《全球美食地图》（美国国立博物馆季刊）
Does the Classic Paris Meal Still Exist?
何处寻觅地道巴黎美食？
Two food lovers set out to learn whether the Paris dining experience of their youth can still be found
两位老饕打算去寻觅年轻时的巴黎味道。
原文链接：http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/smithsonian-journeys-travel-quarterly-copy/
By Don and Petie Kladstrup
作者：唐纳德&佩蒂·克兰德斯特拉普
Smithsonian Journeys Quarterly
《美国国立博物馆旅行季刊》
February 9, 2017
2017年2月9日
It happened in MontMartre. One quiet afternoon, on a cobblestone street where Toulouse-Lautrec, Utrillo, and Picasso once trod, an oil painting caught our eye in the window of Galerie Roussard, one of the oldest, most famous art galleries on the Butte. The dream-like restaurant scene featured indistinct black-suited waiters in long, white aprons passing among tables draped in red cloths, a bottle of wine on one, a carafe of water on another. It evoked a long-vanished era, a moment frozen in time.
就在一个宁静的下午，在巴黎蒙马特一条鹅卵石铺就的街道旁，便是在布特（Butte）地区名闻遐迩，经营最久远之一的鲁萨德画廊。透过橱窗，里面的一幅油画吸引了我们。画面是梦幻般的餐厅场景：侍者们几乎都一样的穿着，黑衣服，前面系着白色的长围裙。他们在铺着红色桌布的餐桌间穿梭往来。时而给这桌摆上瓶红酒；时而给另一桌添上一瓶水。而我们脚下踩着的鹅卵石街道，那些当年著名的画家，如图鲁斯·劳特累克（注：十九世纪，法国后期印象主义著名画家），郁特里罗（注：法国风景画家）和毕加索都曾在上面走过。此情此景唤起了那些久已被时间尘封的记忆。
“Impressive, isn’t it?” The question startled us. We looked up to see the bearded but youthful face of the gallery owner, Julien Roussard, who then invited us inside. Up close, the painting came alive, waiters scurrying from table to table bearing steaming bowls of pot-au-feu and platters of roast chicken. A napkin tucked under his chin, a diner tore apart what looked like a lobster. At another table, a man and woman held hands, their food ignored on the table before them.
“画面挺感人的是吗？”这句问话把我们拉回了现实。我们端详着画廊主人，朱利安·鲁萨德先生留着胡须，但脸庞年轻。他邀请进画廊欣赏。靠近观赏，刚才油画般的景象立刻变得鲜活了：侍者们托着热气腾腾的砂锅炖菜和烤鸡在餐桌间不停穿梭。一位顾客脖子下夹着餐巾，切开了一只类似龙虾的菜品，另一桌上，一男一女正牵着手，完全无视桌上的美食。
“Bouillon Chartier,” noted Roussard, “is still a working restaurant,” first opening in 1896 and now classified a monument historique. “Nothing has changed there in the last hundred years, and nothing is likely to change in the next hundred.”
“这就是夏提耶餐厅（Bouillon Chartier）”鲁萨德说“一个还在经营的百年老店。”这家餐厅1896年开业，现在已成为一个历史景点。“过去百年，餐厅一点儿都没变，接下的一百年估计也会保持原样。”他说。
The painting by Serbian artist Marko Stupar took us back to those exhilarating days in the fall of 1978 when we first arrived in Paris and Don took a post as a foreign correspondent for CBS News. Nothing then disappointed us: The Eiffel Tower, houseboats and barges on the River Seine, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, and the majestic Champs-Élysées were just as we had imagined. But it was the restaurants that truly dazzled us. We’d heard, of course, so much about the glories of French cuisine, but nothing had prepared us for the experience. We plunged into the dining scene with unending appetites, worshipping at such temples of haute cuisine as La Tour d’Argent, Ledoyen, and Taillevent, but not forgetting either to pay tribute to the smaller, more modest cafés and restaurants. We were hooked.
