Gourmet: From a Stall in Northern Europe

Chapter 584: 496 Self-Service and À La Carte Dual Modes, Guaranteed Profits

"Hey, that’s odd, why is there no menu today?"

Not far away, customers lined up in front of the restaurant’s notice board, as usual, were gazing over at the scene near the food cart, trying to satisfy their eager curiosity.

Some guests with full theoretical knowledge and a few regular customers, after looking for a few minutes, suddenly seemed to remember something and turned their eyes to the wall beside the door, but didn’t see the familiar blackboard.

"Maybe it hasn’t been hung up yet, it’s still early, not even six thirty."

"Indeed, according to comments under previous videos, the menu is usually hung around six thirty, then orders can be placed."

"Wasn’t it said that starting today, dining begins at seven?"

"You ask me, I ask whom, let’s wait, we’ll know in a bit."

As diners chatted, the queue grew longer and continued to stretch out at an exceedingly rapid pace.

Many local residents had been curious about the restaurant’s food for countless days, and once they heard it would be open to the public from today, knowing business would surely flourish, they couldn’t sleep a wink, and each of them got up early to line up.

"Oh, business is so good today~"

Lin Chen was rolling out a huge dough sheet when he suddenly heard familiar footsteps accompanied by a familiar voice in his ear, he quickly turned his head.

"Isn’t this President Wang? What wind blew you here?"

"Don’t be so pretentious with me!"

Wang Ziqin glared at him and bumped his arm with his shoulder: "I’m very busy, alright, with the Olympics opening soon, I’ve been dealing with business in Paris for the past few days."

"If I didn’t know you were officially opening today, I wouldn’t have rushed back. With such a big event, of course, I, as the boss, have to come to support!"

"What support, this is a restaurant, not a bar or casino, if you want to eat, just say so."

Lin Chen shrugged indifferently, pointing at the steaming basket beside him: "Pork buns, beef buns, chicken buns, cabbage buns, vegetable buns, and this soy-cake, iced red bean soup, what do you want?"

While speaking, he spread the dough, already rolled on the rolling pin, circle by circle into the skillet.

"Soy-cake?!"

Wang Ziqin hadn’t cared about the restaurant’s menu for several days, and due to too much information, he hadn’t even opened Lin Chen’s chat window, piling up a bunch of unread notifications.

His thought was simple, having gone abroad, why bother with the restaurant menu, only to upset himself?

Unexpectedly, he had just rushed back from Paris and stumbled upon such goodies as soy-cake and red bean soup.

Don’t be fooled by their seemingly plain appearance, a pancake and a bean soup, not high in cost, but only Great Xia People understand their valuable essence.

"Where’s my wife?"

Lin Chen glanced behind Wang Ziqin.

"She’s gone to put on makeup in the room, you know women, it’s a hassle in crowds."

"Should I fry it now or later?"

"How long will it take?"

"About ten minutes."

"Uh, then fry it later, in such situations she needs at least half an hour."

"Alright."

Lin Chen wasn’t sure if Wang Ziqin would return today, but he had a vague premonition, and out of caution, he rolled a pancake in advance.

If it turned out unnecessary, he’d just fry it later for the guests.

Luckily, his premonition was spot on; he had just finished rolling the dough when Wang Ziqin arrived.

"I remember domestically these are sold by weight, right? How many grams in a small portion, a hundred grams? Back then I ate them at five yuan a portion."

"I can’t recall," Lin Chen shook his head.

"What’s our pricing? I think selling at five euros is fine, foreigners have no concept, they’re naive with money."

"?"

Lin Chen sighed helplessly, "Oh dear President Wang, you really don’t check messages."

"Starting today, we’re switching to a hybrid model, buffet + retail."

"Normally, a bun at two euros is no issue, but to enhance the value of the buffet ticket, we set the price higher, for now, three euros. As for the soy-cake, since it lacks meat, five euros for a small portion, anything higher wouldn’t be appropriate."

"For the buffet, it’s even simpler. Including Western dishes, it’s all-you-can-eat, single ticket price 29.9 euros, roughly market price."

"Including drinks and desserts, there are roughly thirty to forty dishes available, which is definitely the best choice for guests with big appetites or those wanting to try a bit of everything."

Don’t be misled by the seemingly cheap and cost-effective buffet ticket price; regular buffet diners know quite well that breaking even is impossible, the boss never loses.

Not considering the nearly free-cost drinks, various salads have costs so low they’re beyond imagination. Meat, on the other hand, is even more extreme, wholesale and retail costs can typically differ by fifty percent to more than double.

Additionally, since the hotel also has its own farm to supply ingredients, the costs are further reduced, and the main expense turns out to be employee wages.

Take these buns being made now, for example. Calculating the cost of flour and vegetables per piece is negligible, at most just ten cents, and selling a vegetarian bun for two Euros brings in a twentyfold profit.

The cost of meat buns is also only about two to three cents, which also starts at ten to fifteen times the profit margin.

Each bun is about the size of an adult woman’s fist, and a person with a normal appetite would be full after eating two or three, plus a cup of red bean soup. If they have a good appetite, they might add a portion of soy sauce pancake, which is sure to be filling.

