Chapter 660: Michelin Three Stars
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It was evening when Li Du met with Cole Winston.
Considering that Cole was able to rush over from New York, which was in the northeast of America, to Las Vegas, which was in the southwest of America, on the same day he received the news, it was apparent that he valued Li Du and the batch of gemstones.
This also demonstrated that he was most likely practical, low profile, and easier to talk to.
Of course, Cole Winston's looks were also such. Although he had the looks of a celebrity, he resembled the comedy star, Jim Carrey. This was especially so for his eyes and nose.
For an average person, looking like that was a good thing. However, for the CEO of a company, looking like a comedy star was unfortunate.
Quite a few times, when Cole Winston had been raging in the meeting room, there were people laughing instead. After he asked for the reason, the other party very honestly told him, "Thought we saw Jim Carrey performing."
Every time he encountered such a situation, what else could he do besides say 'Motherf*cker'?
For the three generations of the Winston family, the evolution of their appearance was similar to the evolution of their capability. Harry Winston looked clever and capable while Ronald, although not as clever, looked very dignified. When it came to Cole, he looked comedic . . .
Previously in the office, Li Du had done research on Cole Winston and the history of Harry Winston. The evaluation that the outside world had on the three generations of the Winston family was, using a common saying in Li Du's hometown, "The mouse under the weasel, each generation is worse than the last!"
Despite that, Li Du did not feel this way based on Cole's appearance and felt that Cole was most likely easy to talk to. As the Chinese would say, he had a kind appearance.
After Roger had introduced both parties to each other, Cole shook Li Du's hand and said, "Hello Mr. Li. Twenty days ago, I heard about you from Roger. You really are an outstanding youngster."
Li Du responded politely, "Thank you for the compliments. President Winston, it's an honor to meet you here. This is really great."
"Yes," Cole said, "this is indeed great. From the way I look at it, this meeting is to Harry Winston what the joining of forces at Jinggang Mountain was for your country!"
Li Du was shocked. "You even know this historical event of my country."
Cole broke into a reserved smile. This was something last minute that he had come up with on the plane.
After a short exchange of greetings between both parties, they went straight to the point. Cole wanted to go and see the batch of gemstones.
The authentication of the gemstones, which was still in progress, was about to be completed.
There were no problems with the nature of the fire opals and they were all genuine. Currently, the opals were being appraised and categorized according to their quality.
During which, the high-quality opals were appraised first as priority was given to them. The appraisal for the 50 best pieces of fire opals was completed first and their suggested prices were also out.
The best piece of opal, which was 342 carats, was a large, high-quality gemstone that had a vibrant red forest pattern. This opal was extremely valuable.
The marked price of this piece of opal was 4,500,000 dollars, which was already close to the total value of the 50 plus pieces of opal that Li Du had sold before. This was very normal as the output of fire opals was too low.
Seeing the price, Cole's eyelids twitched a few times. His eyelids twitched more and more violently as he continued reading the suggested prices:
Suggested price: 2,850,000 dollars. Suggested price: 2,200,000 dollars. Suggested price: 1,920,000 dollars. Suggested price: 1,550,000 dollars . . .
After he finished browsing through the suggested prices, the appraisal was still in progress. With too many gemstones this time around, it was likely that the appraisal would not be completed in a day's time and hence, would need to be continued the next day.
At night, Roger introduced a three Michelin star restaurant for them to dine in. The restaurant, which was the only three Michelin star restaurant in Las Vegas, was called
"Joël Robuchon."
The restaurant was famous for its traditional French cuisine. It was located in a small secluded garden inside the MGM Grand Las Vegas Hotel. The group of them went into the small garden and walked through a winding path before seeing the restaurant.
The style of Joël Robuchon was more akin to a private clubhouse rather than a restaurant. The restaurant provided a shuttle service, which used Lincoln limousines for customers who had made a dinner reservation.
This was not the first time Li Du had entered a Michelin star restaurant. Blonde d'Aquitaine in Flagstaff was Michelin starred but had only one Michelin star.
Many people knew that Michelin was a tire brand. Michelin restaurants themselves were not related in any way to the Michelin company, who ranked these restaurants from one star to three stars. The greater the number of stars, the higher the rank of the restaurant.
Blonde d'Aquitaine paled in comparison to Joël Robuchon.
This was to be expected as the main chef of Joël Robuchon was a well-known chef who was given the title "Chef of the Century." When he was 38 years old, he had obtained three Michelin stars for the restaurant, which was the highest honor. To this day, he was the youngest talented cook to obtain three Michelin stars.
Even though Blonde d'Aquitaine's decor was very exquisite, the decor here could be described as meticulous, down to the last detail. Although it did not seem like much when taking a glance at the restaurant as a whole, it got better the more you looked because every single detail was strictly placed to perfection.
After entering the restaurant, a beautiful French lady came over to welcome them.
Roger handed his name card over to the lady. After checking the reservation list, the lady brought them to the secondary dining room.
The restaurant consisted of a main dining room and a secondary dining room. The main dining room was large and gorgeous. Its color palette changed every season. As it was currently winter, the color palette of the decor was marine blue.
Even though the secondary dining room that they were in was smaller, it was more serene and elegant. Its walls were filled with ivy leaves while the floor was decorated with flowers, which were not flower arrangements but actual fresh plants.
After they were seated, Roger explained to Li Du, "Sorry Li, we are only able to entertain you in the secondary dining room this time around. We were not able to reserve a place in the main dining room in time as the reservation has to be made one week in advance."
Li Du waved his hand. "You are too kind, friend. The environment here is excellent. I am very satisfied. For now, let's not focus on formalities and order food. I kind of can't wait anymore."
The restaurant had the combination of appetizer, soup, main dish, and dessert. The specialty here was a 12-course main chef's selection set meal, which cost 2,400 dollars.
Indeed, just one meal here required 2,400 dollars . . .
Roger recommended this set meal to Li Du. After considering the financial situation of Harry Winston, Li Du decided to order the dishes himself instead.
He ordered seafood salad with truffle for the appetizers, British bean soup flavored with peppermint and pepper for the soup, and king crabs with cream sauce as well as Italian stewed rice with lobster and sea urchin for the main course.
After hearing the dishes Li Du ordered, Roger said, "Let me recommend you a dish: roasted duck and goose liver with cherry sauce. I think that as a Chinese, you probably like eating roasted duck. If you like roasted duck, you should not miss this."
As it was hard to decline his good intention, Li Du did not dismiss his recommendation and ordered another main dish.
There was no worry that they would not be able to finish the food as this type of restaurant was not designed to fill the stomachs of their customers.
Compared to the small basket of pre-meal bread found on the tables of ordinary Western restaurants, Joël Robuchon's opening was much grander. They straightaway brought over a cart filled with all sorts of bread for them to freely choose from.