这幅塞尔维亚艺术家马可·斯图帕的画作，把我们带回到了1978年秋天的美好时光。那时，我们刚来到巴黎，唐纳德在哥伦比亚广播公司谋得了一个外籍记者的职位。巴黎的一切没有令人失望：埃菲尔铁塔；塞纳河上往来的游船；巴黎圣母院，以及宏伟的香榭丽舍大街，都和我们之前想象的那般。但真正让我们眼花缭乱是巴黎各式餐馆。虽然来之前，我们听闻了很多对法国餐饮赞誉，但并未真正品尝过。来到巴黎后，我们敞开肚子一头扎进了当地美食，朝圣了殿堂级的高档餐厅，如银塔餐厅（La Tour d’Argent），乐朵颐餐厅（Ledoyen），大伊风餐厅（Taillevent）。同时，对那些不起眼的小咖啡馆和小饭店的美食也念念不忘，我们中了法国美食的毒。
In France, eating has traditionally been something more than satisfying hunger pangs. “A profound love of great food and wine has always permeated French society and the country’s identity,” says Alexander Lobrano, author of Hungry for Paris: The Ultimate Guide to the City’s 109 Best Restaurants, one of the most thoughtful guide-books currently available. “The French phrase les arts de vivre (the arts of living) includes good cooking and conveys the deep seriousness with which the French shop, cook, and consume food. They talk and think about it constantly.” Stupar’s painting articulated les arts de vivre perfectly. The motion and energy of a restaurant, the color, taste, and texture of the food, and the care with which it was prepared. The celebration and sensuousness of the act of eating.
在法国的传统中，饮食的意义远不止果腹那么简单。“对美食和红酒的深爱渗透到法国社会的每个角落，它们也成了法国的象征。”亚历山大·洛布拉诺说。他是《老饕终极指南：巴黎109家最佳餐厅》一书的作者。该书也是目前最详尽的巴黎美食指南。“法语中，生活的艺术包括了厨艺。在法国的餐厅，厨师和消费者看来，可是件严肃的事。也是他们常常谈论和思考的事。”墙上斯图帕的画作清晰而完美地诠释了生活的艺术。繁忙且充满活力的餐厅，食物的色香和纹理，以及周到的服务，完全是一场舌尖上的盛宴。
But the painting also reminded us how Paris restaurants have changed over the years since our first visit. And in many cases for the worse. Certainly we had become more selective if not more finicky with age: Now authors of a couple of books on wine and veterans of 35 years living in the city, we were no longer ingénues. Eating in Paris had become for us an expensive, often disappointing trial. We had grown tired of having to call weeks or months in advance for reservations. Prices had skyrocketed. The proprietors of small, cozy places, whom we’d come to know as good friends, had retired or passed away. In time, we drifted away too.
然而，油画场景也提醒着我们，自打我们一次接触巴黎餐饮后，多年来的发生变化。当然，在巴黎生活了35年，而且写了几本有关红酒的书以后，我们在美食方面不再是菜鸟了。因此，口味也愈发挑剔。现在，在巴黎去餐厅吃饭变得越来越贵，并且试过后口味常令人失望。对于那些需要提前数周或者数月订位的餐厅早已心生厌烦。菜品价格飞涨。同时，那些温馨的小餐馆老板们，曾经的老朋友，却退休的退休，离世的离世。看来，我们也得离开江湖了。
But that painting of Bouillon Chartier had tantalized us with thoughts of lost pleasures. When a friend compared our habit of not eating out in Paris to visiting the Louvre and not seeing the “Mona Lisa,” we knew that something had to change.
那幅描写夏提耶餐厅画作，让我们对失去的好时光唏嘘不已。而当一位朋友听说我们生活在巴黎，却不再习惯上馆子，就说我们像是到了卢浮宫，却没有参观《蒙娜丽莎》一般的遗憾。我们突然明白要改变一下了。
图为2013年时的夏提耶餐厅
But where to start? Much like a first-time visitor, we felt lost and confused. We dusted off our trusty red Michelin, albeit out of date, but how could it compete now with the stack of much newer guidebooks, slew of blogs, and dozens of Internet crowd-sourced sites? We decided to start with a few places we remembered from the old days.
但一切从哪里开始? 我们很像是是初来乍到巴黎的游客，感到不是所措了。拿起曾经信赖的红色封面米其林餐厅指南，掸去上面的灰尘。然而，这本老旧的指南，真能够和现在一大堆新出版的餐厅指南，美食博客，还有那数十个资源丰富的美食网站媲美吗？我们决定凭着旧时的记忆，从记忆中的餐厅开始寻觅美食。
First stop, Val d’Isère. As the first place we ate when we arrived in Paris, it was our sentimental favorite. Just off the Champs-Élysées, near the Arc de Triomphe, the charming, old-fashioned brasserie featured ancient wooden skis on the walls along with photographs of ski champions of yesteryear. The same waiters always served and took great care of us. Aside from the plat du jour, the menu never changed. Val d’Isère felt eternal.
