"Please wait a moment!"
After seeing [?], Fu Yu immediately called out to the middle-aged woman.
The next second, he decisively chose to inspect.
[Ding! NPC customer task: Taste a butter baked lobster comparable to Michelin. Task reward: A random prize]
Random prize!!!
Fu Yu was absolutely ecstatic!
A random prize is no less than the grand prize for him!
Anything that comes out randomly is excellent!
Fu Yu's gaze shifted down to the middle-aged woman.
Their eyes met.
At this moment, Fu Yu made up his mind that he absolutely must keep this customer!
The middle-aged woman looked at Fu Yu in astonishment and was immediately startled by the young and handsome chef's affectionate eyes.
This young man looked at her as if filled with feelings?!
The middle-aged woman immediately became cautious.
As a wealthy lady, she was too aware of what such affection from a young handsome guy meant.
Fu Yu took a step forward.
The middle-aged woman instinctively stepped back.
"Please don't rush to leave, I have something to say to you."
Looking at the earnest young handsome chef, the middle-aged woman, with guilt and moral restraint, struggled and waved her hand: "Forget it, there's no need."
"No, you must listen to what I have to say."
Looking at the handsome face of the young chef, the middle-aged woman's words of refusal were swallowed back.
Fu Yu earnestly introduced: "You might not know, but the butter baked lobster at the music restaurant was taught to them by our head chef."
Middle-aged woman: "..."
"And the chefs in their kitchen were personally trained by our head chef!"
Saying this, Fu Yu promised the middle-aged woman: "If you stay and dine, I can assure you that you'll taste the most authentic and delicious butter baked lobster, definitely not inferior to Michelin."
Middle-aged woman: "???"
Fu Yu glanced at the family of three who had already walked to the door and persuasively said: "And for a lady of taste like you, would you really follow others' preferences? I believe once you've tasted our butter baked lobster, you'll surely find it to be the best, and there'll be no need to try others."
Fu Yu's confident tone struck at the point the middle-aged woman cared about the most.
She was a person of taste, and she certainly wouldn't follow in others' footsteps and do things like others.
If she had eaten a dish she thought was good, then it was the best.
The middle-aged woman's vanity was firmly held by these words.
The middle-aged woman cleared her throat and asked: "Are you sure you can make a butter baked lobster comparable to Michelin's?"
Fu Yu solemnly nodded: "Talk is cheap, you'll know once you taste it."
Looking at the earnest young handsome chef in front of her, the middle-aged woman was somehow persuaded.
It's just a butter baked lobster, it's not like she hasn't eaten it before; she can judge for herself if it's good.
Moreover, considering that if she went to the music restaurant, wouldn't she just be following the man's preferences as the young chef said?
The most crucial point, she originally came to Qianlima to eat was the water-boiled fish, as no other place could replicate such an authentic Sichuan taste.
Quickly, the middle-aged woman made up her mind and turned to discuss with her other friends.
Seizing the opportunity, Fu Yu quickly reviewed his personal skills.
Oh no!
He didn't even have "baking" in his attributes, not even at the beginner level!!
The only skills he could show off were "stewing" and "plating," both at the intermediate level.
Maybe make a butter-stewed lobster instead?
Fu Yu frowned, how should he do it?
Suddenly, he thought of his incredibly ingenious intuition badge.
If he could peek into the middle-aged woman's mind and understand what her ideal butter baked lobster was like, and then guide her to resonate with it, perhaps the issue would be easily resolved.
With this in mind, Fu Yu no longer panicked and instead felt a bit eager to try.
The middle-aged woman who issued the task was clearly the most influential among the four-person group.
Once she decided, the others immediately agreed without objection.
The middle-aged woman's vanity was fully satisfied at this moment.
She turned to Fu Yu and said: "In that case, we'll stay and try your kitchen's skills, four lobsters first, then a water-boiled fish, oh, and four servings of your seafood porridge."
While they followed the waiter to select ingredients, Fu Yu quickly asked: "By the way, do you have any special preferences regarding the taste?"
After asking, Fu Yu quickly glanced at the top of the middle-aged woman's head.
As expected, [...] appeared again.
Fu Yu chose to check.
A vivid sketch soon unfolded before his eyes.
It was different from the butter baked lobster usually made in Qianlima's kitchen, and also distinct from the one Yao Shi made at the music restaurant.
The sketch depicted a lobster plated whole, its shell hollowed out with cooked lobster meat stuffed back in, lain on a pure white plate with some exquisitely shaped vegetable and fruit decorations around it.
The overall presentation was very luxurious, and the lobster was large, its head and tail placed on the plate, elevating the dish's level significantly.
If this sketch wasn't purely imagined, then Fu Yu believed the middle-aged woman had genuinely tasted Michelin's butter baked lobster.
