樓外樓做足“東坡文章”

一

樓外樓人素來崇敬蘇東坡老先生。

在他們的店堂里，你能見到多幅由名畫家所畫的東坡行吟圖，因為他們知道，圖上老先生杖竹行吟那塊雜花生樹之地，上溯八九百年此地就在他們的店堂里外。

他們店堂里還有四塊名家書寫的木刻詩匾，刻的就是蘇老先生的名作：“水光瀲滟晴方好，山色空雨亦奇。欲把西湖比西子，淡妝濃沫總相宜?！边@是所有詠西湖詩中最好的一首。樓外樓人認為，老先生這首詩就是在他們的店門口寫的。因為，站在他們店門口，特別是登上他們樓上的露臺，放眼望去無論是“水光”還是“山色”，無論是“晴雨”還是“濃淡”，千般風姿，萬種嫵媚，都在眼前。

樓外樓好福氣，他們由衷感謝蘇老先生。

二

在一個半多世紀里，樓外樓的職業追求就是烹制各種美味佳肴，就是繼承和弘揚悠久的中華飲食文化。而蘇東坡這位名傳千古的偉人，對杭州及西湖特別有貢獻的老市長，恰恰又是一位歷代公認的、在飲食文化上的建樹和傳說特別多的美食家，這位史稱“蘇文忠公”的一代文豪傳給后人的“文”中，有一脈就是歸屬在源遠流長的中華飲食文化之內的。因此在中國很多地方，都有被當地人自豪地冠上“東坡”前綴的美味佳肴，如東坡肉、東坡鴨、東坡蹄膀、東坡魚、東坡豆腐以及東坡酥、東坡酒等等，特別是東坡肉幾乎無人不知，無人不曉。

在被列為“東坡美味”第一道的“東坡肉”之誕生地樓外樓，對這份遺產的價值自然有深刻的體會，因此他們始終抓住這一歷史文化底蘊，以菜名樓，以文興樓，這“菜”自然包括“東坡菜”，這“文”當然包括東坡飲食文化的“文”。

100多年來，一代又一代的樓外樓大廚們，都曾用這些有“東坡”前綴的美味讓無數的佳賓大快朵頤，這既為自己贏得了聲譽，也為企業的長盛不衰輸入了無窮的營養和力量。他們不僅在賓客盈門的店堂里一日又一日地燒制“東坡菜”、東坡酥，還在擁有一整套現代化食品加工設施的食品廠里大批量地生產真空包裝的系列“東坡美味”。這些“東坡美味”有十多個品種，一年的總產量近千噸。它們被送進杭州及上海、北京等地的大超市，送上了千家萬戶的餐桌，由此讓更多的人品嘗到了“東坡美味”。

樓外樓，在引以自豪的長盛不衰的經營之道中，頭一條就是做足“東坡文章”，特別是從上個世紀80年代以來，樓外樓以總經理沈關忠及現已退休的老書記張渭林為首的新一代當家人，更是動足了腦筋，傾注了心血，把“東坡文章”做得有聲有色，這在全國的同行中都產生了深遠影響：記得2003年國慶節前夕，杭州市政府為恢復西湖300年前的歷史風貌而進行的“湖西景區整治工程”竣工了，這是和當年蘇老先生治理西湖的性質和內容都相似的惠民工程。為了表示對這個工程的贊許和慶祝，也為了進一步繼承和弘揚東坡飲食文化及對這位“西湖大功臣”的紀念，樓外樓邀請了四個與蘇東坡生平密切有關的外省城市的同行，在西湖邊舉辦了一次“新西湖杯”中華“東坡宴”薈萃展。為了使這次盛會具有更濃的文化和學術氛圍，他們還特請了我省的著名宋史專家、省旅游研究會會長林正秋教授和江蘇的飲食文化專家、揚州大學烹飪系教授邱龐桐先生作顧問。

