegetable prices? We will definitely increase the purchase volume in the future. As you know, we have been cooperating for so long and it has always been a pleasure. I’m sorry to bother you with more help this time.”

Boss Zhang hesitated for a moment and said, “Xiao Zhang, the purchase price of vegetables has increased recently, and my profit margin is thin. I also heard that those large chain stores purchase more and offer good prices, so I am under a lot of pressure.”

Xiao Zhang said quickly: “Boss Zhang, although our purchase volume is not as large as theirs, our cooperation is stable and the payment is timely. Just consider this as a favor and we will support you in other ways. For example, we will help you promote your products so that more peers will know that your vegetables are of good quality.”

After a half-hour long bargaining, Boss Zhang finally agreed to give a certain discount on the price. Xiao Zhang hung up the phone, breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately contacted other suppliers to try to reduce procurement costs.

A few days later, Chen Yu received a draft of the promotional plan from the advertising company. He sat at his desk, carefully looking over the plan, frowning for a while, and then writing and drawing on a notebook. After reading it, he felt that some places needed to be modified. So, he contacted the person in charge of the advertising company again: “Mr. Liu, I have read the plan. The overall idea is not bad, but it is not clear enough in highlighting the local original characteristics. Can you add some local elements to the posters and videos, such as pictures of the street where our hotel is located, and screenshots of local customers’ positive reviews? It would be best to show how our hotel is integrated into local life, so that customers can feel more intimate.”

Mr. Liu said that he would modify the plan as soon as possible according to Chen Yu’s requirements.

After many attempts and adjustments, Master Li finally succeeded in developing two new dishes: Bak Kut Teh Seaweed Rice Roll and Laksa BBQ Meat Bibimbap. He invited Wang Jianye, Chen Yu and others to taste them.

The kitchen was filled with tempting aromas as Master Li served the carefully prepared new dishes to the table. Wang Jianye tasted a bite of the Bak Kut Teh Seaweed Rice Roll and nodded in praise: “Well, this tastes good. It has the convenience of seaweed rice rolls and the unique flavor of Bak Kut Teh. It’s very creative. This special sauce is the finishing touch, adding a sense of layering to the whole taste.”

Chen Yu also said: “These two new dishes will definitely attract a lot of customers. Chef Li, thank you for your hard work. The research and development process must have been difficult, and you have been busy in the kitchen until so late every day.”

Chef Li smiled and waved his hand: “It’s not hard, it’s all for the restaurant. And we all worked together to think of ways and try together, which is how we came up with these two new dishes.”

While everyone was busy with new dishes and promotional plans, Xiao Zhang also had good news. He successfully re-signed purchase contracts with several suppliers, reducing the cost of purchasing ingredients. He walked into the meeting room excitedly, waving the contracts in his hand: “Mr. Wang, Manager Chen, Master Li, look, these suppliers have agreed to reduce their prices, and our ingredient costs can be reduced a lot in the future.”

Wang Jianye took the contract, looked at it carefully, and smiled with satisfaction: “Xiao Zhang, well done! This relieves a lot of pressure for us to cope with the competition.”

The trial promotion of new dishes is in full swing. This is a critical period for all Wang’s restaurants to expand the market and enhance competitiveness. But who could have thought that new problems would follow.

Early in the morning, the phone on Chen Yu’s desk rang rapidly. He just put down the promotional materials he was sorting and reached out to answer the phone. Before he could speak, a man’s slightly dissatisfied voice came from the other end of the phone: “The portion of your new dishes is too small. I am a grown man, but it feels like I didn’t eat anything after finishing it. I have to order something else to make up for it.” Chen Yu quickly comforted him: “I am really sorry to give you a bad experience. Can you ask which dish you ordered? We will verify it immediately.” After hanging up the phone, Chen Yu immediately wrote down the customer’s feedback in detail on a note.

At the same time, Xiao Zhao, who is in charge of online operations, hurried into Chen Yu’s office, holding a tablet computer with screenshots of customers’ messages on the ordering platform. “Manager Chen, it’s bad. Many customers complained that our newly upgraded online ordering system is too complicated to operate, even though the personalized recommendation function is quite novel. It’s hard to find a dish.” Xiao Zhao said as he handed the tablet computer to Chen Yu.

Chen Yu looked at the messages on the screen complaining about the complicated operation, and his brows were furrowed tightly into the shape of the Chinese character “川”. He knew very well that if these seemingly minor problems were not solved in time, they would likely affect customers’ overall impression of the restaurant, and thus affect the promotion of new dishes and the reputation of the restaurant. He immediately picked up the internal phone and dialed Master Li’s number: “Master Li, is it convenient for you to come to my office now? There was a problem with the new dish during the trial promotion stage.” Then he contacted Xiao Ma, who was in charge of technical development: “Xiao Ma, come to me quickly, customers have complained that the online ordering system is too complicated to operate.”

Soon, Master Li and Xiao Ma arrived at Chen Yu’s office. Master Li was still holding a spatula in his hand, and was obviously busy in the kitchen when he was called over. Chen Yu told them in detail the problems reported by the customers.

After listening to this, Chef Li slapped his head and said, “Oh, I was so busy researching the taste and innovation of the dishes that I really didn’t consider the needs of different customers in terms of portion sizes. For example, men may eat more, so we have to make some adjustments. I think we can offer large and small portions to meet the needs of different customers.”