我们的第一站是“溪谷”（Val d’Isère）。当年，刚来巴黎时第一次尝试的餐厅，也是我们情感上的牵挂。餐厅就在香榭丽舍大道，靠近凯旋门。记得这家老派的啤酒屋的墙上用古老的木制滑雪板做装饰。旁边是一排去年滑雪冠军的照片。那里的侍者也都是我们熟悉的面孔，而且对我们照顾很周到。除了推荐的当日特色菜，他们家的菜单从来没有变化过，那时感到，溪谷啤酒屋好像会永远存在下去。
To our dismay, we found that it wasn’t: Val d’Isère had been transformed into an African-themed bar called the Impala Lounge. We couldn’t bear to go inside.
但令人沮丧，我们发现现在“溪谷”已变成了一家名为“黑斑羚”非洲主题酒吧。我们实在不想进去了。
We then approached Jamin, which we remembered as a simple, yet elegant, small restaurant—not far from the apartment we first lived in near Place du Trocadéro—that the equine-loving owner had decorated with engravings of famous horses. Since our first visit in 1978, ownership had changed, with the restaurant at one point becoming the home of celebrated chef Joël Robuchon, who had earned his third Michelin star there.
随后我们去了雅明餐厅（Jamin）。记忆中，它是一间装修简单但雅致的小餐厅。离开我们当时居住的夏乐宫附近的公寓不远。餐厅的老板钟情马匹，餐厅也用那些名驹的雕刻来装饰。自1978年我们首次造访后，餐厅几番易主。一度它还成了名厨布松的家。期间，他第三次获得米其林之星。
Much to our relief, Jamin had reverted to its more humble roots as a solid neighborhood restaurant, serving delicious food in a relaxed, warm, and friendly atmosphere. Don’s delicately grilled coquilles Saint-Jacques (scallops) were served on a bed of crème de poireaux (leeks), while Petie’s cannelloni aux légumes (vegetable cannelloni) was surprisingly rich and bursting with flavor.
庆幸的是，雅明餐厅现在还是一家低调的街坊餐厅。餐厅的菜品可口，氛围惬意温馨。唐纳德点的烤扇贝，制作精致，扇贝底下铺满了大葱末；我点的意大利蔬菜卷令人齿颊留香，令人称奇。
Now, feeling more confident, we returned to La Tour d’Argent, where we had enjoyed one of the most spectacular meals of our lives. Seated at a table overlooking the Seine and the Cathedral of Notre Dame, we had celebrated our 25th anniversary, gorging ourselves on foie gras, scrambled eggs with truffles, and roast duckling, all washed down with glasses of champagne and a sublime bottle of Burgundy.
我们现在变得更有自信了。我们再次去了银塔餐厅（La Tour d’Argent）在那里，曾经尝到了我们生平最难忘的美味。坐在餐厅，你可以俯瞰塞纳河，远眺巴黎圣母院的美景。在那里，我们庆祝了结婚25周年纪念日。记得那天，我们尽情享受着鹅肝酱，混合着松露的炒鸡蛋，法式烤鸭。畅饮了几杯香槟酒，外加一瓶顶级的勃艮第红酒。
On the way to our table, we passed photographs of patrons that included kings, queens, and movie stars. Nothing seemed to have changed.
就在侍者领位时，餐厅的墙上满是曾经来这里用餐的名人照片，其中有国王，皇后，影星。似乎一切都和当年一样。
But the magic had faded. The restaurant had shed two of its coveted three Michelin stars and taken harsh criticism in the press. Lobrano believes many high-end restaurants have lost their way and become distant and patronizing. “The rites and rules of traditional three-star dining weren’t making people happy anymore,” he told us. “Prices had become astronomical, and everything was too formal.”
然而，餐厅已风光不在，因为备受媒体批评，它已经从令人垂涎的米其林三星级餐厅降级为一星餐厅了。洛布拉诺相信很多高端餐厅都迷失经营方向，对顾客变得冷漠且自我感觉高人一等。“在这些传统的米其林三星餐厅用餐时的繁文缛节不再让顾客感到愉快。菜价也高的离谱，里面的一切都让人感到拘谨不已。”
A chef who once worked at La Tour d’Argent agreed. “Before the current problems, gastronomic restaurants were lively places, jovial places for enjoying yourself. But then we created museums—that’s what went wrong—museums with heavy atmosphere. People want warmth. We have to make everything lighter, including the bill.”