受邀的城市是四川的眉山、湖北的黃岡、廣東的惠州和江蘇的常州。它們和杭州一樣，與蘇東坡都有著很深的歷史淵源：眉山是蘇東坡的家鄉；黃岡和惠州是他的謫居之地；常州則是他告老去世之處。這些城市的東坡菜都很有名，這些城市赴會的店家也和樓外樓一樣，多年來都十分重視東坡菜的研究和烹制。杭州本地有十多家餐館參加，他們都在店門口掛起了“游新西湖品東坡宴”的大紅橫幅，都在店堂里陳列出自己烹制的東坡菜的樣品，于是一時間杭州形成了一股“滿城爭擺東坡宴”的熱潮。經過5個城市參展廚師反復的切磋交流及制作，最后有55道東坡菜在樓外樓的大堂里作了展示。然后由顧問及嘉賓品評，從中選出了15道精品東坡菜，組成了一席“中華經典東坡宴”。

這席“中華經典東坡宴”有葷有素，有冷有熱，來自相距千里的五省市用不同的原料及烹飪手法制作，并在文化內涵上都是與蘇東坡這三個字連在一起的：眉山蘇軾酒樓的“連鰲瓊樓”，就出典于蘇東坡和弟弟蘇轍應試時連過鄉試、禮部試、殿試三關而同中進士一事，“連鰲”者連占鰲頭也；黃岡德爾福美食廣場的“東坡蛋黃排”蘊含著蘇東坡和當地名勝安國寺僧繼蓮的情分；常州新淮揚酒店管理公司的“吟菊品人生”，就出自東坡先生的《后杞菊賦并敘》；惠州的“東坡紅薯”雖然晶瑩剔透，但令人一見就使人想起蘇老先生當年在惠州的清貧和困苦；東道主樓外樓的大廚們除了奉獻了特別菜品東坡肉、孤山三脆、兩味蝤蛑、東坡酥、玉糝羹外，還特地制作了一個名為“蘇堤春曉”的大拼盤：煙柳畫橋，長堤臥波，有花有鳥，有塔有島，全都是可賞可嘗的美味。

對此，特邀顧問林正秋教授作了這樣的評述：“這席菜肴，能使人領悟東坡飲食文化的過去和今天。它不是簡單地貼標簽，而是對傳統的中華飲食文化的繼承和創新，是當得起‘經典東坡宴’之稱的?！?/p>

三

《東坡浚湖圖》是一幀剛問世的大型東陽木雕壁畫，由工藝美術大師陸光正創作完成，近日展現在樓外樓的大堂。

蘇老先生雖然曾貴為太守，貴為龍圖閣大學士，貴為一代文豪，在中國的文化史上也稱得上是一位巨人，但由于他率真耿直，憂國憂民，一肚皮的“不合時宜”，他的一生過得并不順溜。掐指排算，他一生中最順利、最有成就的日子就要屬在杭州的前后五年了。在杭州公事之余，他或踏歌山間，或吟詩湖上，留下了諸多錦繡篇章。特別是他在整治西湖時提倡筑堤架橋，堤上栽柳種桃，使杭州西湖真正成了世上少有的天堂勝境，使“蘇堤春曉”成為西湖十景之首，一直為后人敬仰和樂道。正是有了蘇老先生這番勞作，那位比他晚生了100多年的南宋人林，來到花團錦簇的西湖邊才會心生感嘆，寫出“山外青山樓外樓，西湖歌舞幾時休”的詩句。也正是因了這詩句，樓外樓才會有如此響亮的店名而名揚天下。

如今掛在樓外樓大堂上的《東坡浚湖圖》，表現的就是蘇東坡浚西湖筑蘇堤架六橋的故事。這幀有85個人物、50平方米畫面的大型藝術作品《東坡浚湖圖》，氣勢恢宏，精美絕倫，令每一個為慕名而進樓外樓的賓客都會眼睛一亮，貴賓們在大飽口福之前總會先飽一番眼福。這幀壁雕由連成一氣的五個場景組成：問計于民、甘苦與共、萬民擁戴、東坡贈肉、惠澤千秋。它真實生動地記錄和反映了蘇東坡當年率眾浚湖筑堤的全過程。它是紀實的，又是抒情的；它是物質的，又是精神的。

這是蘇老先生的紀功碑，它將日復一日地向每一個來樓外樓的賓客講述900多年前的那段佳話，講述那位杭州人永遠敬仰和喜愛的“西湖太守”，講述前賢留給我們的恩澤和光彩。陸光正大師說，不發生特別的意外，這幀東陽木雕作品三四百年不會變形走樣。

