文艺；书评；餐饮业;请尽情享用;

　　A successful restaurant involves more than just good food;

　　一家成功的餐厅，提供的不仅仅是佳肴;

　　The Art of the Restaurateur. By Nicholas Lander.

　　《餐厅经营者应具备的技巧》，尼古拉斯·兰德尔著。

　　The past 30 years have been a golden age for restaurants, argues Nicholas Lander. They have emerged in the “most unlikely of locations, serving the most extraordinary food, and attracting the most exceptional following.” Celebrity chefs have received most of the credit for that. But their position is “overly lofty” in Mr Lander's view. Great cooks do not necessarily make great restaurants. Atmosphere, design, location and organisation matter, too. Food that is interesting to cook or impressive to look at may not be what people actually want to eat. Making the customer truly happy is the job, often unsung, of the restaurateur, who risks his money (and sometimes health, marriage and sanity) in one of the most stressful jobs in the world.

　　尼古拉斯·兰德尔指出，过去30年是餐饮业发展的黄金时期。各大小餐厅涌现在“各处出人意料的地方，提供各种不同凡响的美食，吸引了一批品味独特的饕客”。（对于此），各大名厨居功最高。但在兰德尔看来，他们被过度高捧了。有了好的厨师并不一定能经营起一家好餐厅。餐厅的氛围、装潢设计、地理位置以及管理方式等同样也是决定因素。做法独特或卖相极好的食物也不一定是最合人们胃口的。使顾客真正感到满意才是餐厅经营者的职责所在，但这常常被忽视。这些经营者把资金（有些甚至是健康，婚姻和理智）投入了餐饮业，而餐饮业是全球压力最大的行业之一。

　　The restaurant industry is huge: it turns over an annual $630 billion in America alone. Yet setting up a restaurant is one of the riskiest ventures. Around 60% of American eateries close or change ownership within the first three years. Mr Lander starts the book—and earns the reader's respect—with his own story, told in taut and self-deprecating style, of how as a 29-year-old, with “absolutely no professional experience” and battling epilepsy, he took over an 18th-century London townhouse and set up L'Escargot. This innovative restaurant drew a devoted clientele. Since selling the restaurant (for health reasons) in 1988, he has been the restaurant critic of theFinancial Times (owned by Pearson, a part-owner of this newspaper).

　　餐饮业的规模巨大：光是美国的年度营业额就高达6300亿美元。然而，开餐厅却是一项高风险事业。在美国，约60%的餐厅在开业后三年之内就会关门大吉或是转手卖出。兰德尔写这本书的时候，把他自己的经历也半是吹嘘半是自嘲地写了进去；他写道他29岁那时，在完全没有工作经验，还得同时与癫痫症对抗的情况下，买下了伦敦市内一幢18世纪的联排寓所，然后开了蜗牛餐厅——这肯定能赢得读者们的钦佩之情。（此后），这家富有新意的餐厅吸引了一批忠实的顾客。1998年，出于健康原因，兰德尔转卖了餐厅，并自此任职《金融时报》，专门撰写餐厅评论。（《金融时报》归培生集团所有，该集团是《金融时报》的合伙人。）

　　The bulk of the book is pen portraits of the people who run the world's 20 best restaurants, according to Mr Lander (with elegant illustrations by Nigel Peake). Though few readers will have the time and money, visiting all of these establishments would be a hugely enjoyable gastronomic education. Mr Lander's compass stretches from Hazel Allen's Ballymaloe House in rural Ireland to Danny Meyer's Union Square Café in New York. Others include Gilbert Pilgram's Zuni in California and St John—a British “nose-to-tail” restaurant that specialises in serving the animal parts that most chefs disdain.

　　据兰德尔所说，该书的绝大部分篇章都用来描写全球20家最顶级的餐厅的经营者。（该书还附有奈杰尔·皮克所画的精美插图。）如能拜访一下这些餐厅，那将会是一次愉快至极的美食体验，但很少读者能有足够的时间和金钱去实践。兰德尔这本书对许多餐厅进行了描写，从爱尔兰乡间那所哈泽尔·艾伦开的 Ballymaloe House到纽约丹尼·迈耶的Union Square Café全都在其中。其他的一些还有加州吉尔伯特·皮尔格拉姆的Zuni，还有一家叫“圣约翰”的英国餐厅。圣约翰专门供应一些许多厨师都不愿烹饪的动物部位。

　　In Il Vino in Paris (no menu, no wine list) customers are given the food and wine that Enrico Bernado thinks they will enjoy, such as Riesling with beef tartare, or a Savennières and Brittany lobster with sorrel. Some wines are even served “blind” in opaque glasses. Mr Lander witnesses a patron angrily protest against these principles, only to be charmed into grateful acceptance by the proprietor.

