"Is this really a Chinese restaurant?" the silver-haired Ed Woolrad looked around, this restaurant subverted his traditional perception of Chinese restaurants - glass kitchen, long right-angled wooden dining table without any decoration, industrial ceiling like a cement factory, pale white and bright lighting, a hall of nearly 600 square meters, iCom computers on the cash register...

Zhang Chen owed a debt and smiled, "How do you feel?"

Ed Woolrad took off his tailored suit, loosened his tie, and sat across from Zhang Chen, "Are you sure this isn't the soon-to-open Matrix Store?"

Zhang Chen laughed and said: "Of course not, but there are indeed similarities in the design concept." ”

The Matrix Store has already held openings in five cities across the U.S., causing a sensational rush to buy. Although some comments have said that Matrix's specialty stores are flashy, it is still difficult to stop consumers from all over the world from chasing specialty stores.

According to a statistic made by Business Week, Matrix Store's revenue per square foot has exceeded $380 a month, that is, Matrix Store can bring nearly $4,000 per square meter of revenue to Matrix every month.

The monthly revenue of Tiffany's store is only about $2,200.

In addition to the 2,500-square-meter flagship store in San Francisco, each average Matrix store generates $38 million in annual revenue based on the average 800-square-meter business area of each Matrix store in other cities.

This alone has increased Matrix's annual turnover by a tenth. As the Matrix Store continues to roll out across the U.S. and around the world, that number will only grow.

Ed Woolrad actually had contact with Zhang Chen as early as a year ago. In addition to being the lead director of Apple (a product of Apple's special period, exercising power in place of the chairman, in principle, there is no chief or chief on the board), he also served as the chief executive officer of DuPont.

Zhang Chen's Chloe Industries was able to get DuPont's order, and it was also because Bill Campbell gave Zhang Chen Ed Woolrad's business card and mediated from it, so that Chloe Industries could cooperate with DuPont Huaxia so smoothly.

"It looks really good, but it doesn't seem to have many customers, and it's just the two of us in such a big restaurant, and it's lunchtime. Ed Woolrad tapped the goblet on the table with his chopsticks, "Waiter, bring me a glass of soda, thank you." ”

Zhang Chen smiled: "Thank you for the compliment, I opened this restaurant, the Chinese food in the Bay Area is too unpalatable, so I had to open one myself, it is not open yet, you are the first customer, you can give more opinions in a while." ”

Ed Woolrad laughed: "It's an honor, however, I don't have any research on Chinese food, Zuo Zongtang chicken is still good, but I know that many Chinese people say that this dish is not authentic Chinese food, and I don't want to come here anymore." ”

Zhang Chen smiled: "No, of course there is, Chinese food is never static." Sichuan, Shandong, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan and Hui, these eight cuisines have evolved into many other cuisines, and the biggest feature of Chinese food is that it is all-encompassing and innovative, and different dishes come out every day. ”

"And... Zhang Chen squeezed his eyes narrowly, "This dish is so popular in the United States, how can it not be cooked?"

Ed Woolrad was stunned for a moment, and then laughed.

"The five flavors are harmonious, and it is used lightly. The waiter served the first course to each of them, a large plate with five delicate porcelain plates, each containing a small portion of the delicate dish.

Zhang Chen added a piece of Sichuan Shu pickles: "Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty are the five most basic flavors in Chinese food. This is the first course and can be appetizing. ”

The delicacy of the dishes was obviously beyond Ed Woolrad's expectations, and he had eaten even the most expensive Chinese food, but it was obvious that Zhang Chen's restaurant had made some formal improvements to Chinese food, which made it even more ... Nowadays?

"It's so bitter!" Ed Woolrad curiously tasted the beautiful looking green food, "What is this? How can it be so bitter?"

Zhang Chen saw Ed Woolrad's expression, and laughed: "This is called bitter gourd, bitterness is also a taste in Chinese food, you can try other dishes, isn't it much more delicious?"

The plate looked big, but each dish was enough for one bite, and the waiter diligently removed the plate and served the next dish. "Four seasons dumplings, slow use. ”

"This is a dumpling?" The dish is beautiful, but it doesn't look like dumplings at all, it's a bit like siu mai with four ears. Each ear was sprinkled with different ingredients, salmon roe, white sturgeon caviar, I don't know what greens were at the end of the year, and truffle sauce.

"The harmony of the five flavors just now represents the five basic tastes of Chinese food, this four-season dumpling represents the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, only spring can obtain fish roe from the white sturgeon, and the green shallot comes from the western part of China, only in summer can this precious ingredient be found in the grassland, salmon spawns in autumn, this truffle sauce comes from the southwest of Sichuan in China, and every winter is a good season for digging truffles. ”

"It's delicious!It's delicious!" Ed Woolrad's eyes lit up, he could eat it, the main ingredient wrapped in this four-season dumpling should be shrimp, the four ingredients on the four corners enriched the taste of the shrimp dumplings, he could feel the salty freshness of the caviar bursting in his mouth, he could also feel the rich aroma of truffles swimming in his nose, and he could feel the fishy greasy salmon roe, and these flavors were neutralized by the taste of shallots, bringing an unexpected taste experience.

Dongpo meat, roast suckling pig, stewed beef brisket。。。。。。 Each dish is full of creativity in terms of taste and decoration, and it is obviously the taste of Chinese food, but Ed Woolrad does not feel the slightest discomfort.

"It was excellent, it was the best Chinese food I've ever had, uh, if there was roast duck, it would have been even better. Ed Woolrad ate the last bite of osmanthus cake, wiped his mouth, and praised it heartily.

Zhang Chen also put down his chopsticks: "I have found the best roast duck chef in Beijing, and I will open a special high-end roast duck restaurant in San Francisco in the future. ”

Ed Woolrad laughed, "No, no, no, it's just a discount, I can find you the best location in San Francisco, but I'm going to make a stake in it." ”

Zhang Chen raised his eyebrows: "Okay, in exchange, I will also buy a share in Apple, what do you think?"

Ed Woolrad's eyes flashed, and he smiled: "Apple is a public company, anyone can buy its shares, and Apple's board of directors welcomes all investors who believe in Apple's future." ”

The corners of Zhang Chen's mouth curled slightly: "I believe in the future of Matrix more than Apple, and I am willing to bring this future to Apple." ”

Zhang Chen paused, picked up a bright red apple in the fruit basket on the table, and took a hard bite.

"I want apples. ”

(End of chapter)