這是樓外樓的鎮店之寶。它將提醒每一個樓外樓人：永遠不要忘記自己承襲的歷史與事業的責任。它清楚地宣示：做足東坡文章，就是要全面正確理解它所蘊含的歷史文化意義，永遠對它懷有崇敬和感恩之情。

Restaurant Traces Its Fortune to Song Poet

By Wu Liusheng

Louwailou Restaurant in Hangzhou always ascribes its gastronomic fortune to Su Dongpo (1037-1101)， the greatest poet of the Song Dynasty who governed Hangzhou for five years. The paintings that decorate the restaurant walls depict the poet who lost himself enchantingly in the spectacular lake view on the spot where the restaurant stands today. The wooden tablets in the restaurant carry calligraphic lines from a poem by Su， presumably the best of all the poems that sing of the West Lake in Hangzhou.

But the unique lakeside restaurant’s artistic bonding with the great literary master is not merely a matter of highlighting his poetic glory. A business started more than 150 years ago， Louwailou attaches top importance to Su Dongpo for a reason: the ancient mayor of Hangzhou is generally acknowledged as the most legendary epicurean in the country’s history. Age-old anecdotes about his contributions to the nation’s culinary art and about his passion for scrumptious cuisine are legion. Today， many traditional dishes in China proudly carry his courtesy name Dongpo to indicate their culinary origin and show their respect to the great gourmand.

But claiming Su Dongpo as its patron saint is more than a profit-oriented business strategy. Louwailou regards it an obligation to keep Su’s epicurean legacy and fantasy alive in a faithful and creative way.

Dongpo Pork， a dish well known all over the country， was first cooked up by chefs at the restaurant. For the past century and more， Louwailou chefs have allured foodies with house specials all flaunting Su’s name. Today， the restaurant has a state-of-the-art food processing facility that turns out nearly 1，000 tons of vacuum-packed food in a dozen of product lines per year， all carrying Dongpo in their brands， for supermarkets in Beijing， Shanghai， and Hangzhou as well as other cities across the country.

In October 2003， a large-scale dredging and face-lifting project was completed to restore the West Lake to its appearance of three hundred years before. To celebrate the success of the project which resembled Su Dongpo’s dredging project 900 years before， Louwailou Restaurant invited their counterparts in four cities where Su Dongpo once lived to present tasty dishes in memory of the great epicurean. The cities invited were Meishan of Sichuan Province， where Su Dongpo was born， Huanggang of Hubei Province and Huizhou of Guangdong Province where Su once lived in exile， and Changzhou of Jiangsu Province where he passed away. Chefs from these cities came up with their unique Dongpo dishes. Chefs from more than 10 local restaurants in Hangzhou also contributed their special understanding of Su’s culinary legacy. After rounds of preliminaries， 55 Dongpo dishes were displayed in the lobby of Louwailou. Then a panel of experts and VIP guests handpicked 15 from the 55 dishes to finalize a banquet menu， each of the 15 related to some event or someone important to Su in a specific period of his life.

To better display the restaurant’s roots in Su Dongpo’s great services to Hangzhou， Louwailou commissioned a master artist to create a Dongyang wooden sculpture. The masterpiece now has been on display in the lobby. The huge sculpted artwork， named Su Dongpo Dredges the West Lake， measures 50 square meters and depicts 50 figures. Although a giant in the history of Chinese literature and a high-ranking court official in his hay day， Su suffered miserably when he was exiled from the court. Given the ups and downs of his eventful life， the five years he spent in Hangzhou were stress-free and successful. It was in Hangzhou that he had the lake dredged， a causeway and several bridges built， trees planted around the lake. All this contributed to the making of the lake into what it is today. The Spring Dawn Round the Su Causeway， one of the top ten scenes of the West Lake， is named after him， testifying to his everlasting contribution.

Lu Guangzheng， the artist who made the sculpture， says that the artwork will well resist the wear and tear of time for at least 300 years without distorting its shape a bit. It is exactly what Louwailou wishes to see， for the restaurant wishes to carry its Dongpo legacy forward into the future.

(Translated by David)