Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Chapter 483 - 395: Partnership Intentions and Designing Sandwich Flavors

"Orléans?"

Lin Chen was stunned; he hadn’t actually considered this issue before.

Having been abroad for so many years, he honestly had hardly seen any store selling Orléans-style grilled meat.

Even for grilled chicken wings, most stores go for American barbecue sauce, Buffalo sauce, or just sprinkle some black pepper for the natural flavor.

There’s also a marinade quite similar to Orléans flavor, popular in the southern United States, which tastes somewhat like the sauce for hand-held seafood but in the form of a mixed chili powder.

The seasoning powder used locally in Orléans also includes a similar chili powder, so the two have a distinctly similar taste.

But he’s never actually tasted what authentic Orléans-style grilled chicken tastes like.

This question also stumped Lucas, who hemmed and hawed for a long time without coming to a conclusion.

Finally, Lin Chen made the decision with a wave of his hand.

"No matter where the flavor truly originates, we’ll just make it. As long as we prepare the most popular domestic flavors, we don’t need to worry about anything else. They just want to see how we assemble the sandwich fillings."

"I’ve been abroad for quite some time, though not very long, and haven’t returned to the country for a long period. I’m not quite familiar with the domestic baking industry, so why don’t you two discuss and decide the sandwich menu? Is that okay with you?"

"Start discussing now, then report the ingredient list to me, so we can place the order as soon as possible."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Chen noticed Wang Aiguo and Daniel about to leave, so he quickly went over to exchange a few polite words and escorted them out of the restaurant.

"Daniel, tomorrow morning we’re making sandwiches popular in Great Xia, remember to come with an empty stomach."

"Hehe, alright, alright!"

Daniel had a great meal tonight, never been so full in his life, and got to try many strange new foods. He took photos, and there were even a few head chefs there—enough for him to brag to his sister for several days.

The only pity was that there wasn’t enough food to take some back for his sister to try.

Just after seeing them off, Helena came out of the restaurant with her daughter and husband.

"Making sandwiches tomorrow morning?"

Lin Chen casually mentioned it, not expecting Lisa to immediately perk up with interest, her pair of beautiful eyes shining brightly as she looked at her father.

The man twitched his lips a few times, pulled out his phone to check, and helplessly looked towards Lin Chen.

"May I ask what time breakfast is? Lisa needs to be at school by eight, and it takes over an hour to get there, so it might not be possible?"

"It’s definitely possible, our preparations start between five and six, and we’re usually open by half-past six. Since you’re in a hurry, you can come a little early to line up, and we’ll prepare yours first so you can eat in the car."

"Uh... alright then, thank you chef, see you tomorrow morning."

"Yay!! That’s awesome!!"

Lisa jumped up excitedly and even ran over to give Lin Chen a hug in her excitement.

"Goodnight chef, make sure to rest well!"

Lin Chen smiled, gently patting her little head: "Mm, goodnight."

"Old Lin!"

After seeing Lisa’s family off, Wang Ziqin suddenly appeared, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"The renovation team will be here tomorrow morning. Do you have any suggestions, including the number, placement, and shape of the stoves, and the dining area?"

President Wang pointed to an empty space in front of him, seemingly casually sketching out a place before looking to him.

"...My dear President Wang, you didn’t prepare any design plans, did you?"

"What design plans are needed? Does a rural big pot require a design?"

"But the dining area needs to be designed, doesn’t it?"

"Just put a dozen large round tables or small square tables, right?"

Lin Chen covered his face and waved his hand: "Why ask me then? Anyway, the tables and chairs can be easily removed. Just make sure the stoves don’t block traffic, and try to build as many as possible."

"Oh right, speaking of which, let’s add a few more grills? Then we can make whole roasted lamb, chicken, and duck, and the Cantonese-style roasted chicken and duck can also use it."

"!!! Great idea, why didn’t I think of that? Let’s settle it that way. Let me know if there’s anything else we need to add."

Once all unrelated personnel left, only the team members remained waiting in the restaurant.

When Lin Chen returned, Jonathan suddenly stood up.

"Lin, I need to talk to you."

"?"

Lin Chen looked at him in confusion, making a gesture for him to go ahead, already having a rough idea of what he wanted to say.

"I think the plan of having the two teams work separately on their respective parts is too time-consuming. Anyway, Chef Marchello has been here several times, and your skills are obvious to everyone."

"Why don’t we just collaborate? I also want to innovate; making the same dishes every week is really boring."

"Collaborate?"

Lin Chen thought he just wanted to slack off, but didn’t expect him to propose collaboration. It seemed he wasn’t all that lazy.

"Alright then, have you finalized next week’s menu? It’s about time, you should have placed the order by now, right?"