The cost here is roughly around one Euro.

But if it’s a buffet, such large and satisfying food turns into a bombshell; whoever eats it is unlucky.

Yet, this restaurant is now famous for Great Xia food, and everyone comes for these items. Surely they have to try them, right?

Once they take a bite, they can never control themselves and will eat at least two buns, leaving them half to seventy percent full, which leaves little appetite for other foods.

So while the ticket price seems very low, in reality, there are probably very few customers who can eat five Euros’ worth of food; the average consumption level should be around three Euros, reaching a profit of ten times, and it still earns a reputation for good value, making it a win-win situation.

If there are more customers ordering à la carte, then the profit margin can reach fifteen to twenty times, guaranteeing sure profits.

Besides, even if the restaurant doesn’t make money, the hotel itself is raking in a fortune just from the tourists’ accommodation fees, so covering the restaurant’s expenses is no difficulty at all.

Raising prices during the peak tourist season is no joke.

Lin Chen always understood the positioning of this restaurant, so he focused on marketing, aiming to attract people. Money wasn’t the important thing, especially since employee wages didn’t come out of his salary.

"Of course, I looked at it!"

Wang Ziqin gave a matter-of-fact look at him, "Looking is one thing, but I still have to hear the explanation from you, the person in charge, right?"

"Makes sense, makes sense. Do you think there’s anything that needs improvement?"

Lin Chen didn’t expose him, adjusting the heat to the lowest setting. After all, the pancakes were already soaking in oil, and without heating, they could get soaked to the point of ruining the texture.

"Not at the moment, let’s observe the situation first, make sure to collect customers’ feedback."

After saying this, Wang Ziqin walked past him and headed straight towards the group of beautiful waitresses.

As the owner, this was the first time he met these new employees, so he had to make an appearance, didn’t he?

"...Oh my, Brother Wang, he really is bold."

From the bottom of his heart, Lin Chen broke out in a cold sweat for him, shook his head, pretended not to see, and continued to knead a piece of oil-infused dough in preparation for several batches.

Indeed, the man’s appearance instantly caused a stir among the female staff, with pairs of surprised and curious eyes lingering on him, clearly not expecting this young man to be the behind-the-scenes owner of the Radison Hotel.

Originally holding paper boxes for meals, they now stood obediently in place, unsure of what this mysterious boss intended to do.

"Don’t worry, don’t be nervous," Wang Ziqin raised his hands in a calming gesture, forcing a smile on his face, "I’m just here to make myself known, hoping next time I come to dine, you won’t mistake me for an ordinary customer and kick me out haha."

"It’s almost mealtime, right? Everyone, don’t just stand there, eat and drink as you should. Work is important, don’t mind me, I’m just here for a free meal~"

He was wearing a regular T-shirt with a beach-styled shirt over it, and a pair of beach shorts with flip-flops. Anyone who didn’t know might actually mistake him for a tourist.

After greeting, he adjusted his sunglasses back down to the top of his head, maintaining a faint smile on his lips.

All the women breathed a sigh of relief, feeling lucky that the big boss was so kind and friendly. They hurriedly grabbed their paper boxes, avoiding him and running off to Lin Chen.

However, two Great Xia girls reacted more quickly. Instead of following the crowd, they went to get a lunch box to hand to Wang Ziqin.

"President Wang, you’re here for the buns too, right? Here you go. Do you need utensils? Gloves or chopsticks?"

"Oh?"

Hearing the familiar language, Wang Ziqin shifted his gaze from the departing women to the two in front of him.

"Compatriots? Are you university students?"

"Yes, just taking a summer job to earn some pocket money while on summer break."

"Good, good. It’s rare to see young women willing to come out to work these days; most are raised as pampered princesses. I hope you can stick it out, work hard, and not disgrace us Great Xia People. If you have any problems, talk to Old Lin. After all, we’re compatriots, we should help each other when away from home."

Receiving the lunch box from the two women, he hadn’t yet calmed down from the excitement of meeting beautiful compatriots and continued speaking.

"How long have you been here? Have you been to the farm or fisheries to experience it? Do you know how to dive? The scenery underneath the sea here is fantastic; you should try it on your day off. Employees get half off!"

The two women shook their heads, "Not yet, we came straight to work when we arrived; it’s been about four or five days, hasn’t it?"

"Once this week is over, maybe we can try it on our day off next Monday, but we don’t know how to dive. And since customers are many lately, we’re not sure if we can make a booking...uh."

Before one of them finished speaking, she was nudged in the back by her companion. Looking up, her expression instantly turned outstandingly vivid, and she hurriedly lowered her head.

"No problem, I’ll let the dock know for you. There’s a diving instructor there for a quick learning experience."

Wang Ziqin enthusiastically talked to the two girls about how fun diving is here, completely oblivious to their expressions growing increasingly peculiar, and their eyes showing signs of avoidance, mistaking it for shyness towards him.

This sense of command and authority greatly satisfied his masculine ego, and his smile grew even brighter.