一位曾在银塔餐厅工作过的厨师也赞同这一看法。“当年，这些餐厅是生机勃勃的场所。置身其中，每个人都能感受到愉悦。后来，我们把这些餐厅经营成了博物馆，死气沉沉。我们走错路了。顾客需要温馨的体验，我们应该让一切变得轻松，包括账单。”
Yet despite these dire observations, there’s never been a better or more exciting time to eat in Paris. “In the last ten years, there’s been a pretty spectacular renewal of the Paris landscape,” says Lobrano, who has eaten in more Paris restaurants than practically anyone else. “A new generation of really talented young chefs has created a new type of bistro. That’s where the best eating is in Paris today.”
尽管这些现实很骨感，但巴黎餐饮仍有不少可圈可点的地方。“过去10年间，巴黎的美食地图经历了巨变。新一代的大厨确实富有才干，他们重新定义了小酒馆。这就是现在城中最佳的餐饮场所。”洛布拉诺说。他品尝过的巴黎餐厅可能比任何人都多。
Parisians call it bistronomie, from the mashing together of bistro and gastronomie. Whereas bistros traditionally featured limited menus and a casual dining environment, bistronomie boasts a range of rich, inventive dishes, often reflective of globalizing forces. New chefs are coming from Spain, Scandinavia, Japan, Australia, and the United States. Antoine Westermann, who earned three stars at a restaurant in Alsace and now runs Mon Vieil Ami, summed up the bistro world when he told us, “My goal is not to impress but to bring out emotion, like a nice soup, a really nice soup, so nice that you can’t remember when you last had the same.”
这就是巴黎人说的“小酒馆运动”，传统小酒馆和美食充分融合。以前，传统小酒馆特点是用餐气氛休闲，但能提供的菜品有限。而今的小酒馆能做出大量创新菜品满足客户需要，这也是拜全球化力量所赐。新一代大厨群体来自世界各地：西班牙，斯堪的纳维亚，日本，澳洲和美国等。安东尼·韦斯特曼就是其中之一。他以前在阿尔萨斯工作的餐厅赢得了米其林三星的荣誉。现在，他在巴黎经营一家名为为“老友记”（Mon Vieil Ami）餐厅。他总结道：“我希望这里的菜品能唤起客人的情感，而不是留下个印象。好像一碗真正的靓汤，让你感到这碗美味好像在你人生中初相见。”
Four years ago the American couple Braden Perkins and Laura Adrian opened Verjus, a restaurant and wine bar near the Palais-Royal in the heart of Paris. “It’s been exciting to discover French products for the first time and to be cooking with them,” Perkins says. “It’s thrilling to be in the kitchen.”
四年前，美国夫妇布雷登·帕金斯和劳拉·艾德里安在巴黎市中心的皇宫附件开了间“酸葡萄汁”（Verjus）的餐厅兼红酒吧。“当见到这些法国食材并进行烹饪时，我们真是感到激动。”
But it didn’t start out that way. “Center of Paris Under Attack by Americans!” screamed one French headline. Today it’s much different. Most of the French press now raves about their cooking, and that of other foreign chefs as well.
事情一开始并不顺利，“巴黎市中心被美国人攻陷！”当时有法国媒体头条这样报道。而现在不同了，大部分法国媒体都对他们的厨艺赞不绝口，包括其他外国大厨的手艺也被热议。
“There’s a real brotherhood among the guy and gal chefs in Paris,” says Wendy Lyn, creator of The Paris Kitchen, a website that serves as the true insider’s guide to the culinary scene. “They are very open and welcoming.”
“巴黎的男女大厨之间的关系如同手足，他们之间非常包容和热情。”温迪·琳说。她创办了名为“巴黎厨房”（The Paris Kitchen）的网站，为烹饪工作提供真正的内行指引。
Now even the French chefs, many of whom had left the country after becoming disillusioned with the stultifying traditions, are returning, armed with new ideas and more experience. “French cooks are excited to be cooking in their own country again,” Perkins said. “They are thrilled to be doing something different.”
而今，那些曾经对老一套烹饪传统感到乏味，进而远走他乡的大厨们也纷纷回来了。他们有着各种新点子和更丰富的经验。帕金斯说：“在自己国家烹饪法国菜更带劲，他们充满激情地尝试新的菜品。”
图为：克里斯丁·勒·史奎尔在五号餐厅
图为：雅尼克·阿赖诺站在乐朵颐餐厅门口。
图为：安东尼·韦斯特曼在德鲁昂餐厅的厨房工作。这是他负责的几家巴黎餐厅之一。
图为：菲利普·拉贝在其工作的银塔餐厅。
We asked Westermann whether Paris still stands at the epicenter of world-class cuisine.