"I’ve roughly decided, mainly doing grilled meats with salad this week."

Grilled meats?

Lin Chen nodded, "That’s indeed a good idea, and it’s easy to prepare, plus it’s popular with the guests. Let’s keep it like this for now, and we can meet up to discuss the collaboration details more thoroughly when we get a chance."

"Sounds good!"

Jonathan had originally prepared a bunch of unnecessary wordings, but unexpectedly, Lin Chen didn’t ask anything and agreed so straightforwardly, which left him pleasantly surprised.

"If you need any assistance from us, just let us know anytime!"

Helena wasn’t on site now, only Lucinda was here.

There wasn’t initially anything for the waitstaff to do; they mainly needed to know the menu to facilitate setting up the restaurant for the next morning.

Now, hearing that the two teams were going to collaborate, she was even more excited than Jonathan. Rarely, a hint of a smile appeared on her otherwise icy cold face.

Every day watching the people next door enjoying lavish meals, with each meal completely different, it was definitely a lie to say she wasn’t tempted.

Yet time didn’t allow them to sneak out to get food, so they could only steal a few glances at the diners outside during busy moments, to see what exactly they were eating.

Before coming to Dieppe, she had no particular interest in Chinese food; every time she went to a Chinese restaurant, her friends would always order the same few dishes.

Like orange chicken, Kung Pao shrimp balls, those kinds of things.

She’d gotten sick of them long ago.

It wasn’t until she met Lin Chen that she realized what she’d been having wasn’t real Great Xia Cuisine, but food tailored specifically for Western diners.

The flavors and styles of Lin Chen’s Great Xia Cuisine were things she had never encountered before. Though there were many dishes she wasn’t used to, overall, they were quite acceptable.

If she got lucky and encountered grilled oysters, which were perfectly suited to Western palates, she’d really be in for a treat.

The thought that she could have Chef Lin’s food before starting work made her eager to begin work as soon as possible, hoping this week would pass quickly.

Not only that, she took out her phone to share this good news with Helena.

Sitting down on a chair with some difficulty, Lin Chen quickly picked up a cup and gulped down a bottle of ice water, finally feeling much more refreshed.

"Ahh!"

"So, have you made the list?"

Zhao Shun immediately handed over a piece of paper, which had several wavy lines of text with quite a few crossed-out words.

"I used to think sandwiches were just those made with toast, but Lucas said you could use anything, and burgers count as a type of sandwich too, so there’s no fixed form, making it possible to do a lot more flavors."

"Boss, see if it works."

Zhao Shun and Old Chen had just arrived here and were taken directly to the hotel; they hadn’t even toured the city of the Romantic Country, so naturally, they weren’t familiar with the local food culture.

It was quite normal.

Lin Chen glanced at the menu on the paper; they indeed were very Great Xia in flavor, with some even he hadn’t tried before.

Probably flavors that had become popular in the last couple of years.

"Alright, let’s go with this. Anyway, sandwiches can’t offer too many flavors, foreigners should be able to get used to it."

"Our meat buns are still quite popular, so don’t worry, just go with it. If something isn’t suitable, we’ll know for next time—the key is to try."

Zhao Shun blinked, seeming to have thought of something, grabbed a pen, and wrote a few more lines on the paper.

"Hey! This one’s great!"

Lucas peeked over, eyes lighting up, "That dish will definitely be a hit. Many fried chickens abroad are dry and tough, without much juice; only a few famous ones do it well."

"Only the fried chicken shops from Asia taste good, like that very popular Jollibee in the Philippines, always has lines, as does Korean fried chicken with foreigners."

Fried chicken?

Isn’t that a burger?

But Lucas was right. When he first went abroad, he thought KFCs worldwide tasted the same, excitedly went to buy some, and got a harsh lesson.

There were no egg tarts, ice creams, chicken nuggets, popcorn chicken, nor chicken wraps, just the original chicken bucket and fries, plus the mashed potatoes and buttered bread that Westerners loved.

The original chicken wasn’t the kind made domestically either, just randomly battered and fried, dry, and flavorless.

After that, he never stepped foot into a KFC again.

The McDonald’s next door tasted alright, not much different from home, just that the burgers were pathetically small, only palm-sized.

Even an adult male could eat three or four without feeling much.

"Order the materials in fixed quantities, and the dough needs to be prepared tonight, right? Since it’s still early."

Sandwiches and burgers could originally be made using ready-made bread, but here they were in a restaurant and couldn’t cut corners, handcrafted was the way to go.

Hence the dough for tonight needs to be made and put into the fermenter, so tomorrow it can directly go into the oven.

"No worries, the dough mixer can handle it—it’s not like making cakes. Go rest, boss, we’ll take care of the overtime!"