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Japanese cuisine.

There's "washoku" and "yoshoku" categories.

The former is traditional local cuisine, while the latter is a faction with Western culinary essence and improvements!

Currently, various Western-Japanese fusion dishes like omurice, okonomiyaki, tonkatsu, Japanese curry rice, etc., are creating a new trend of an East-meets-West cuisine.

Of course, modified Chinese dishes don't belong to Western cuisine.

Known as "Japanese-style Chinese cuisine," it's completely different from authentic Chinese cuisine!

Thin egg skin.

Neatly shaped like a spindle.

Thick curry sauce.

It must be said, Zane's omurice, though seemingly simple, actually allows Sonoka to experience the simple and sincere culture of Japanese cuisine.

Previously, when the tavern just opened, she wanted to come.

But due to her soft personality and Shunkatei aiming for two-star restaurant status, she has been too busy to spare time recently.

In efforts to make Shunkatei a successful two-star restaurant, she has truly put in a lot of effort!

Even recently, she specially invited Erina to Shunkatei to taste her signature Marseille fish soup dish.

Thinking that if she gets Erina's approval again, the restaurant's reputation would greatly elevate, making it more possible to aim for a two-star rating.

But dreams are beautiful, reality is harsh.

Even if her cooking satisfied Erina and received her praise.

In the eyes of Executive Annie, the cuisine was deemed too plain, lacking innovation, and had a significant distance from a two-star restaurant!

...

In the tavern.

Every ingredient, every dish seems simple and plain.

But anyone who tries them gets deeply captivated, even someone like Sonoka, who is highly regarded in the culinary world of Japan!

In the end, after a delightful meal, Sonoka finally finished a whole plate of omurice.

"Owner, tell me."

"Chefs like us who run restaurants and taverns."

"Life is inherently monotonous and dull, doing nothing but cooking every day."

"Our will to survive, aside from wanting to sustain ourselves through the restaurant, is also to make our restaurant the greatest food sanctuary, where diners from all over the world flock to!"

"But... why is it so difficult to succeed in this industry? I've worked so hard, yet I still couldn't achieve the status of a two-star restaurant!"

Saying this, Sonoka's eyes were filled with loneliness.

Remembering how confident she was when she graduated from Tohokumo, believing she could elevate the independently operated restaurant to a two-star rating acknowledged by the WGO within a few years!

Yet, now it's been over two years since her graduation, and Shunkatei remains at the lowest one-star rating.

Thinking about her uncertain future and the fate of Shunkatei, she raised the bottle and started drinking heavily.

As Zane wiped the kitchen knife with a cloth nearby, he slightly turned his head to look at Sonoka.

Watching her gulp down the alcohol, he furrowed his brows slightly!

...

Undeniably, in this world, WGO is an authoritative food organization.

Overall, this organization is quite reliable; at least in terms of fairness and professionalism, Zane doesn't see any room for complaint.

However, whenever humans set standards, rules, perfection is never achieved!

So, Zane is never interested in WGO's food organization, and even finds the three-star rating system quite perplexing.

Food isn't a one-size-fits-all scenario, different people have different tastes.

Let alone in the land of culinary abundance like China, even a simple bowl of snail rice noodle can stir up heated debates online, adored by some as divine while shunned by others...

Moreover, can each Executive's judgment criteria truly represent the public?

Even if they have a comprehensive set of standards internally, if they don't adapt to local tastes, they're bound to be disconnected.

For example:

Chinese cuisine in China has diverse flavors.

It's vast and profound; how can it be judged by a single standard?

Furthermore, those restaurants awarded star ratings.

Due to global attention, even small issues can get magnified, ultimately damaging the restaurant's reputation!

Chefs, in their strive to upgrade their restaurant's rating, begin focusing solely on the Executives, slowly neglecting the diners' experience.

For this honor, many chefs can never relax for a moment.

Wasting a lot of time and money chasing WGO's star ratings without truly understanding their evaluation criteria.

Ultimately, if they fail, they fall into a deep sense of self-doubt like Sonoka!

...

"Human joys and sorrows don't always meet, taste preferences are the same."

"So, why are you fixated on the WGO's food organization ratings?"

"For us chefs running restaurants and eateries alone, all we can do is make every customer who comes in to eat, feel happy and joyful because of the food we make, isn't that a kind of success?"

"But...achieving a star rating from the WGO food organization is the dream of numerous chefs!"

Sonoka was momentarily stunned.

"Yes!"

"I'm not denying the greatness of WGO."

"After all, to measure all dishes' quality in the world, there does need to be some standards!"

"However, no matter what kind of standards, ultimately it's based on subjective judgment."

"Like the Chinese imperial dishes, ordinary people find it hard to taste them, but in that important setting, they are the most appropriate!"

"Similarly, a common dish like tomato scrambled eggs that anyone can eat, would seem strange at an imperial feast."

"So, to be straightforward, even if you could achieve the three-star rating recognized by WGO, what does that really mean?"

"It just signifies that your restaurant aligns with the standards they set."

"Remember, everyone has their own favorite dishes, so following a set of imposed standards actually limits oneself!"

"Keep an open mind."

"Sonoka, with your understanding."

"Should I be able to grasp where the true meaning of running a restaurant lies?"