我们问韦斯特曼巴黎是否仍是世界级美食之都?
“No, no,” he responded vigorously. “It was, but it isn’t now. To a large extent, French cuisine has become world cuisine.” He challenged us to go to another country, close our eyes while eating, and try to identify where we are. “You can eat fabulously in so many different places.”
“当然不是。”他迅速答道，“曾经是，如今法国菜在很大程度上已遍布世界各地。”他让我们可以去个其他国家，闭上眼睛去尝尝当地的法国菜，看能不能吃出这个国家的味道。“世界各地能做出可口法国菜的餐厅多不胜数。”
Still, it came as a shock when the New York Times last year reported that a hefty percentage of French restaurants relied on ready-made meals produced offsite in large industrial kitchens. “Can Anyone Save French Food?” the paper asked.
尽管如此，《纽约时报》去年刊登了一篇令人瞠目的报道，称不少法国餐厅都是采购工业化厨房里制作的成品来充数的。“谁来救救法国菜？”报纸问道。
The primary reason for the reliance on mass-produced food appears to come from diminishing profit margins brought about by new labor laws, which cut work hours to 35 a week. The article deeply embarrassed France’s culinary establishment. Soon afterward, authorities launched a promotional campaign encouraging restaurants that prepare food on the premises to display a fait maison, or house-made, label.
而发生这事的主要原因在于法国的新劳动法。新法规定雇员每周工作时间不得超过35小时。这大大压缩了餐厅的利润空间。《纽约时报》的报道令法国餐饮业界十分难堪。没多久，当局就推出了一项活动，鼓励那些自制菜品的餐厅，能挂上“自制菜品”的标志。
But when most of the country’s restaurants turned up their noses at the program, the government quickly dropped it and said it would try something else. The “kerfuffle” over industrial kitchens has not, says Lebrano, “impinged on the quality of French food.” Paris is still the ultimate destination for those seeking that classic meal. “I don’t think there’s a pyramidal hegemony of dominance in the realm of gastronomy anymore, but France remains the ultimate gastronomic reference.” Top among the reasons are the country’s extraordinary produce and rigorous system of culinary education, as well as the presence of a food-educated public with a keen interest in good food.
当法国大部分餐厅准备这么做时，政府又迅速终止这项活动。洛布拉诺认为，围绕工业化厨房的这场风波，没有影响到法国餐饮的质量。巴黎仍是寻觅经典美食的老饕们的终极目的地。“餐饮界如金字塔般的森严等级已不复存在。但法国仍是终极美食的标杆。”主要原因在于法国独特而严格的烹饪教育体系，以及受过烹饪教育的公众对于美食的热情。
Still, the question we dread the most when a friend comes to France is “Where should I go for a classic French meal?” We tossed that question to Lyn, who advises many Paris restaurants and leads food tours for professionals and private individuals. She laughed. “It’s all about expectations,” she said. “Recommending a restaurant is almost like setting up a blind date. You hope it works out.”
每每被来法国的朋友问及“去哪里才能尝到经典法国餐？”时，我们就会怕得要命。把这个棘手的问题丢给温迪·琳来回答吧。她向专业人士和个人推荐过很多巴黎餐厅。她笑着说：“这都要看顾客的心理预期。推荐一家餐厅，犹如替人做媒，你只能盼着有好结果。”
While bistros may claim much of the inventive energy now in Paris cuisine, the high-end restaurants should not be written off. “A three-star is not the experience people are looking for in the way they used to,” Lyn points out. “People were hit in the wallet too hard, but I think the creativity is still there.”
虽然巴黎的小酒馆不断积极推出创新菜品，但高端餐厅的魅力仍不能被一笔抹杀。“在米其林三星餐厅的美食体验，可不是随便就能获得的。虽然价格不菲，但那些餐厅仍有其独到之处。”温迪·琳指出。
In restaurants like Le Cinq and Ledoyen, new young chefs have taken over, bringing a creative and provocative flair to high cuisine. It’s still possible to come to Paris and enjoy that blowout, once-in-a-lifetime experience of fabulous food, presented with great service in elegant surroundings.
