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Dinner Is Ready (Tell No One)
美食体验新方式:晚餐俱乐部
2012年06月22日10:41
(本文版权归道琼斯公司所有,未经许可不得翻译或转载。)
Lale Kesebi was hungry, and determined to make the cut.
蕾尔凯瑟比 (Lale Kesebi)下定决心这次一定要成功订到座位。
The 44-year-old, an executive director at Li & Fung, had already missed two installments of Once Upon a Table, a Hong Kong supper club whose location is secret, due to her busy travel schedule or being too slow on email to snag a seat. She finally enlisted the help of her assistant, who emailed the club at the stroke of 3 p.m., and again at 3:02 p.m. to confirm.
这位香港利丰集团(Li & Fung)44岁的执行董事之前已经错失两次在Once Upon a Table──香港一家地点隐秘的晚餐俱乐部──就餐的机会,原因要么是行程安排紧张,要么就是邮件发得太迟没有抢到座位。最终她请来助理相助,下午三点一到助理就给Once Upon a Table发了一封订位邮件,并在三点零二分再次发了一封确认邮件。
Ms. Kesebi's reward: Campari cocktails, hand-sliced salumi and salmon tartare with Parmigiano crisps, served at Once Upon a Table's Milanese-style evening in an undisclosed locale.
看看凯瑟比都享受到了什么美食──金巴利鸡尾酒手工切片的腌肉搭配帕尔马干酪片的三文鱼塔塔,一切都由Once Upon a Table在精心打造的米兰式晚餐中一一呈上,不过晚宴的地点却秘而未宣。
'You don't know where it is, you don't know what you're going to eat. You don't know what's going to happen and who's going to be here,' she said. 'There's a rare form of person who signs on for that, but honestly, when you do, it's good.'
Lolla’s Secret Suppers新加坡连锁晚餐俱乐部Lolla’s Secret Suppers的客人们正在聚餐。凯瑟比说,“你不知道它的地点不知道自己要吃的是什么不知道会发生什么事情也不知道会有谁在那儿。很少有人会订这样的餐,不过说实话,这么做的时候感觉很不错。”
This is the intriguing, and at times frustrating, world of secret supper clubs. You'll find them in San Francisco and London, Buenos Aires and Berlin, and increasingly, big cities in Asia. In Cuba, they're known as paladares. In Argentina, restaurantes a puertas cerradas. You might hear them referred to as underground or antirestaurants.
这就是令人向往有时又让人失望的秘密晚餐俱乐部世界。你能在旧金山伦敦布宜诺斯艾利斯和柏林这些城市发现它们的踪迹,同时它们的身影也越来越多地出现在亚洲的大都市。它们在古巴被人称为“paladare”,在阿根廷则被称作“restaurantes a puertas cerradas”,也许你还听过有人把它们称为“地下餐厅”或“非传统餐厅”。
More than a simple private kitchen, where a chef will present a menu in a single unlicensed premises, the best supper clubs combine good food and drink with an element of theatrics. That's where the hush-hush nature of many of them comes into play.
一流的晚餐俱乐部不只是简简单单的私家厨房(私家厨房通常位于无证经营场所厨师还会为你呈上一份菜单),它们将美食美酒与戏剧性元素融为了一体,许多晚餐俱乐部的隐秘性正是在这一点上得以体现。
'People are intrigued and excited by secrecy,' said Lisa Virgiano, who started her Jakarta supper club in 2009 in an effort to bring Indonesian home cooking to urbanites and expatriates. 'Most young people don't have any interest in trying traditional flavors unless you can create some hype,' she said.
2009年,丽莎弗吉亚诺(Lisa Virgiano)在雅加达开办了一家晚餐俱乐部,以此向城市居民和外籍人士推广印尼风味的家常菜。她说,人们对秘密活动感到着迷和兴奋,大多数年轻人对尝试传统风味食品没有任何兴趣,除非你能制造出一些噱头。
Last month she spotlighted the royal cuisine of Buton, an island in eastern Indonesia, with dishes such as free-range chicken grilled, slow-cooked and simmered with roasted coconut and spices; mashed cassava; yams wrapped in rice-flour dough and simmered with coconut milk; and caramelized toffee with roasted cashews. 'We were planning to hold the event on a floating boat,' she said, but couldn't find one big enough for all 40 guests, so instead settled on a traditional house in southern Jakarta.
在上个月,弗吉亚诺推出的印尼东部布顿岛(Buton)的皇家菜吸引了众人的眼球,其中包括加入烤椰片和香料慢火炖制的炖烤鸡(原料采用的是天然放养的鸡)木薯泥加椰奶炖制的米粉裹甘薯以及夹有烤腰果的焦糖太妃糖等。
'We create experiences,' said Carolyn Kan, a jewelry designer by day who co-hosts Lolla's Secret Suppers, a supper club series in Singapore, with her partner Hian Tee Pang, a Champagne importer. Attendees don't know the menu, chef or even address until the day before, and as an ice-breaking measure, they are encouraged to come solo.
