Yuexiu District business celebrities - "Restaurant King" Chen Fuyu

In the 1920s and 1930s, there was a genius who was also in charge of the "four major restaurants" in Guangzhou- South Garden, Wenyuan Garden, Dasanyuan and West Garden, three of which were in the Yuexiu area, leaving a good story in the commercial history of Guangzhou. This prodigy is Chen Fuyu, who is known as the "first generation of restaurant kings" in Guangzhou.

Entrepreneurship South Park Lai new tricks

　　Chen Fuyu was a native of Panyu and served as the floor director of the famous restaurant "Xiangjiang Restaurant" in Dongdi, Guangzhou, at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Because of his wide friendship and many strategies, he was nicknamed "Qiankun Bag", and gradually his reputation in the food industry grew. A chance allowed him to get rid of his part-time job status and join the ranks of bosses.

　　In the first year of Xuan reunification (1909), the "South Garden" restaurant located near the present-day Eight Banners and Second Road in the south of Taiping Sha was already on the decline, and the ruler He Zhanyun was old, so he consulted with Huang Zuoxian's nephew Huang Zhuoqing and his close confidant Gao Jingzhi to take over the South Garden to be operated by people, preferring to transfer it at a low price. The two immediately asked their close friend Chen Fuyu to plan together.

　　Chen Fuyu had already met many princes and grandsons who loved to have fun, rich merchants and magnates in the Xiangjiang Restaurant, and was thinking that it was a great opportunity for Nanyuan to be willing to transfer at a low price, so he agreed to go to Nanyuan to "bear the banner" (preside over the business) and made a plan to attract shareholders. The three of them hit it off and took over the south park operation.

　　Chen Fuyu came from a part-time job, and he was not very rich at this time, but he came up with a clever plan to win the shares of the rich who had power and loved face. Prospectus: Foreign shares invest 5,000 yuan to become a director, and can sign a bill when spending in South Park (no cash). This pair of rich people who love to swing in front of women are very attractive, and they have collected 50,000 yuan at once. This amount was already astronomical at the time, and it not only undertook the right to operate the South Park, but also had a lot of working capital. These rich directors not only attracted a lot of business, but also played a protective role in South Park because of their power.

　After Chen Fuyu took over the south garden, he used the original garden environment of 70 meters deep to renovate, pavilions, platforms, buildings, pavilions are complete, and connected by a curved scripture full of flowers and trees, which is suitable for the psychology of the dignitaries who are not willing to drink and feast with other customers. The furnishings in the restaurant are quaint and the tableware is luxurious, and the sour branch chair, Jiangxi famous porcelain, ivory chopsticks, silver wine glasses, are readily available, and the "four rounds" that meet the needs of officials and nobles can be opened at any time. Which "four innings"? It is the "sparrow bureau" of playing mahjong (called mahjong sparrow by Cantonese people), the mahjong table is sour branched, and the mahjong card has ivory; the "tobacco bureau" of smoking opium, the tobacco bed is sour branched, and the smoking gun is inlaid with jade or ivory; the "sound bureau" of calling a band or artist to play or sing music in front of the table; and the "flower bureau" that summons prostitutes to accompany wine. Such a garden restaurant is said to be rare in the country at that time.

　　Chen Fuzuo's promotion and publicity is not only focused on promoting the elegant garden environment of the South Garden, but also deliberately promoting the main chef Qiu Sheng while promoting famous dishes such as white-sea snail slices and braised net abalone slices. Qiu Sheng cooks abalone slices uniquely, and has a strong ability to distinguish seafood everywhere, the "net abalone" he chooses is the most valuable variety of abalone, cooking without adding any chemicals, the heat is just right, the taste is excellent, it is a must. The "trinity" of this shop, famous dish, and famous teacher has indeed worked repeatedly in publicity; coupled with Chen Fuyu's distribution of profits and tipping, he has taken care of management personnel and general staff, so that The southern country has maintained a number of capable backbones. By the early 1920s, it was already famous at home and abroad. Unfortunately, when the Japanese army invaded Guangzhou, the restaurant was destroyed in a fire!

Play the cultural card Wang WenYuan

　　Of the four major restaurants in the 1920s and 1930s, only Wenyuan was not in Yuexiu District, and Chen Fuyu also had the ability to make Wenyuan sound and colorful.

　　After Chen Fuzuo became famous, many big catering companies wanted to ask him to preside over the business. He also thought that if he presided over three more restaurants, the so-called "one table and four feet are complete." Senior management personnel do not have to sit on duty every day, and the planners are quite marshals, as long as there are generals under them, they do not have to charge forward.