如在五号餐厅（Le Cinq）和乐朵颐（Ledoyen）这样的高档餐厅，新一代主厨已开始当家。他们在制作高端菜品中，不断发挥他们的创造力和天分。因此，来巴黎，你仍能在优雅的气氛中，享受优良的服务，还有一辈子难忘的美食体验。
For that kind of meal, we like Epicure, a chic, discreet restaurant that focuses on traditional French haute cuisine, in the renowned Bristol Hotel. “It’s the hardest level to cook at,” says chef Eric Frechon, “because at its best, all of its complexity should be invisible.”
品尝这种高水准的佳肴，我们爱去布里斯托酒店（Bristol Hotel）里的“老饕”餐厅（Epicure）。餐厅时尚而又低调，专攻法国高档美食。餐厅主厨艾里克·福瑞雄告诉我们：“要做好顶级菜品十分困难。因为，厨艺的最高境界就是将所有食材的味道融为一体。”
But most of the time we find ourselves these days at bistros. Top on our list is Le Grand Pan, a neighborhood spot advertising cuisine sans chichis, a meat-lover’s paradise. Our marvelous côte de boeuf pour deux (rib steak) was enough to feed an entire rugby squad.
当然，这些天我们大部分时间在光顾各式小酒馆。首选就是“大潘”（Le Grand Pan），就在我们家附近，餐厅广告牌写着“本色餐厅”。“大潘”是“肉食动物”的天堂。他家的牛肋排足够喂饱整支英式橄榄球队。
We are also fond of Mon Vieil Ami, Westermann’s little bistro on Île Saint-Louis. Vegetarians can eat well there (and carnivores too). One of us had paupiettes de veau with fricassée de légumes (stuffed veal with vegetable fricassee); the other ordered velouté de potiron and risotto aux épinards et champignons (a pumpkin soup with spinach and mushroom risotto). Both dishes elicited sighs of pleasure. Other bistros drawing rave notices include Paul Bert, Akrame, Le Chateaubriand, Frenchie, and Septime.
我们也挺喜欢位于圣路易斯岛上，韦斯特曼打理的小酒馆“老友记”。我们品尝了炖小牛肉时蔬卷；菠菜蘑菇炖饭和南瓜汤。菜品都做得赏心悦目。还有些小酒馆也口碑不错，如：保罗·伯特（Paul Bert）,阿克雷米（Akrame）,大牛排（Le Chateaubriand），法国佬（Frenchie）和七分位（Septime）。
In our journey through Parisian cuisine, we had, of course, one place we had to visit: the restaurant in that painting, Bouillon Chartier. Gallery owner Roussard offered to call the artist and arrange a lunch there. “It’s the best I can do, because Marko won’t sell the painting. He’s decided he wants to keep it for himself.”
寻觅巴黎美食之旅我们岂能错过夏提耶餐厅，也就是油画中描绘的餐厅。画廊老板给那位画家打了电话，安排一起在夏提耶餐厅午餐。“我只能做到这些，马可不会出售这幅画作，他想自己留着。”
Stupar, a 79-year-old who sported a ponytail and a Vandyke, had captured the place beautifully, down to the waiters in black vests and white aprons pirouetting expertly among the tables, writing orders on the paper tablecloths. Complimentary glasses of champagne arrived at our table. As the waiter turned around, he knocked a glass into Stupar’s lap. Before we could blink, a replacement sat in front of him and a thick wad of napkins appeared to soak up the spill. Stupar laughed as he dabbed at his shirt. “I’m glad I wasn’t sketching.” The hubbub, happy diners in animated conversations, the waiters moving too quickly among tables crowded closely together—they were all part of the dining experience.
画家马可已经79岁了，留着马尾辫，下巴蓄着尖髯。餐厅和他画作中表现的一样漂亮，侍者们穿着黑背心，前面系着白围裙，在餐桌间轻盈而熟练地穿梭，在纸桌布上点单。侍者给我们端来了赠饮香槟酒。当其中一位侍者转身时，不小心把一杯香槟洒到了画家的膝盖。我们还没有来得及看清，旁边一位侍者已经用一大块厚毛巾把洒出来的香槟吸干了。马可拍了拍衬衣大笑了起来。“好算好，刚才我没有在写生。”餐厅里的喧哗，顾客们愉悦的交谈，侍者们在拥挤的餐桌间飞快地穿梭，这些都成了我们用餐体验的一部分。
The food? Let us put it this way. The restaurant is a place where atmosphere is truly everything.
美食？这么给您说吧，餐厅的用餐氛围真的是最重要的。
