Lanzhou people are no strangers to Jingyang Lou. Last year, during the epidemic prevention and control period, Jingyang Building underwent a large-scale renovation, and after the national day was reinstalled and opened, Jingyang Building carried out the theme activity of "The Fourth Generation of Leaders Looking for Four Generations to Be in the Same Hall", which attracted the attention of the whole city. Among the four families who enlisted in the same family, Grandma Gao's family was impressive: the wedding banquet of her son and grandson, the 100-day banquet of the eldest grandson, and the grandmother's 80th birthday banquet were all spent in Jingyang Building. Grandma Gao said, "All important moments in our family are witnessed by a century-old brand, and choosing Jingyang Lou is a habit and a wish." Wish the family and peace and beauty to a hundred years. ”
History: Created in the fall of 1902
Jingyang Lou was founded in the 28th year of Qing Guangxu (autumn 1902 AD), born in Yangzhou, the Imperial Chef of the Qing Palace, Wang Yufa, was deeply influenced by the culture of Jiangnan Shengshi, and highly respected the culture of poetry and music, garden classics and so on. In view of the concept of "Jing yi wen chuan, wen jing yang" as the concept, "Jing Yang Lou" came into being, that is, the Jing Yang Lou was founded in the downtown area of Yangzhou at that time, Yuanmen Bridge Xiduozi Street (now Ganquan Road).
In the sixth year of the Republic of China (1917 AD), Wang Changshan (later renamed Wang Shaoshan), the second generation of Jingyang Lou, returned to his hometown to manage the family property and became the second generation of "Jingyang Lou". At that time, there were hundreds of salt merchants in Yangzhou, rich and luxurious, feasting and playing, and each had a kitchen. This makes the dishes made by many home cooks compare with each other, the cooking skills are improved, Mr. Shaoshan integrates the strengths of each family, constantly absorbs the culinary skills, and follows his father's ears of cooking skills for many years, and after a few years, he has become a generation of famous chefs in Yangzhou, making "Jingyang Lou" famous in the north and south of the river. Yangzhou is only a hundred miles away from Nanjing, the capital of the Nationalist government, and the political leaders at that time, such as Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Mei-ling, Yu Youren, and Chen Brei, were patronized by prominent political figures, and cultural celebrities were even more eager to taste it later.
After the founding of New China, Mr. Wang Shaoshan actively participated in the public-private partnership, and donated the "Jingyang Lou" store and brand to the state free of charge, and Mr. Shaoshan himself became a well-known patriotic democrat in the local area. After the "Jingyang Building" was turned into a state-run, Wang Shaoshan made great efforts to govern, led everyone to expand their ideas, constantly innovate, gather the essence of cooking skills from all sides, combine local characteristics, create new Huaiyang dishes, and go to various places to give lectures and spread cooking skills, training a large number of Huaiyang cuisine masters for the country. He himself has made outstanding contributions to the development of Chinese cooking for many times for the chefs of the party and state leaders, entertaining foreign guests, and making many times.
Relocation: Relocated to Lanzhou in 1958
In 1958, in response to the call of the party and the state to "support the construction of the Great Northwest", Wang Shaoshan resolutely led the brothers Xiao Bukui, Yang Guilin and other senior chefs to relocate the Yangzhou "Jingyang Lou" main store to Lanzhou as a whole. The Lanzhou Municipal Government attaches great importance to the relocation of "Jingyang Lou", and specially approves the most prosperous central square in Lanzhou, Huangjiayuan, as the store site, and since then, the century-old store of "Jingyang Lou" has been closely linked to the development of Lanzhou for more than half a century.
When he first arrived in the northwest, Wang Shaoshan and other Yangzhou chefs overcame the dry climate, the single variety of raw materials, and the fish, shrimp and other aquatic products required for Huaiyang cuisine are even more rare difficulties, and still never lower the standard of Huaiyang cuisine, so that the people of the northwest can taste authentic Huaiyang dishes. Soon, "Jingyang Lou" stood out in the Jincheng catering industry.
After the reform and opening up, Wang Shaoshan's senior disciple Qu Zhaoshu took over the baton of his master and became the third generation leader of the "Jingyang Building". On the basis of maintaining the original Characteristics of Huaiyang Cuisine, we will seek innovation and refinement, and according to the changes in the catering market, we will change the original practice of simply focusing on medium and high-end dishes and shift to adapt to multi-level market demand. Changing the original practice of simply operating traditional Huaiyang dishes, turning to adapt to the requirements of customers with different tastes, adding Sichuan, Cantonese, Beijing and Long cuisine, so that the variety of dishes is rich and diverse, the grade of high, high and low is complete, and it has become a beautiful landscape in the catering industry of Jincheng, which is welcomed by the majority of consumers.
Qu Zhaoshu entered the shop as an apprentice from the age of 14, and he was diligent and studious, and he was quite popular with Wang Shaoshan's true tradition. He was rated as a national special first-class chef and cooking master, and was invited to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou to participate in the lily banquet performance, and entered Zhongnanhai to perform. In 1986, Qu Zhaoshu was appointed to work at the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan for 6 years, serving as the head chef of the embassy. Due to his hard work and superb skills, he was rated as an advanced worker in the embassy by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and made contributions to the promotion of Chinese cuisine.
