Universe Infinite Canteen

Zhang Yang picked up a piece of lotus root with his chopsticks.

As soon as it entered his mouth, he realized that there was more to it than met the eye.

So crunchy! The crystal-clear cubes of lotus root were of an unknown variety, crisper than any lotus root he had tasted before, creating a crisp cracking sound as he chewed.

And they were incredibly fresh, almost as if they had been just picked from the lakebed and brought directly to the table; while tasting them, Zhang Yang could even imagine them being pulled out from the muddy depths.

The aftertaste was sweetly refreshing, and such high-quality lotus root would have been delightful even eaten plain.

The Chef obviously knew this as well, so there was hardly any seasoning on the outside, but after Zhang Yang had fully savored the natural flavor of the lotus root, an explosion of various tastes burst forth in his mouth!

That's it, Zhang Yang suddenly understood; Universe Infinite Canteen had indeed seasoned these lotus root cubes.

They had somehow injected the seasoning deep into the lotus root's air holes so that, with each chew, the seasoning was released.

And the flavor was full-packed; soon a sour and spicy taste permeated Zhang Yang's mouth.

Each piece of lotus root was like a taste bomb, assaulting his taste buds with wave after wave of flavor.

Zhang Yang, without realizing it, had finished the entire dish and felt his appetite greatly increasing.

More importantly, he felt his heart, which had gradually grown numb, come back to life.

Zhang Yang then took out a cloth and wiped his glasses. After so many years, he once again felt an anticipation for the next dish about to be served.

The person was right; this place was indeed very interesting.

......

Zhang Yang was exceptionally efficient this time; having finished lunch, he updated his public account by 4 PM.

The article's title was—Universe Infinite Canteen, the Culinary World's Disruptor!

This article departed from Zhang Yang's usual cutting critical style, heaping praise on Universe Infinite Canteen and its Chef.

He called the latter a once-in-a-century culinary genius, possessing boundless imagination and astounding execution ability.

Zhang Yang cited a dish from Universe Infinite Canteen's menu earlier this week called Juicy Roasted Onions to illustrate why he made such an assessment.

—It was a cooking method I had never seen before. At first glance, they appeared to be ordinary roasted onions, but in fact, the Chef had used some method to dehydrate the onions first.

Then, he let the dehydrated onions soak up the meat juice. When I tasted this dish, it felt as if I was eating vegetables and sipping soup at the same time.

The rich meat juice flowed over my tongue like a stream meandering through a valley...

At the conclusion of the article, Zhang Yang wrote.

—I was informed that this peculiar little restaurant changes its menu almost every week, no, actually, this tradition dates back even earlier when they were still setting up a stall on the street.

No matter how well the last week's dishes sold (and their business has always been good), they would still choose to start over the following week and embrace the unknown.

I saw a Chef's absolute confidence in his creativity and skill, a Master's love and endless devotion to culinary art, constantly challenging himself, the so-called traditions, all the rules...

—If I had to point out any shortcomings, it would probably be that the decoration is too perfunctory, and the service staff clearly lacks experience, with many being local college students working part-time.

Especially during busy times, it's easy to become flustered and overwhelmed. Oh, and my table and chair were bought from a general store across the street, fortunately, I could sell them back at a ten percent discount.

I recommend that those driving over bring their own folding tables and chairs. As for the price... I think it's very affordable, and I know a lot of people will definitely disagree with me saying so.

I spent over a thousand yuan on this meal, ate about half, and packed the rest, so the cost per person comes to around 500 yuan.

Looking at the absolute value, it's certainly not cheap, but compared to the dishes this restaurant offers, I think the money is well worth it.

Anyway, nowadays, it costs about the same to dine at any Michelin Restaurant, and I'd rather come here once a week. In fact, I've already decided to do so.

I really don't want to miss any of the dishes here.

As Yu Yitong read the last word, she couldn't help but smile.

Cindy leaned over and asked curiously, "What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing." Yu Yitong quickly put away her phone.

Cindy, who was just asking casually, didn't press further when she saw that Yu Yitong didn't want to continue, and switched to other topics.

"What did you say to Mike the day before yesterday? He seemed quite impatient."

"I sent an email saying that Universe Infinite Canteen has been quite busy recently, and there's also a lot of discussion on short video platforms. It has become quite a hot topic, so should we seize this wave of popularity and include it in our system, then send an expert over to rate it."

Yu Yitong opened her thermos and took a sip of water.

Cindy raised an eyebrow, "Did you really say that? Hey, can't you see Mike doesn't like that restaurant?"

"I can tell."

"Then why bring it up?"

"Because it benefits the company's development. It could catch this wave of traffic, and it would also improve our relationship with Universe Infinite Canteen. They will definitely become a supernova in the culinary world, and our company will surely have collaborations with them in the future." Read exclusive content at empire

Cindy looked around to make sure no one was paying attention before lowering her voice, "Are you a newbie who just joined a month ago, crossing your immediate superior for the company's benefit? What's your angle?"

"Hmm, no angle, just doing my job well," Yu Yitong said softly.

"Ah, I really don't know what you're thinking. You do realize Mike is not going to agree, right? And strictly speaking, this is not even our department's business. According to the rules, new restaurants are usually visited for a preliminary inspection by the company only after two months of opening."

"But aren't there also some restaurants that get added and reviewed as soon as they open?"

"Those are usually the ones with famous chefs; of course, it's different."

"Mike is middle management in the company; he has the authority to make suggestions on this matter," Yu Yitong said.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Did he agree with you then?"

"No."

"That's it then; you've managed to annoy him all over again," Cindy said and then seemed to remember something, "Hey, I saw you've been getting pretty close with the rating department these past few days, you're not talking about this, are you?"

"No, no," Yu Yitong replied earnestly, "Bypassing the chain of command is a major faux pas in the workplace, I'm aware of that, let alone crossing departments. I was just asking Sister Maggie for some well-known food critics' accounts to follow and learn how they write their articles."

"That's good then." Cindy breathed a sigh of relief, "Anyway, don't mention that small restaurant to Mike again for a while."

"I got it, Sister Cindy." Yu Yitong smiled and readily agreed.

But Cindy felt increasingly unable to see through Yu Yitong. There had been a couple of days when Yu Yitong seemed very down, coming to work in a daze, like a walking corpse.

And now she seemed to have regained her mojo and was even more dedicated than before.

This should... be a good thing, right?