Having confirmed the middle-aged woman's group's order, Fu Yu headed to the kitchen.
Along the way, he pondered how to prepare a dish that would satisfy the customer.
His only advantage was his intermediate plating skills and the sketch he just saw; besides that, he didn't have any decent cooking skills.
How could he make a decent butter baked lobster?
Bake...
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Fu Yu, who was deeply focused on his thinking, accurately grasped this idea.
That's right!
He still had two skill points. If he added them all to the "Bake" skill, could he level up?
There's no time to lose.
Without any hesitation, Fu Yu chose to allocate all his skill points to "Bake."
Then he checked his personal skills.
[Bake: Intermediate: 130/500]
He actually leveled up!
Fu Yu was ecstatic.
With an intermediate level in "Bake," what more is there to fear from butter-baked lobster!
Fu Yu walked with a spring in his step, quickly reaching the kitchen entrance.
He paused.
In hindsight, he remembered that the head chef on duty tonight was Gu Yunwu.
With the head chef present, he certainly wouldn't get the chance to wield the spatula.
So what about his task?
If he didn't complete the task, how could he receive the random reward?!
No, he had to fight for the chance to take charge, no matter what.
With unstoppable momentum, Fu Yu burst into the kitchen, determined to snatch the task from Chef Gu no matter what.
But once he entered the kitchen and saw who was standing in front of the stove, he was stunned.
Yao Yihang was expertly flipping the wok, with two assistants busily helping out by his side.
Gu Yunwu wasn't there at all.
It was great that he wasn't there!
As long as the head chef wasn't present, this place was his domain!
Sure enough, when the order taker came over with the menu and saw Fu Yu, they handed it directly to him.
Fu Yu quietly put aside the butter-baked lobster while delegating the remaining boiled fish and seafood porridge to Yao Yihang.
Gu Yunwu was truly taking Yao Yihang under his wing, leaving everything to him while he was away.
Yao Yihang was busy at the stove while the menu was taken by the assistants, and everything continued as usual with everyone doing their part.
Fu Yu had never made butter-baked lobster alone, but he had seen Zhao Meng make it before, and he had helped Yao Shi make it about forty times at the music restaurant.
He was thoroughly familiar with all the steps and cooking techniques.
He placed the lobster on the chopping board, using a small pointed knife to cut around from the neck along the inner shell, removing the lobster meat.
As Fu Yu cut, he keenly sensed that his hand speed had increased significantly, as if his hands acted with a mind of their own, picking up the knife and starting to operate automatically without waiting for his brain.
He chopped off the tail and head, steaming them.
Cut the onions into pieces.
His technique was so smooth he almost wanted to applaud himself.
He split the lobster body into two halves, cleaned it, and then cut it into 10 pieces.
Each piece seemed as if it had been measured with a ruler, such precision, amazing!
Fu Yu whistled to himself in his mind.
Heat the pan, add clear oil, heat it to three or four-tenths, coat the lobster meat with cornstarch, slide it into the oil, and take it out when it's done.
Add butter to the pan, pour in the onion pieces to sauté until fragrant, sprinkle with pepper, add brandy, broth, salt, cheese powder, and lobster pieces.
With the support of an intermediate "Bake" skill, Fu Yu cooked the dish with unparalleled ease and confidence.
His hands reacted faster than his brain, knowing exactly when to add which ingredients and in what proportions, more precisely than any scale.
After simmering for 3 minutes, he added MSG and thickened it with cornstarch.
Then he arranged the lobster pieces back into the shell, added the remaining butter to the leftover juice, and poured it over the lobster meat.
Finally, he placed the head and tail, brushing them with clear oil.
Imitating the plating he had seen in a sketch, Fu Yu gathered the materials and put extra effort into recreating the scene.
As soon as he finished, the server came over, urging him for the dish.
Fu Yu quickly picked up the butter-baked lobster and kindly said, "Those customers had a conflict earlier, I should go with you."
The server, a new staff member, had already heard about the incident and gratefully thanked him, "Great, thank you, Chef Fu."
The server took the plate and walked ahead.
Fu Yu followed to the private room.
The door to the private room was open, but the server still knocked politely on the doorframe. "Hello, your dish is ready to be served."
A few gazes immediately turned their way.
The butter-baked lobster was placed on the table.
A middle-aged woman first picked up a piece of lobster meat with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth.
Fu Yu was a bit anxious, nervously thinking, "It must taste good; this is a dish made to an intermediate level."
The middle-aged woman nodded, "Mm, delicious, this is it!"
Everyone else picked up their chopsticks and agreed, "Yes, it's very fresh!"
"The plating is really beautiful. I've had this dish at Ju Feng Garden, and they dismantled the lobster."
"Yes, yes, oh, look at this lobster head, it looks alive!"
...
Fu Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief; the Artisan Badge is truly reliable!