Relocation: Wudu Road reproduces the old style
In the 1970s, the Lanzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce approved the renovation of the "Jingyang Building", and specially invited Ren Zhenying, a famous architect in China, to plan and design, and carried out large-scale and all-round construction and decoration of the "Jingyang Building", forming a hotel with Jiangnan architectural style and antique style. The hotel is divided into two floors, with a construction area of 1500 square meters and 16 private rooms, which can provide 500 people with one-time dining at the same time.
In August 2005, due to the demolition of the "Jingyang Building" of urban transformation, the old site of No. 406 Jiuquan Road in Lanzhou City, which had been in operation for 48 years, was evacuated. With the strong support of the municipal government, "Jingyang Lou" purchased a property at No. 323 Wudu Road, Chengguan District and reopened it, preserving the brand of this time-honored Brand in China.
The 51-year-old Si Wenhua still remembers the grand occasion when the "Jingyang Building" reopened. In June 2006, with a total business area of more than 3,000 square meters and a total investment of about 20 million yuan, the "Jingyang Building" new makeup welcomed guests, and it became a place where citizens rushed to punch cards with the characteristics of jiangnan imitation classical architecture. Si Wenhua has been working in "Jingyang Lou" for 28 years since 1993, and his work has also been from the front office waiter and warehouse keeper to the current pastry chef. Last year, he was also sent to Yangzhou for training by the company. During her 3 months in Yangzhou, she eagerly learned the noodle making techniques from the local master, hoping to make Lanzhou people eat authentic Yangzhou noodles through her own efforts.
"After 28 years in a business, this place is not just a unit, but a home." Indeed, for Qu Tongxu, the fourth-generation leader of the company, Qu Tongxu, general manager of Lanzhou Jingyanglou Catering Co., Ltd., an old employee like Si Wenhua is a subordinate and a big sister. Qu Tongxu said, "As long as they can accompany me, I will accompany them for as long as possible." ”
Epidemic: It is a crisis and a turning point
Last year, the sudden outbreak of the new crown epidemic hit the catering industry hard, and many companies suffered heavy losses due to the sudden cancellation of the Chinese New Year's Eve meals after a large number of stockpiles. Many of Lanzhou's catering industries have closed and transferred, which can be described as a depression. In April, the "Jingyang Building" was closed for renovation. Many citizens lamented that even Jingyang Lou could not hold on. In October, the newly renovated Jingyang Building opened its doors to welcome guests and launched the theme activity of "The Fourth Generation leader looking for four generations to share the same hall". Consumers found that it was during the epidemic that Jingyang Building completed another upgrade.
"The renovation began in April, which was in our plan, and we asked the design team in Shanghai to do the overall packaging. Because since moving to the new site of Wudu Road in 2006, there has been no major renovation for 14 years, and the catering industry needs to carry out a comprehensive renovation on a regular basis. Qu Tongxu said that the renovation took half a year and cost 14 million yuan. Because it is during the epidemic period, people mistakenly think that the hotel is not well managed, but in fact, the epidemic is both a crisis and a turning point for the catering industry. Taking the Chinese New Year's Eve rice that most peers believe has suffered heavy losses as an example, Jingyang Lou basically digested the ingredients for the Chinese New Year's Eve meal prepared in advance through the online order delivery service, and did not waste it.
The reporter noted that the newly renovated Jingyang Building from the style point of view, more prominent Jiangnan elements, the appearance of the cornice is majestic, majestic and elegant; from the layout point of view, the first floor has added pavilions, pavilions and other scenes, so that the catering is more lifelike, slow down, the concept of the second floor prominent hall, the third floor is a private room. The whole tone is fresh and elegant.
Interview: How to revitalize a long-established brand
In 2002, the China Cuisine Association recognized Jingyang Lou as "Chinese Restaurant Famous Store"; in 2006, it was recognized by the Ministry of Commerce as one of the first batch of Chinese time-honored enterprises.
As the fourth generation of the head of Jingyang Building, Qu Tongxu entered the company after graduating from university in 2007, groping all the way from the front hall floor and the quality control of the back kitchen until he succeeded his father as the general manager.
The skilful short haircut was the reporter's first impression of her. But as the interview progressed, the image of a modern entrepreneur jumped out. How to revitalize a long-established brand? She said frankly about a set of data: Previously, 60% of our customer base was between the ages of 50 and 60; after the reopening of the National Day last year, through a series of new media marketing, the 30-year-old customer base increased by 20%.
In the past ten years, the layman has looked at the liveliness, the insider has looked at the doorway, and the catering industry has undergone earth-shaking changes. From the perspective of internal management, the application of big data has become the core competitiveness of enterprises; from the outside, customers know their needs more clearly. At present, jingyang lou operates a variety of cuisines such as Huaiyang cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, Sichuan cuisine, long cuisine, etc., which can meet the needs of different customer groups. Therefore, the old brand must play a combination of punches, consolidate old customers, attract new customers, in order to revitalize in the fierce market competition.
Lanzhou Daily all-media reporter Liu Weixia/Wen Majun/Photo
Source: Lanzhou News Network
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