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There were eight domestic competing restaurants and eight from abroad. Given that Top Tier Restaurant was in Beiping, Chef Arno only wanted to battle with Taifeng Building. As the show's funding came from him, he was the real sugar daddy of the program, and the competition format turned into seven plus one.
The domestic restaurants participating were Top Tier Restaurant, Taifeng Building, Yonghe House, Eight-treasure House, Taste House, Bazhen Restaurant, Cheng Ji Restaurant, and Huaiyang Building. Four of the eight restaurants were in Beiping, with Bazhen Restaurant and Taste House being the most well-known among the remaining four.