　One day in 1920, his brothers Chi Lin and Chi Shen invited him to dinner. During the banquet, it was said that after the government demolished the Wenchang Temple in Wenchang Lane, Xiguan, it sold the land to cover military expenses, and a certain rich man invested in the land and planned to build a garden restaurant, and wanted to ask Chen Fuyu to preside over the stock collection operation. Chen Fuyu agreed, but asked Chi Lin and Chi Shen to sit in the restaurant, and the two also happily agreed. At present, Chen Fuyu analyzed the prospects of the restaurant, saying that Xiguan is different from the land in South Park, South Park can attract high-ranking officials and dignitaries with cars and cars, and it is a high trick to have a good relationship with the personal attendants (secretaries and drivers) of high-ranking officials, while Xiguan New Restaurant must attract wealthy businessmen and literati living in Xiguan, and the restaurant facilities must have a confucian charm, attracting customers to dance and ink is a high trick. Soon after, he made a decision with the owner, named the restaurant he organized as "Wenyuan", and began to renovate after collecting shares. The area of Wenyuan garden is not as large as the South Garden, and he designed a garden-style courtyard with a unique charm, with a large pond carved out in the middle, the pond is full of lotus flowers, a variety of chrysanthemums around the pond, and an elegant pavilion with a curved bridge in the center of the pond. When drinking and feasting in the pavilion, the fragrance of lotus in summer and the arrogance of autumn chrysanthemums can be enjoyed by Confucian merchants and literati. The main building on the side of the pool is called "Huiwen Building", the large and small rooms are complete, with acid branch furniture, the four walls are hung with famous calligraphy and paintings, and the four treasures of the study room are also reserved, which is convenient for the literati to impromptu waving and chanting, but also suitable for businessmen to "pour plates" (negotiate business) here. In the back of the building, a shrine dedicated to the Wenchang Emperor was also installed, which was suitable for the psychology of the literati, and also masturbated to respect the original Wenchang Temple site and not forget the roots. Chen Fuyu also asked Luo Quan, Zhong Lin and Black-faced Beef, three famous chefs, to take charge of the kitchen administration of Wenyuan garden, and launched signature dishes such as Jiangnan Hundred Flowers Chicken, Crab Yellow Big Wings, and Glass Shrimp.

　　After the opening of the Wenyuan Restaurant, it really attracted many late Qing Dynasty widows, literati and scholars, and rich merchants from Xiguan to come to the scene. At that time, tea houses did not open feasts, and restaurants did not open tea markets. Every day just after noon, there are Sven customers carrying cars in front of the door, including poetry essayists, antique tasters, and businessmen; there are old people in long shirts and horse coats, there are young people in suits and leather shoes, and delicate women in cheongsam. Originally, at that time, in addition to the large tea houses such as Lotus Fragrance and Fulong in Xiguan, the restaurants were small and medium-sized, and the Wenyuan Restaurant suddenly became the most luxurious banqueting place in Xiguan, and its Huiwen Building attracted many Yashi literati to Yaji. Some people laughed at Chen Fuyu as "vassal style", and he said: "What is so bad about vassal style elegance?" If the elegance is not attached, as if the big guy has a car and no one carries it, is there still the pleasure of sitting in the car? ”　

　Poetry becomes a good story in the West Garden

　　Wenyuan HuiwenLou often gathered literati, so that Chen Fuyu befriended many well-known scholars. Therefore, when he was running the West Garden Restaurant soon after, he planned a poetry campaign with a unique advertising effect.

　　West Garden is located in the south of the Six Banyan Temple Hui Ai West Road (now Zhongshan Sixth Road Electrical Mall), was originally the garden of the ancient Six Banyan Trees, the courtyard has a tree over 100 years old Lianli red cotton tree, the two kapok trees are more than 10 meters high, although the distance is about 1 meter, but to more than 3 meters high two tree branches are entangled together. The ancient poem Youyun "in the heavenly wish to be a winged bird, in the earth wish to be a lianli branch", so the people of Guangzhou regard them as festive mascots. After Chen Fuyu took over the operation of the West Garden Restaurant, in the late spring, when he saw Lianli Kapok blooming brilliantly, like a thousand lights reflecting the sky, he couldn't help but be moved in his heart, thinking of using this as a show to expand the influence of West Garden. After consulting with the old poet Huang Yingkui and others, Xiyuan published a message in the newspaper to solicit poetry from the whole province, entitled "Xiyuan Restaurant Ancient Kapok". Within months, the news was widely spread by the public, and The West Park also received thousands of manuscripts. Through the review of Huang Yingkui and other well-known poets, 200 excellent works were selected and printed into a special collection of thread binding, and humanity was a momentary prosperity, and the West Garden was also famous in Guangzhou. The famous contemporary poet Yu Zhai (Chen Yongzheng) wrote an article entitled "Xiyuan Ancient Kapok and Its Inscription" and included it in the "Pearls of Pearls" compiled by the Guangzhou Municipal Research Institute of Literature and History and published by Guangzhou Publishing House in June 1998, so that contemporary people can also remember the Naxiyuan Restaurant. As for the red cotton tree, it was cut down by the head of a club who did not know the treasure as early as the 1950s, but unfortunately!

