God-Given Business Genius - Chapter 142

"This doenjang jjigae, it's a ready-made product, isn't it?"

At my words, Ahn Dong-woo bowed his head in silence. After a moment, seemingly having gathered his thoughts, he slowly raised his head again.

"...Yes, that's correct. You're very perceptive."

There was even a hint of bitterness in Ahn Dong-woo's tone as he spoke.

"How did you know?"

"Ready-made products have a distinctive taste. It can't help but be less flavorful than something freshly made in the restaurant."

The advantage of ready-made products is convenience, not taste. While there are many tastier ready-made products these days compared to the past, I guarantee they won't be as delicious as the food we just had.

There's a clear upper limit to the taste, and due to the need for long-term storage, there are also distinct limitations in the ingredients.

"You need to change this. If you're going to use ready-made products, it's better not to sell it at all. It doesn't taste good."

It's better not to sell it. Rather than being perceived as a restaurant with bad food.

The main dish, dakbokkeumtang, already has polarizing opinions, and now even the doenjang jjigae they serve is like this? No wonder customers have been falling away.

"How long has this been going on? Have you been using ready-made products from the start? Your parents too?"

"Well..."

Ahn Dong-woo squeezed his eyes shut.

"The truth is, I wasn't able to receive the recipe."

"Pardon?"

"I only... received the recipe for dakbokkeumtang. They weren't able to pass on the doenjang jjigae recipe. I tried to make it on my own somehow, but it just didn't taste good at all."

"Wait a moment. What do you mean? You only received the recipe for dakbokkeumtang?"

"Yes, that's right."

Why on earth?

That question flashed through my mind but quickly faded.

A restaurant's recipes are indeed sensitive matters. It's not for nothing that they say it's a trade secret even daughters-in-law don't know.

This is especially true for long-established restaurants. However, in Ahn Dong-woo's case, there's no reason not to share the doenjang jjigae recipe when he was taught the recipe for dakbokkeumtang, which is the core of the restaurant.

In other words... it means they didn't deliberately withhold it.

"They collapsed suddenly."

Ahn Dong-woo said with a slightly tearful tone.

"It was a cerebral infarction. It was so sudden, we weren't prepared at all. My mother collapsed, and my father, overcome with grief, fell apart too. ...They're both in the hospital now."

"I see."

As I thought. It wasn't that they didn't want to tell him, but rather that they 'couldn't' tell him.

Ahn Dong-woo wiped away the tears streaking down his cheeks with the back of his hand.

"My mother always handled all the cooking. I found the dakbokkeumtang recipe in my mother's notebook. I had helped out at the restaurant before, so I was able to recreate the taste just from that. But the doenjang jjigae... that wasn't written down."

"She probably didn't feel the need to write it down. She could probably make doenjang jjigae with her eyes closed."

"Yes, I think so. It was just like the doenjang jjigae we ate at home, but with a bit stronger seasoning."

It must have been a delicious doenjang jjigae. It's a shame that its unique taste has been lost forever.

"I quit my original job to continue the family business. Thinking that this was the shop my parents had built over their lifetime, it felt like their last heirloom..."

I could roughly guess the circumstances.

"With both of them collapsing one after another, there was no one to run the shop, so I took over urgently. It's an excuse, but because of that, I didn't have time to research the menu. I just decided to use ready-made products for the stews, and that's continued until now. I'm sorry."

Ahn Dong-woo bowed his head with reddened eyes.

"You don't need to apologize to me. Well, I understand the situation roughly."

Using ready-made products itself is wrong, but I can understand the pitiful circumstances.

His world was turned upside down overnight. Even if he had helped out at the restaurant a few times, his mother had always been in charge of the cooking. Just getting used to the dakbokkeumtang recipe must have been overwhelming.

After that, he must have been busy worrying about various things due to the gradually declining sales. He probably tried changing one thing after another, wondering if this was the problem, or if that was the problem.

I can understand how the stew menu naturally became neglected.

"If the doenjang jjigae is like this, I can guess about the kimchi jjigae without even seeing it. The kimchi jjigae is also a ready-made product, right?"

"Yes..."

"For now, don't sell those two today. Say you've run out of ingredients. You shouldn't be selling this for money."

"Yes, I understand."

Ahn Dong-woo nodded, his face flushing red with embarrassment.

"As for doenjang jjigae and kimchi jjigae, if you're willing, I can teach you delicious recipes. They'll probably be much more stimulating than what you were selling before."

After all, my nickname isn't Song Sugar for nothing. When stews are made delicious, they say they're real rice thieves.

"If, if you're willing to teach me the recipes, I'll learn diligently!"

That's a good attitude. Or there was another option. Stews are good, but aren't they ultimately menu items for customers who come alone?

"These days, there are many people who eat alone, so it might be good to add a single-serving dakbokkeumtang to the menu."

"Would that be okay?"

"Of course, the profit margin would be smaller. Selling a lot is always better business. But what can we do? That's how you gather regular customers one by one."

"Yes, I understand...!"

Ahn Dong-woo nodded and agreed with my words. It's much more comfortable when communication is smooth.

As I was looking at him with satisfaction, Ahn Dong-woo cautiously spoke up.

