Gourmet: The God-Level Culinary Tycoon

Back in the kitchen, An Chongwen frowned in thought. He had no intention of just sweeping this under the rug.

An ordinary customer might not be able to tell the difference between various black truffles. In that case, he could have a server convince the guest by claiming black truffles just have a particularly unique flavor.

But this customer had noticed something was wrong after a single bite and had immediately identified it as a New Zealand black truffle. He was clearly an expert.

The usual placating remarks would work fine on an average person, but they would only backfire with a knowledgeable customer.

After a moment’s thought, An Chongwen came up with a plan.

He glanced down at his chef’s uniform, making sure it was clean and presentable, then walked back to the kitchen entrance.

He walked briskly over to Taotao and said in a low voice,

"There must have been a problem with the supplier, but it’s true that our kitchen failed to do a proper inspection."

Taotao asked nervously,

"So, Executive Chef An, what should we do now?"

An Chongwen sighed.

"Take me to the customer’s room. I’ll go explain the situation to him myself."

Hearing that Executive Chef An was willing to go explain, Taotao breathed a sigh of relief.

She had thought she was going to have to be the scapegoat. But now that the executive chef was stepping up, the blame would definitely fall on the kitchen.

「Inside Yichun Pavilion.」

Li Xiao felt a little helpless as he looked at the skepticism in his stream’s chat.

"You guys have got it all wrong. I’m really not just trying to create drama for the stream."

"There really is a problem with the black truffle in their meat patty. The quality of New Zealand black truffle is too poor; it would never be used directly in a dish like this. I’m honestly not trying to stir up trouble."

In the stream chat:

"The streamer’s being a bit unreasonable now."

"Yeah, for real. The restaurant can use whatever truffle they want in their meat patty. The streamer is totally overstepping."

"It’s all black truffle, how different can it be?"

"I’ve never had black truffle. What does that stuff even taste like?"

"Now I finally get how the streamer afforded his GLC. Looks like he’s about to shake them down for a big payout."

...

Looking at these comments, Li Xiao also sensed something was off. He usually had some haters in his stream, but there seemed to be an unusual number of them today, and this was with Zhou Shishi constantly banning them.

It went without saying. Someone had most likely hired paid commenters to come stir up trouble in his stream.

He was just thinking about how to deal with the trolls.

Just then, there was a knock on the door of their room in Yichun Pavilion. The door was pushed open gently, and Taotao walked in cautiously.

"Hello, Mr. Li. I just went to the kitchen to give them your feedback. This is the executive chef, An Chongwen. He’s here specifically to explain the issue you pointed out."

Li Xiao tore his eyes away from his phone screen and looked toward the tall, sturdy man at the door.

At 1.9 meters tall, he wasn’t exactly a giant in the south, but he was still taller than most people. Coupled with his solid muscles, he gave off an intangible sense of pressure.

Li Xiao sucked in a breath of cold air. ’I’ve never seen an executive chef with a build like this. If it weren’t for the chef’s uniform, I would have mistaken him for a famous trainer from some fitness club.’

An Chongwen was a bit surprised when he saw the four people in the room. He’d expected that someone who could identify a problem with the black truffle in the meat patty after a single bite would be an older, seasoned gourmand.

He hadn’t expected four young people who looked like college students.

However, he didn’t let his guard down just because of their youth.

Guided by Taotao, he walked quickly to Li Xiao’s side, who was seated in the host’s chair.

He didn’t speak. Instead, he bowed a full 90 degrees to Li Xiao and began to speak, his voice full of apology.

"Thank you so much for pointing out the mistake we made during preparation!"

"There was indeed an error in the abalone and truffle meat patties made today."

"The truffles used in this dish were supposed to be Bena Plateau black truffles from France. However, for some unknown reason, a piece of grassland truffle from New Zealand was mixed in."

"Following this accident during procurement, our kitchen staff also failed to catch the problem in time."

"No matter how you look at it, this was a major mistake on the part of our Jiuhe Garden. There’s a huge difference between French and New Zealand black truffles, both in price and in flavor."

"On behalf of Jiuhe Garden, I offer you our deepest apologies for the inconvenience this has caused."

"I have already applied to have your meal comped."

"Additionally, as a token of our sincere apology, we have prepared fifty 1,000-yuan cash vouchers for you. These vouchers have no spending restrictions. We only hope you will give us another chance to provide you with more professional service."

"Of course, if you have any other requests, please let us know. We will do our best to accommodate you, as long as it’s within our power."

Li Xiao was also taken aback by this sudden, generous offer.

He also hadn’t expected the chef to be so accommodating.

Not only did he admit the mistake right away, but his attitude was also incredibly humble, and he offered compensation on top of it.

Their meal had cost around 10,000 yuan. The restaurant not only comped the meal but also compensated them with 50,000 yuan in cash vouchers. This was a "refund one, compensate five" deal, far exceeding the standard "refund one, compensate three."

This combo of moves was as smooth as flowing water. It gave Li Xiao both face and a tangible benefit, leaving him completely convinced and satisfied.

If nothing else, just this sincere attitude and the appropriate level of compensation would be enough to silence even the most ill-tempered customer.

After all, it’s hard to stay angry at someone who’s smiling at you.

Li Xiao wasn’t a petty person. He could accept a restaurant making a mistake.

Because people are bound to make mistakes. As long as the other party was willing to admit their fault and fix it, he was of course willing to give them that chance.

Li Xiao nodded in satisfaction and quickly helped the executive chef straighten up.

"Executive Chef An, you’re being far too courteous!"

"I’m very satisfied with how you’ve handled this."

"But from now on, you’ll need to be more careful about inspecting your ingredients."

"Getting black truffles from different regions might only result in a difference in taste, but if some bad ingredients get mixed in, it could lead to terrible consequences like food poisoning."

An Chongwen breathed an inward sigh of relief when he heard that the customer accepted his proposal.

The 50,000 yuan compensation might seem like a lot, but for a high-end private kitchen like this where the bill was over 1,000 yuan per person, it was a decision he, as the executive chef, could easily make.

"Of course. Please rest assured, sir. We will strengthen our ingredient management in the kitchen, and we will make absolutely sure that a similar incident does not happen again."

"I’ll have my colleague bring over the fifty 1,000-yuan cash vouchers shortly. If you have no other requests, then I must return to the kitchen to continue my work."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!