　　However, the most attractive thing is the legend of the chef who came to Chen Jitang's mansion in the late 20s to make the famous dish Dinghu Shangsu. At that time, due to the fact that many tourists who went to the Six Banyan Temple to eat in the West Garden, the West Garden successively launched two vegetarian dishes, "LuoHan Zhai" and "Dinghu Shangsu", which were very popular. The chef, nicknamed "Bagua Tian", is a man who can speak the Tao. Chen Fuyu took advantage of the opportunity of the abbot of Qingyun Temple in Dinghu Mountain to come to Liurong Temple to preach the scriptures, and immediately ordered Bagua Tian to create a famous dish "Dinghu Shangsu". Bagua Tian used high-grade jai ingredients three mushrooms and six ears as raw materials, and the above soup (made of old chicken, lean pork, ham bones, etc.) was slowly simmered to increase its delicious taste, and when it was launched, it was really popular with rich tourists, and the good name spread to the ears of Mo Xiuying, the wife of Chen Jitang, who presided over the political situation in Guangdong at that time. Because Chen Jitang was inconvenient to go to the West Garden, Mo Xiuying ordered someone to invite the chef of the West Garden to set up a feast at the palace in order to taste the Dinghu Shang vegetarian with her husband. This time, it is almost difficult to stop the Bagua Field, because it is cooking a feast, and the broth used for cooking can only be carried out secretly and cannot be disclosed, so it is inconvenient to bring old chicken ham and other meat to the Chen Mansion to boil soup. Without soup, three mushrooms and six ears are not delicious at all. At that time, there was no MSG or chicken essence, how could it be good? Fortunately, Chen Fuyu had a lot of calculations, and he asked Bagua Tian to boil the soup first, suck the soup with more than a dozen clean white towels, carefully dry it and seal it, and bring it to the Chen mansion together with the high-grade materials. When cooking the jai dish, the white towel is first placed in the pot to dissolve the delicacy in water, and then the three mushrooms and six ears are simmered, this special Dinghu Shang vegetarian delicacy is better than the one cooked in the West Garden restaurant, which makes Chen Jitang, Mo Xiuying and the senior officials on the table praise endlessly, and the signature dishes of the West Garden have become more famous ever since.

High-priced wings want to be three yuan

　　Chen Fuyu's operation of the Big Three Yuan Restaurant is more aware of its overall consideration of the strategy.

　　It is said that the long causeway, which was first created in 1915, was originally a long, narrow bunk that could not open windows on the left and right. Around 1920, the boss of the big three yuan found someone to take over, at this time Chen Fuyu was in the limelight, and after considering it all, he took over the big three yuan. After Chen raised funds successfully, he rented the left and right bunks of the big three yuan together, and the big three yuan suddenly became a spacious big store. Chen Fuyu also installed a lift (elevator) in the three yuan of only three floors, becoming the first large catering industry in Guangzhou to set up an elevator. The public saw this novelty, and many admired it. Therefore, the opening after the renovation of the big three yuan is not only sought after by powerful people, but also has the reputation of the masses. Then, Chen Fuzuo invited the famous wing king chef Wu Luan to be responsible for the cooking, and launched the new move of "60 yuan braised large group wings", which was greatly praised by the broad guys, making the big three yuan sensational in Hong Kong and Macao. On the day of the launch, the sidewalks in front of the wine house were filled with congratulatory flower baskets, and there were more than a dozen strings of long firecrackers. In the future, the upper echelons of the industrial and commercial circles are also willing to talk or set up banquets in the big three yuan. In the early 1930s, Da San Yuan's reputation ranked first among the four major restaurants in Guangzhou, and the 56 halls in the store were often fully occupied.

　　However, in the face of social unrest, the business elite can also feel overwhelmed. After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Chen Fuzu felt that he was old, so he moved to Hong Kong, and the food and beverage industry was in the shadows, and a generation of restaurant kings fell silent.

　　　Source: (Excerpt from Yuexiu District,"Yuexiu Business Celebrity")