Editor's Note: Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in restaurants in China? It turns out that chefs are extremely territorial about their dishes, and sensitive! In this story, translated from the Chinese media, two chefs in a large restaurant got into an all out physical fight after an argument over a dish. I would not want to be a customer waiting for my food in that restaurant!

A scrap in a large restaurant occurred when a Sichuan chef told a chef from Liaoning that he was making Hunan food incorrectly. The Liaoning chef slapped the Sichuan chef in the face. The two began to fight in the kitchen, in spite of having customers to cook for.

On Saturday, August 8, restaurants in Benxi, Liaoning were very busy as customers celebrated the start of Autumn according to the Chinese calender.

One large restaurant in Benxi's Cudong neighborhood was especially crowded. The restaurant is known for serving a great variety of dishes from Liaoning, Shandong, Hunan, Guangdong, Sichuan, Shanghai as well as Cantonese food. The restaurant is so large that it has over 20 chefs trained in each style of cooking.

That day the restaurant was full of customers, and the cooks were extremely busy. A customer ordered a dish of “Chairman Mao's Red Braised Pork.” The Liaoning chef was busy and hurriedly cooked the dish.

Too Little Spice

“Chairman Mao's Red Braised Pork,” is a dish that is native to Hunan, and is usually done by the restaurant's chef from Hunan. However, that day he had the day off, so the task was delegated to the chef from Liaoning, Chef Wang.

When Chef Wang was preparing to dish to be served, the Sichuan specialty chef, Chef Tao remarked, “You only put one chili pepper in the dish! The taste can't be right!” 

Hearing a Sichuan chef insult his Hunan food, Chef Wang felt like he had lost face. He immediately shot back, “You think everyone is like you! When you cook, half the plate is chili peppers. This is the Northeast! People from the Northeast do not like their spices that strong.”

Chef Tao replied, “Sichuan style uses a lot of chili peppers, but people from the Northeast eat spicy food as well. That does not mean you should only put one pepper in the dish. Red braised pork should be spicy, not greasy and oily.”

A Slap in the Face

Chef Tao did not expect that during his speech, Chef Wang would slap him across the face. “Too much sh*t, orders are adding up, cook quickly!”

Chef Wang's slap had been so hard that Chef Tao's face began to swell up. The slap made Chef Tao so physically angry that he continued to shout at Chef Wang in the kitchen about the differences between Sichuan, Hunan and Liaoning dishes. Chef Wang scoffed at his colleague. The two men began to wrestle in the kitchen. The other chefs all hurried over. The kitchen was a mess.

Some of the other chefs tried to break up the fights, while others watched gleefully. The whole time, no food had left the kitchen. The waiting customers were certainly unhappy.

Manager Calls Police

Hungry customers began to complain to the restaurant's manager who went to check out what the hold up was. When he stepped into the kitchen, he almost stopped breathing.

The manager quickly called for the men to stop and no one listened. He threatened to take away bonus pay, and still, no one listened.

In a huff, the manager called the police. Police mediated the situation on-site. Both chefs agreed not the press charges and Chef Wang agreed to pay Chef Tao 100 Yuan for medical expenses.

Source: QQ News

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Keywords: Restaurant chefs in China Fight between chefs