"But... actually, there are hardly any customers who order the stew dishes. Most people come for the dakbokkeumtang. Only occasionally do people drinking order it as a side dish. Could these stews really be affecting the decline in sales...?"

Good. This is a beginner's question. I asked in return.

"What do you think the problem is?"

"I'm not sure myself."

Ahn Dong-woo immediately continued with a dejected expression.

"Is it because the restaurant is old? But I don't have the money for remodeling right now because of my parents' hospital bills. Should I take out another loan to remodel?"

It seems this person was also concerned about how worn-out the interior of the restaurant was. It was originally floor seating, so that says it all.

Of course, the worn-out interior design can't be said to have no impact at all...

"That's not the problem."

"Oh, it's not?"

"For a long-established place like this with regular customers, the old-fashioned atmosphere can actually be a selling point. You know how all those famous restaurants have rustic-looking signs."

So, a slightly worn-out interior isn't really a problem.

"The problem is out there."

I pointed towards the door at the back. The structure was such that almost one entire wall of the restaurant was like a large window.

For small restaurants, this gives a sense of openness and clears the view to reduce stuffiness. But it also makes it hot in summer and cold in winter.

However, here... it wasn't even serving that purpose properly.

"What are those potted plants?"

The transparent glass window was largely shadowed by several pairs of potted plants. As a result, the meaning of the cool, open window was greatly diminished.

"Ah, those were my mother's hobby. She used to grow plants there and water them."

So this is also a kind of inheritance, is that what you're saying? Even so, this is not something I can compromise on.

"Either bring them all inside or take them home."

"...Are those important?"

"Extremely."

Ahn Dong-woo looked troubled at my words.

"Customers sitting by that window kept complaining that they made eye contact with people outside, saying they felt like monkeys in a zoo. So I deliberately put those out there to make them feel more comfortable. Can't we just leave them?"

"That's why people usually put the restaurant logo or something on the windows. To make the dining customers comfortable. But those potted plants are a bit much."

I pointed at the window and said.

"The problem isn't that the view from inside to outside is blocked. The problem is that people outside can't see in."

"Is that so?"

"People need to see what you're selling to be interested. This is all advertising without even saying anything."

"!"

Ahn Dong-woo's eyes widened as if he had a revelation.

"If people passing by outside can see the dakbokkeumtang bubbling inside, their mouths will water. You need to attract customers who are tempted by that sight to come inside. That's why you choose a location with high foot traffic."

"Y-you're right."

"Your mother might have been fine because of her regular customer base, but you can't be. Your mother's regulars are her customers, so now you need to find a new customer base."

"You're right. I... I guess I was too focused on just clinging to the regular customers."

Ahn Dong-woo smiled bitterly.

"With few customers inside, I found myself becoming more withdrawn. When people looked in from outside, it felt like they were watching me doing nothing. I think that feeling made me keep adding plants and blocking the window."

Having said that, Ahn Dong-woo nodded and muttered.

"I'll fix it right away."

He looked ready to go out and remove the plants right then and there. But there was something to do before that.

"That's a problem too. But the main dish of this place is this dakbokkeumtang, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

Let's try to solve this first. I decided to ask about the points I had thought of, one by one.

"What size chickens do you use?"

"Size 11."

As I thought. Just as I had expected.

"...Was it written in the recipe how many pieces to cut the chicken into?"

"Ah, no. It wasn't. I'm just cutting it similar to what I remember seeing before, by eyeballing it."

"It would be better to cut it into smaller pieces. If not that, then you should put up a sign on the wall telling people to eat it with the broth."

It's such a waste of the broth. It's just right, slightly thick and spicy, perfect for stimulating the appetite. It's a shame that it doesn't harmonize well with the chicken.

"The seasoning doesn't penetrate evenly to the inside, so the inner part is a bit bland. So if you put up a sign telling people to eat it with the broth, wouldn't everyone eat it that way?"

"Yes, I understand!"

And one more thing.

"Don't you parboil the chicken?"

"I-I do!"

"You do?"

That's strange. But why is there still a gamey smell? Usually, parboiling once is enough to remove it adequately.

As I tilted my head in confusion, Ahn Dong-woo added one more thing.

"These were all cooked after being parboiled once."

"Really? Hmm... I can't quite see the problem just by looking at it. Shall we go to the kitchen?"

I thought I might get a better sense if I saw the cooking process directly.

"Yes. Please come in."

Ahn Dong-woo, seeming to have expected this much, began to guide the way with a slightly tense face.

"This is the kitchen."

A completely different world unfolded as we passed through a door.

'The kitchen is quite spacious.'

The ratio of the dining area to the kitchen was about 6:4. Not a bad choice.

I carefully inspected every corner. They probably did a thorough cleaning of the kitchen knowing I was coming, but even places that aren't easily visible were generally clean.

"Can you show me how you cook?"

"Ah, yes. Then I'll start by showing you how we parboil the chicken. When an order comes in, we first take out enough for one serving and go through the parboiling process like this..."

As Ahn Dong-woo was in the middle of explaining, I couldn't help but interrupt.

"Wait a moment. ...Do you really cook like this? Really?"

At my question, Ahn Dong-woo tilted his head as if wondering what the problem was.

"Good heavens."

This was it.

This is why the chicken had a gamey smell!