Chen Yu nodded and looked at Xiao Ma again: “Xiao Ma, what’s the matter with this online ordering system? Wasn’t it said to be easy to operate when it was developed?” Xiao Ma was a little nervous and pushed his glasses to explain: “Manager Chen, when we developed the personalized recommendation function, we really wanted to give customers a better experience. Maybe we didn’t consider the interface design and operation process thoroughly. I will go back and study with the technical team immediately to simplify the operation steps so that customers can find the dishes they want more conveniently.”

At this time, Xiao Zhao, the operations manager, also made a suggestion: “Why don’t we add a beginner’s guide tutorial to the ordering system? This way, new users can quickly understand how to operate it when they use it for the first time.”

Chen Yu thought this was a good suggestion and said, “Xiao Zhao, I’ll leave this task to you to follow up. Cooperate with Xiao Ma and his technical team to produce the novice guide tutorial as soon as possible.”

Chef Li returned to the kitchen and immediately called a meeting with the chef team. “Guys, customers have reported that the portions of our new dishes are a little small for men, so we have to make some adjustments. From today on, each new dish will have two sizes of ingredients, large and small. When you are adding side dishes, you must strictly follow the standards and ensure that the portions are sufficient.”

A chef asked, “Master, how do you determine the price of large and small portions?”

Master Li thought for a moment and said, “The price of a large portion will be slightly higher than that of a small portion, but the price-performance ratio must be appropriate for the customer. I will discuss the specific price with Manager Chen.”

Xiao Ma returned to the technical department and sat around the conference table with his team members to discuss the ordering system interface on the computer screen. “Look, customers’ main feedback is that the process of finding dishes and placing orders is too cumbersome. Let’s put the menu category navigation bar in a more prominent position, enlarge the order button, and merge the operation steps if possible.” Xiao Ma said while gesturing on the interface.

The team members nodded in agreement, then divided the work among themselves and began to optimize the system.

Chen Yu once again sorted out customer feedback and searched for reviews of the restaurant’s new dishes and ordering system on social media and food forums. He found that in addition to issues with the portion size and operation, customers also complained about the speed of serving the new dishes. Chen Yu decided to communicate with Chef Li again to see if he could improve the efficiency of serving dishes while ensuring the quality of the dishes.

Chen Yu came to the kitchen, where Master Li was directing the chefs to prepare the ingredients. “Master Li, I’ve discovered a new problem. Some customers said that the new dishes are a bit slow to serve. Can we optimize the serving process?”

Chef Li wiped his hands, thought for a moment and said, “I think we can prepare some pre-processed ingredients in advance, such as the bak kut teh soup for the seaweed rice rolls, which can be boiled in advance and placed in a thermos bucket; the grilled meat for the laksa grilled meat bibimbap can also be marinated in advance. This way, after the customer places an order, the food can be served faster.”

Chen Yu said, “Okay, let’s do it. Thank you, Master Li and everyone, for your hard work. We must solve these problems as soon as possible and not let the promotion of new dishes be hindered.”

After several days of hard work, the portion adjustment plan for the new dishes was finalized, the online ordering system was optimized, and the novice guide was successfully launched. The serving speed of the new dishes was also significantly improved, and customer satisfaction gradually recovered.

One day, Chen Yu received a call from a customer: “You guys are improving very quickly. New dishes have larger portions, the ordering system is much easier to use, and the food is served faster. This experience is much better, and I will come back again in the future.”

Chen Yu smiled and replied: “Thank you for your feedback and support. We will continue to work hard to bring you a better dining experience.”

……

During the trial operation phase after the launch of new dishes, the restaurant was bustling with people coming and going, and customers were full of praise for the novel taste of the new dishes. However, the problems that followed gave Chen Yu and Master Li a headache.

On Chen Yu’s desk, the phone rang one after another. He had just finished dealing with an order problem and quickly answered the next call. “Hello, this is Wang’s Quanxi Restaurant. How can I help you?” A customer’s slightly anxious voice came from the other end of the phone: “Why are your dishes so slow? I have been waiting for almost an hour. The new dishes are delicious, but the speed of serving is really unbearable.” Chen Yu quickly apologized: “I am really sorry to give you a bad dining experience. We will verify and deal with it immediately and will definitely deliver the dishes to your table as soon as possible.” After hanging up the phone, Chen Yu’s brows twisted into a knot. He knew that the speed of serving directly affects customer satisfaction and must solve this problem immediately.

Chen Yu walked quickly to the kitchen, which was steaming hot. The chefs were busy at their respective posts, and the sound of pots and pans colliding kept coming. Chen Yu saw Master Li busy at the stove. He walked up to him and said with concern, “Master Li, customers have recently reported that the new dishes taste good, but the serving speed is too slow. This is not good. We have to think of a solution quickly.”

Master Li stopped what he was doing, sighed helplessly and said, “Xiao Chen, the production process of new dishes is more complicated and takes a long time to prepare, so the serving speed is slow. Take this Bak Kut Teh Seaweed Rice Roll for example, it takes a lot of time to boil the soup of Bak Kut Teh, and there are also various ingredients to be processed and matched. There are many processes, and it is really difficult to speed up in a short time.”

After thinking for a moment, Chen Yu said, “Master Li, can we optimize the production process and do some preparation work in advance? For example, the soup for Bak Kut Teh can be boiled in advance, and the barbecue can also be partially marinated in advance. In this way, after the customer places an order, we can directly proceed to the final assembly and cooking, which will definitely save a lot of time.”

At this time, the chef Xiao Wang who was cutting vegetables nearby also interrupted and said, “Manager Chen, I think this method will work. For example, when we make laksa barbecue rice, if we marinate the barbecue and steam the rice in advance, after the customer places an order, we only need to fry the barbecue and serve it with laksa soup and rice, and the meal can be served quickly.” (End of this chapter)