Kang Guijie sincerely praised, "Xiaofu is a good kid. With proper training, he will definitely turn out great in the future."
Liu Yunong felt a sense of pride.
Having her apprentice recognized made her, as the mentor, feel honored.
After chatting a bit more, Kang Guijie suddenly asked, "Since you’ve already taken on an apprentice, why isn’t he by your side?"
Unlike other professions, culinary apprentices are typically with their mentors, learning and practicing as they go.
However, Fu Yu is currently working over at Qianlima.
As a result, the so-called mentor-apprentice relationship between Liu Yunong and him might just be in name only?
Liu Yunong smiled and explained, "Oh, he was originally a chef at Qianlima, later became my apprentice, and he comes here every day after work to learn cooking with me."
Kang Guijie was a bit surprised to hear this, "He comes over here every day after work?"
Liu Yunong nodded, "He’s very diligent and hardworking. He comes here every day, stays until closing, and leaves with everyone else."
For experienced chefs, they prefer having diligent and hard-working people under them, especially when taking on apprentices.
Kang Guijie had a good impression of Fu Yu already, and upon hearing this, he felt the young man was excellent.
In the conversation, he couldn’t help but praise him again.
While they talked, in the kitchen, the order-taker had already delivered the order.
The order-taker handed the order to Wang Yulong, specifically relaying a message, "Chef Wang, the boss said this table is for Kang Guijie, so be extra careful from the kitchen side."
Wang Yulong nodded, initially planning to personally oversee the cooking, but he was tied up with two orders from old customers and couldn’t spare the time.
He thought it over and decided that today’s dishes were not difficult, so he assigned the task to Liu Zhangpeng.
He has been mentoring Liu Zhangpeng for nearly twenty years.
Actually, Liu Zhangpeng’s culinary skills are already quite good, having mastered much of his mentor’s skills, and in aspects like knife skills and seasoning proportions, sometimes even surpassing him.
At this moment, Liu Zhangpeng just finished an order and felt mixed emotions upon hearing his mentor’s words.
Excited and a bit nervous.
After all, this table was for Kang Guijie.
Kang Guijie is one of the top figures in the province, and receiving praise from him would greatly benefit his future career.
On the other hand, if he messed this up, it would be quite embarrassing.
Liu Zhangpeng felt like he was going into battle, carefully managing the preparation himself, not leaving it to a helper.
Liu Yunong chatted with Kang Guijie for a while, but the restaurant was too busy, and Kang Guijie also brought two old friends with him on this visit.
Knowing that the three of them only had time to gather today, Liu Yunong tactfully found an excuse to leave, allowing the three friends to enjoy their time together.
After leaving the private room, Liu Yunong planned to go to the kitchen to check on the preparations.
Kang Guijie’s table couldn’t be neglected in any way.
She would later pick two good bottles of wine to send over.
If it were others, they would surely just follow the order strictly, serving whatever was ordered.
But for Kang Guijie, as long as the restaurant had plenty of ingredients, Liu Yunong was more than happy to open a backdoor, preparing a couple of special dishes not usually available in the restaurant.
She had carefully selected three dishes and a soup from today’s order list, passing them to the kitchen staff to send to the kitchen.
For three people dining, ordering six dishes and a soup would be just enough.
Later, they would prepare a famous main dish from Liu Family Cuisine, steamed meat cake.
The table was balanced with meat and vegetables, main dishes, appetizers, and dessert, perfectly arranged so no fault could be found.
As Liu Yunong stepped into the kitchen, she received a call from Fu Yu.
"Master, I’m stuck in traffic and might take another twenty minutes to get to the restaurant."
Liu Yunong acknowledged, initially planning to hang up but then decided to inform Fu Yu about Kang Guijie’s visit.
After all, from Kang Guijie’s words, it seemed he really appreciated Fu Yu, and once he arrived, Liu Yunong could bring Fu Yu to meet Kang Guijie.
Kang Guijie is usually so busy that even she had difficulty meeting him.
Now was a rare opportunity, perfect for connecting Fu Yu with him.
As they say, a mentor opens the door, but practice is up to the individual.
But in the way of being a mentor, it’s not only about passing on culinary skills but also about extending connections.
Since Liu Yunong had taken on Fu Yu as her apprentice and planned to have him help promote Liu Family Cuisine in the future, she naturally wouldn’t hesitate to support him in this regard.
Fu Yu was sitting in a taxi, anxious about the traffic jam, yet not too surprised to hear Liu Yunong’s words.
Back at Qianlima, when dining there, Kang Guijie had said he would visit Liu Yunong’s newly opened branch on this trip to Bei’an.
To think it had only been a couple of days and he had actually gone.
Fu Yu quickly reported, "Master, Chef Kang dined at Qianlima two days ago, and the dishes he ordered were prepared by me."
Liu Yunong thought: Perfect!
"Is that so? What dishes did he order then? I can tailor the cooking to his preferences."
Fu Yu recalled and earnestly recited the dish names, "At the time, he ordered a table of classic dishes that had been off the menu for years. It was coincidental that an old customer ordered them, and he saw them and decided to replicate the menu as it was."