　　在巴黎的Il Vino餐厅里，没有菜单，也没有酒单。顾客们的食物和酒都是老板恩里科·伯纳多认为是合他们的胃口并因此安排的；有时是一瓶雷司令酒和牛肉泥，或是一瓶沙文尼亚酒和布列塔尼酸模龙虾。有些酒甚至要用不透明的玻璃杯送上。兰德尔曾目睹一位顾客对这些规矩大为火光，但最后为老板的风度所倾倒，都带着感激一一接受了。

　　Opportunities to salivate aside, the book also offers food for thought on the restaurateur's art. The “quintessential” challenge is managing the tension between the customer-centric wait staff and the kitchen lot, who care only about the food. A restaurant's name must be short and unforgettable. Details matter, from lighting to menu font. Outsiders (eg, an Italian in Paris) tend to be more successful than locals because they often make bolder choices. A bad kitchen porter (dishwasher) can be a catastrophe. Getting on with neighbours is essential: their objections to noise, smell and crowds can doom a place, even if the customers adore it. Don't open a restaurant until an alcohol licence is a certainty—but remember that the authorities dole them out only to places that can prove they are properly run.

　　除了说到令人垂涎的美食，这本书还对餐厅经营者所需哪些管理艺术这个问题进行了深入探讨。最典型的问题就是服务生和厨师之间的矛盾，前者认为顾客至上，而后者则只关心食物烹饪。餐厅的名字一定要简短精悍，一见难忘。此外，从采光设计到菜单字体等细节也很重要。外地人（比如在巴黎开餐厅的意大利人）通常会比本地人更成功，因为他们行事更为大胆。一个不称职的厨房杂工（比如说洗碗工）就可造成灾难性失败。和周边居民的沟通也很重要，因为噪音、异味和人流可能会引起他们的反感，这样的话，即使餐厅深受顾客欢迎，也难以为继。在酒类销售执照到手之前千万别急着开业；谨记一点，有关部门只会向那些能正当销售酒类的地方发放执照。

　　A particular treat is a 32-point list of instructions for staff at Polpo, one of five London restaurants run by Russell Norman, which serves cicchetti (Venetian side dishes). Be prompt not intrusive. No more than two minutes between ordering and receiving drinks—but leave people alone if they need time to decide. Make eye contact. Guide, but don't embarrass, those who try to order too much or too little.

　　Polpo是拉塞尔·诺曼在伦敦市内所开的五家餐厅中的一家，店内供有cicchetti（即一种威尼斯小吃）。Polpo采取了一种特有的处理方式，即把32条说明全列在员工守则表上。如，对顾客需求反应迅速但又要过于急进。点饮料到上饮料之间所用时间不得多于两分钟，但若客人需要时间考虑，就不要打扰他们。要进行眼神交流。对于那些点餐过多或过少的客人要进行引导，但不要使他们感到尴尬。

　　Success always seems as inevitable in retrospect as it is elusive when sought. Who would have foreseen that noodle bars with communal tables (Wagamama) would be a worldwide hit? Amid such mysteries Mr Lander highlights qualities that almost all successful restaurateurs share. Energy and a thick skin are vital. So are humour and a sense of proportion. Mistakes are inevitable but almost all can be put right with a smile, an apology and a generous gesture. Treated right, the unhappy customer becomes a lifelong fan.

　　人们回想过去的时候，总觉得成功本来是十拿九稳的，而在追求成功时，它却虚无缥缈。当初谁能想到一碗面条再加一张公共餐桌的就餐方式会受全球追捧？成功的奥秘多不胜数，而兰德尔则强调了那些顶级餐厅经营者所具备的一些共同特质。干劲和胆量至关紧要。处理事情有幽默感，而且还要有分寸。过失总是难免的，但笑容，道歉和一种大方的姿态通常能将问题化解。若招呼得当，不满意的顾客也能变成终身的忠实拥趸。

　　Mr Lander does not resort to the waspish prose that makes some other restaurant critics fun to read. But in these splendid establishments perhaps there was simply nothing to sneer at.

　　其他餐厅评论家所写的文章一般辛辣尖刻，读起来让人乐在其中，但兰德尔并没有使用这种套路。这也许是因为那些豪华上流的地方并没有什么东西让他可以取笑吧。