她说,她们原本计划在一艘航船上举办那次晚宴,但是没能找到一艘足够容纳所有40名宾客的大船,于是便转而在雅加达南部的一栋传统住宅中举办。
Ms. Kan and Mr. Pang started their suppers in 2009 as an extension of their elaborate dinner parties. Though they don't cook themselves, they specialize in pairing unusual venues with elusive chefs. Recently, they held a feast of Peranakan food, which combines Chinese and Southeast Asian influences, prepared by septuagenarian chef Ewen Yap. 'He refuses to cook for anyone he doesn't like,' said Ms. Kan.
新加坡连锁晚餐俱乐部Lolla’s Secret Suppers的合伙人卡洛琳坎(Carolyn Kan)说,“我们为大家带去了体验。”坎在平常的工作为珠宝设计师,她的搭档Hian Tee Pang则是一名香槟进口商。直到宴会开始的前一天,与会宾客才能知道菜单的内容厨师是谁以及宴会的举办地。作为一个打破尴尬气氛的举措,宴会筹办方还鼓励宾客独自赴会。
In a shed occupied by a Singaporean sculptor, they served beef sambal and nasi ulam, an herbed-rice salad. Guests sat near a life-size bronze statue of three noodle-eating coolies. 'We specially select every component of the night,' Ms. Kan said.
坎和Pang过去常常举办精致的晚宴,他们在2009年更进一步开始创办晚餐俱乐部。他们并不自己动手烹饪,而是专门将别具一格的宴会场所与神秘莫测的厨师搭配在一起。最近她们举办了一次集中式美食与东南亚美食风味于一体的娘惹菜宴会,这次宴会由年逾七旬的大厨Ewen Yap操办。坎说,“他拒绝为任何他不喜欢的人做菜。”
Other clubs are just getting off the ground. In November, Tokyo resident Saiko Ena launched Utsa-Wa, pairing Masayo Funakoshi's oolong-cooked quail eggs and foie gras and persimmon terrine with unique pieces of utsu-wa, or Japanese pottery. The potters who create the dishes strive to recreate traditional tableware, making plates that are completely flat, for example, or bowls that can be used for tea or soup.
他们在一位新加坡雕塑家居住的棚屋中为宾客奉上了三口牛肉和“nasi ulam”──一种搭配多种蔬菜和香叶的米饭,客人们则坐在一座刻画三个正在吃面条的苦力形象的真人大小铜像旁用餐。坎说,“今晚的每一个细节都是我们特意精选的。”
Ready to eat? Ms. Ena, for now, limits invitations to 'friends of friends,' though she said that may change.
Utsu-Wa在东京,“Utsa-Wa”将食物与日本陶器搭配在一起。其他一些晚餐俱乐部则是刚刚起步。去年11月,东京的Saiko Ena 创办了“Utsa-Wa”俱乐部,将厨师Masayo Funakoshi加入乌龙茶烹制的鹌鹑蛋鹅肝酱柿子冻以及一件件独具风格的“utsu-wa”(即日本陶器)搭配在一起。烧造这些器具的陶艺师们力求重现传统的餐具形制,比如通体平坦的盘子和可以用来喝茶或喝汤的碗等等。
For foodies interested in starting a supper club of their own, the bar to entry is low. 'It's not about perfection. It's always very personal,' said Argha Sen, who started Once Upon a Table two years ago with four globetrotting friends. The events always occur in private homes, sometimes hosted by friends they've met through the meals, and while none of the organizers are professional chefs, they make everything from scratch. One supper dubbed 'Enter the Dragon' riffed on the lunar new year with smoking absinthe cocktails inspired by 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' and five-spice, pork-belly sliders they called 'Kiss the Dragon Buns.'
说到这儿,准备好开吃了吗?可惜的是,目前Ena的晚餐邀请只限于“朋友的朋友”范围,不过她说这也许会发生改变。
Technology, particularly social media, is key to the success and operation of several of the supper clubs. Once Upon a Table's reservation system, which requires sending an email at a precise time, is a nod to David Chang's hard-to-book Momofuku Ko in New York, and they build buzz for the dinners through Facebook.
对于有兴趣自己创办晚餐俱乐部的美食爱好者来说,进入这行的门槛较低。阿尔加森(Argha Sen)在两年前与四名游历全球见多识广的朋友合开了Once Upon a Table,他说,“它不求尽善尽美,它总是非常的私密。”晚宴总是在私宅中举办,有时就由他们在晚宴中结识的朋友主办。这些主办者无一是专业厨师,所有的东西都由他们一手自创。其中有一顿名为“喜迎龙年”(Enter the Dragon)的晚餐创意源自农历新年,其中烟熏味的苦艾鸡尾酒的灵感来源于电影《龙纹身的女孩》(The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo),他们还把他们做的五香猪肚堡称为“吻龙包”(Kiss the Dragon Buns)。
'We take lots and lots of really nice pictures and make sure everything looks beautiful,' said J.J. Yulo, co-founder of Pinoy Eats World, which hosts guerilla dinners around Manila. Guests assemble at a designated meeting point that they're told of by text message one day in advance, then they're whisked to the clandestine dining location.
