Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe-Chapter 108 - 103: Seafood Market, Oyster Paradise (Part 2)

Just as Dais asked the question, footsteps came from the stairs, and a middle-aged man with long, wavy blond hair laughed heartily, waving to the three people from about ten meters away.

"Hey, as expected of people favored by Chef Marchello, just like I thought, I can find you in the restaurant."

The man was well-built, clearly someone who works out, and behind him were two shapely foreign women in high heels.

"Pleasure to meet you all, please allow me to introduce myself."

The man removed his hat, waved it in the air a few times, and placed it on his chest, bowing slightly.

"Connor Jonathan, I've been working at Paris God's Kiss for eight years now, just an old guy with no great prospects, don't consider me a strong competitor, haha."

"And let me introduce my two assistants, this is Helena, and this is Lucinda..."

Lin Chen glanced briefly at the three of them, feeling an inexplicable odd sensation.

This guy didn't seem like he came for work; it felt more like he brought two beauties he met at a bar here for a tourist visit.

Thinking about it, it was understandable. It's not working hours now. No need to dress plainly; being sexy and stylish in a tourist seaside city is reasonable.

There's a beach nearby, and even if someone walked wearing a bikini on the road, it wouldn't be strange.

It's probably because I've worked too long and can't adjust to this kind of everyday life.

After brief introductions, Jonathan took a crumpled piece of white paper out of his pocket.

"Chef Marchello gave me this before our departure, saying to look at it together after meeting you, but I was too curious and peeked in advance, hehe."

"Actually, nothing special, it's just a schedule. The rest we need to plan ourselves."

"There's no store manager here, no head chef or manager, just the six of us."

"A restaurant this big obviously needs more than two chefs, so we can each hire two assistants." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Of course, theoretically we don't have to hire anyone, as long as meals are on time, the money saved becomes our bonus."

Lin Chen took the itinerary, examined it carefully with Dais and Elsa, and took photos to save it.

"Monday to Saturday, two groups design a breakfast and lunch buffet menu, specifics can be inquired about with hotel staff and nearby tourists."

"Sunday, provide the menu to the hotel and procure ingredients; the hotel will tally the list of customers needing orders."

"Next Monday to Saturday, both groups offer their menu simultaneously, mix placing, and count customer evaluations based on dish sales and feedback."

"Sunday, summarize and refine the recipes, repeat the process, over the course of a month."

After reading the itinerary, Lin Chen felt a little relieved.

I thought there'd be some competition, but it seems there isn't; the main goal is to provide delicious food to guests.

As for why we're grouped, I guess it might be for some sort of secret observation.

This is just the schedule for the first month; whether it'll change later is unknown.

"See, I told you nothing special, we're not competitors, we're partners."

Jonathan smiled and held out his hand: "Then we'll return to Paris store, you guys to Amiens store; you become your executive sous chef, I become mine, how nice~"

"Let's have a pleasant cooperation."

Lin Chen didn't want to overthink it, so he readily shook hands with him.

Ultimately, it's about the quality of the dishes and the service. As long as we do these well and control costs, there's no need to worry about anything else.

After exchanging contact information, Jonathan waved and turned to leave.

"That's it for now; we're going to enjoy a long-awaited holiday. See you in a few days~"

"?"

Dais and Elsa looked confusedly at the three departing figures, "Lin, they're... not going to study the menu?"

"Don't worry about them, let's just do our job."

It seems like there's about six days, no, five and a half days to buffer, but having just gone through menu development, Lin Chen knew well how challenging it is to create a menu from scratch that aligns with diners' tastes.

Especially in such a tourist city, it's completely uncertain which tourists you might encounter, making it more challenging to grasp their preferences.

Besides the restaurant, the food truck's menu should also be prioritized, leaving no time for slacking.

Wait, the food truck?!

His eyes lit up.

Right, instead of guessing here, it's more practical to face the tourists directly.

"Alright, everyone's tired from traveling today, so I won't make any work arrangements. You two can relax as you like, go shopping, do whatever you want. The only task I assign is to look at nearby restaurant menus, take photos if you can, and document them as much as possible."

"That's it?"

Dais, being responsible, reminded with some concern, "I come to Dieppe often; the cuisine here is slightly different from Amiens, mainly seafood."

"Alright, we'll try to visit several famous restaurants and take pictures of actual dishes for better understanding."

Truth be told, Dais and Elsa couldn't really help with menu development; ultimately, he'd have to rely on himself.

Making up an excuse to send them off, he called Lucas and drove a pickup to the local seafood market.

That kid somehow got a cat backpack, semi-transparent, with several holes for the cat to stretch its paws out, seemingly prepared to take Lu Xiaohei everywhere.

"I'm not familiar with Dieppe, just know people eat seafood often here. You should consider this aspect, can't go wrong."

"Lu Xiaohei, see if anything interests you, daddy will buy it for you!"

"....."

Seeing him swinging the cat backpack around like an idiot, Lin Chen sneered disdainfully and started picking out seafood by himself.

Earlier, during free time, he already searched online, and the cuisine here features various seafood cooking methods in Western cuisine.

Things like creamy shellfish soup, tomato stewed clams, seafood rice, fried seafood, garlic butter baked lobster, and so on.

Most commonly, it's wine-poached seafood and raw oysters, the type that's eaten raw.

Romantic Country is famous for oysters, the seawater quality here is excellent; the produced oysters are rich and sweet without any fishy scent, like eating jelly, very popular whether raw or cooked.

He'd already decided what dishes to sell today on the way here.

Oysters, of course, must be grilled with garlic for the full experience.

Having stayed in Amiens for a few years, he'd eaten plenty of oysters, and the restaurant frequently had them in stock, so he was familiar with the prices and species flavors.

In his taste, the best was certainly Gillardeau, no other rivals, with a pure sweet and soft texture and almost no mineral taste.

Oysters are graded by size, a dozen large ones sell for 30-60, smaller ones for 10-20, depending on the actual size.

The stall also offers shell-opening services, convenient for some customers to eat them immediately, though they charge a processing fee, not cheap.

The seafood market is right by the sea, selling fresh catches daily with no middlemen or shipping costs, prices are quite low; many restaurants purchase here.

"Boss, let me taste a premium, no. 1, and no. 2 Gillardeau, if the quality is good, I'll buy in bulk."

Hearing of a big order, the boss happily took the money and pointed to the oysters on crushed ice.

"The biggest ones here are premium, next to no. 1, and no. 2 further along, pick yourself."

Speaking, he also handed over an oyster knife.

Anyone claiming to assess oyster quality for purchase at the stall must be skilled at opening oysters.

Those who can't open oysters, or aren't adept, are mostly bluffing.

Lin Chen naturally didn't know the boss was testing him; he casually picked a palm-sized oyster, picked up the oyster knife, aimed at the indent in the back, and pressed forcefully, twisting smartly left and right.

"Click"