对于其中一些晚餐俱乐部而言,科技手段特别是社交媒体是获得成功的关键所在。Once Upon a Table的订座系统要求客户在一个精确的时间点发送邮件,类似于David Chang在纽约一座难求的Momofuku Ko餐厅的做法,他们还通过Facebook为他们的晚宴做宣传。
Mr. Yulo, who was trained at the Culinary Institute of America, works with Chez Panisse alum Namee Jorolan to create modern, locally inspired dishes such as slow-cooked scrambled-egg 'croquetas' with truffle oil, a gourmet take on the Filipino delicacy balut (a boiled, fertilized egg, sometimes with an intact embryo). He has also served porchetta ciabatta with pickled green chilies, accompanied by a shot of local Red Horse beer. 'We're trying to go against the grain,' said Mr. Yulo. 'There has to be a sense of place.'
Cres Rodriguez YuloPinoy Eats World在马尼拉一带打游击似地四处举办晚宴。晚餐俱乐部Pinoy Eats World的联合创始人J.J. Yulo称,“我们拍了很多很多非常好看的照片,确保所有东西看起来都赏心悦目。”Pinoy Eats World在马尼拉一带打游击似地四处举办晚宴。客人们会在晚宴前一天收到告知他们指定集合地点的短消息,在该地集合后会被迅速带往秘密的晚宴地点。
While the underground nature of supper clubs and private kitchens can mean a smaller tab in the Western world, they often come with a premium in Asia. 'Dinners are not cheap,' said Sue-yen Tan, a public-relations executive who has paid 240 Singapore dollars (roughly US$185) for each of the Lolla's events she has attended.
Yulo在美国烹饪学院(Culinary Institute of America)接受过培训,他和在Chez Panisse餐厅工作的校友纳梅乔若朗(Namee Jorolan)创作了一些受到当地美食启发的现代菜式,例如用松露油慢火烹炒的炒蛋“croquetas”,这道美味颇具菲律宾美食芭露特煮蛋(煮熟的即将孵化的蛋,有时可见完整的胚胎)的风味。他还做过配有泡青椒的烟熏肉夹面包,佐餐的是当地的红马烈啤酒(Red Horse)。Yulo说,“我们希望走一条与众不同的路,其中必须有一种地域感存在。”
The requirements and uncertainty that come with secret-supper-club territory can be exasperating for some and thrilling for others. 'Only certain people are attracted to things they don't know,' Ms. Tan said. 'The common element is everyone likes food, they like wine, they like to travel.'
尽管晚餐俱乐部和私家厨房的隐秘性质可能意味着它们在西方的收费会比较低,它们在亚洲的价格却常常是偏贵的。从事公关工作的Sue-yen Tan说,“晚餐的价格并不便宜。”她每次在Lolla’s吃饭都要花240新元(约合185美元)。
'I've met a lot of new people. It's like a breath of fresh air for me,' said Karen Leung, a Hong Kong-based wine broker who has attended four Once Upon a Time events and calls supper clubs 'part of my lifestyle.' She still recalls her first, which kicked off with prosecco with a dash of Hershey's syrup and bacon bits. 'Some people thought it was really weird, but I actually enjoyed it,' she said. 'In a way they're not bound by rules of what should be done.'
秘密晚餐俱乐部的要求和不确定性让有些人感到气恼,却又让另外一些人激动不已。Tan说,“只有某些人会为他们不知道的事情所吸引,共同点是每个人都喜欢美食,他们都喜欢美酒,喜欢旅行。”
Ms. Leung used to tell friends about her meals but is starting to reconsider. 'Now that I've experienced being bumped off the list, I'm going to slow down on my referrals,' she said.
香港红酒经纪人Karen Leung则说,“我遇见了许多以前我不认识的人,这对我来说就像一股清新的空气。”她曾经参加过四次由Once Upon a Table举办的晚宴,并称晚餐俱乐部是她“生活方式的一部分”。她依然记得第一次参加Once Upon a Table晚宴的情景,一开始上的是加入了少许好时(Hershey’s)糖浆和培根粒的起泡酒。她说,“有些人认为它实在是很奇怪,实际上我却比较喜欢。在某种程度上它不会受到规定你应该做什么的条条框框的限制。”
Lara Day
Leung过去常常向她的朋友们介绍Once Upon a Table的晚宴,现在她开始有了新的想法。“因为我已经有过订不上座的经历了,因此我要放慢自己推荐的速度。”