Secret to Success in a Restaurant

By You Jin [Singapore]

One day, I went to a French restaurant for lunch. Located in Bogota, the capital of Colombia,this very special and charming restaurant was only open from 11 am to 4 pm, six days a week.

Eric, the owner of the restaurant, who knew the psychology of the customers quite well, created his own menus and dishes and cooked them carefully.You can sit at the counter and enjoy the food while chatting with him freely. Eric said, “We all know that writing, painting, music, and dance are parts of the arts. In fact,cooking is a more comprehensive art, a mixture of vision, taste,smell, and touch. Serving a dish is like presenting a piece of fine art.How can a chef take it lightly?”

A small blackboard hanging at the counter lists the menu from Monday to Saturday. The restaurant only provides three different dishes per day, and the menu is changed once a week.There is no identical menu in a 6-month period.

Eric said with confidence, “We only provide a few dishes each day, so that the chefs can make them perfect. What we are trying to achieve is to make our cuisine unforgettable even if customers only have it once.”

It was Wednesday, and there were four dishes on the blackboard: “Pumpkin soup,braised pork, sausage with sauerkraut, grilled salmon.”

Eric said with a smile, “Other restaurants mostly take beef and chicken as the main ingredients.We choose pork and fish instead,and create thousands of different dishes.”

We ordered the three dishes and one soup. Unexpectedly, Eric shook his head and said to us earnestly, “That's too much for you two. Each of you just needs to order one dish.”

When the chef handed the braised pork to Eric, he stopped talking, and concentrated on decorating the dish. He carefully placed the braised pork on the golden mashed potatoes, and then added purple eggplant,orange carrot, green long beans,and light brown mushrooms.The dish turned colorful, like a garden filled with the brightness of spring. The light aroma was like a mist, lingering around my nose.I suddenly felt extremely hungry.The seemingly common braised pork was quite delicious. The soft fat seemed to be melting, and the lean meat was smooth, delicate,and chewy. It was amazing that such a small piece of meat had such a rich taste.

Sausage with sauerkraut was another wonderful dish. The cabbage had been sealed in a jar for three weeks before it was taken out. The sour taste was just right. The sauerkraut was simmered with a first-class white wine. The mellow wine flavor mingled with the mild sourness,creating a remarkable taste. The dish combining the sauerkraut with the well-seasoned sausage was just unbelievable!

Why was the restaurant providing such tempting cuisine only open for lunch?

Eric told us, “Whatever business you are in, you need to balance work and rest. If the chef gets tired, he will probably fail to keep making satisfactory dishes.Our team also needs time to develop new cuisine.”

Although Eric's restaurant is a small one, his philosophy of business and life is thoughtprovoking. The secret to his success is actually simple:sincerity.

(From The Forgotten Paradise,Haitian Publishing House.Translation: Chen Jiani)

秘 訣

文/ [新加坡]尤今

那天中午，去一家法國餐館吃飯。這家餐館在哥倫比亞首都波哥大極具個性與魅力，一周只開六天，每天從中午十一點到下午四點營業。

餐館老板艾力深諳待客之道，他自創菜肴，用心烹制。你可以坐在柜臺邊，一邊讓美食游走于齒頰間，一邊和他海闊天空地聊天。艾力侃侃而談：“世人只知道寫作、繪畫、音樂、舞蹈是藝術，其實烹飪更是一門綜合性的藝術，它是視覺、味覺、嗅覺、觸覺四者的圓融結合。一盤食物上桌，無異于呈獻一款精美藝術品，廚師又哪能掉以輕心呢？”

柜臺旁掛著一個小黑板，寫著由周一到周六的菜譜。餐館每天只推出三種不同的菜譜，菜單每周更換一次，半年內絕不重復。

艾力信心十足地說：“菜品少，廚師便可以把菜肴做得盡善盡美。我們希望達到的境界是，認顧客吃一次，記一世。”

今天是星期三，黑板上寫著四個菜：“南瓜湯、燜豬肉、酸菜肉腸、烤三文魚。”

艾力微笑著說：“其他餐館，多以牛肉和雞肉作為主打食材。我們選用豬肉和魚類，變幻出與眾不同的萬千菜肴。”

三菜一湯我們就都點了。沒想到，艾力竟然搖了搖頭，懇切地說：“太多了，吃不完的。你倆只要各點一樣，就夠了。”

廚師把燜豬肉遞給艾力后就不說話了，只專心做他的盤飾。他小心翼翼地把燜豬肉擱在金黃色的土豆泥上面，配上紫色的茄子、紅色的蘿卜、翠綠的長豆、淡褐的蘑菇。色彩豐富，仿佛春天滿園春色；而那輕輕柔柔如霧的香氣，似有腳，娉娉婷婷地徘徊于鼻端。饑餓的感覺立刻變得窮兇極惡。這表面上看似淡定的燜豬肉，內里卻充滿了暴烈的激情，肥肉將融未融、酥軟銷魂，瘦肉卻充滿了光滑精致的彈力；小小一塊肉，有著百轉千回的豐富滋味。

酸菜肉腸又是另一幅好風景。包菜放在壇子內密封長達三周，取出，酸味正好，用上好的白酒慢火熬煮。甘醇的酒味和柔和的酸味交融在一起，形成了一種絢爛的風情。以它搭配千錘百煉的肉腸，那種感覺，只能用“艷麗”兩個字形容。

菜肴如此誘人的餐館，卻只做中午的生意，為什么呢？

艾力說：“不管從事什么行業，都得勞逸結合呀。廚師一累，便可能失手，做出遺憾的菜肴。我們的工作團隊也需要時間好好地研發新菜式呀。”

艾力經營的是一家小餐館，可是，他卻有著許多發人深省的經營哲學和處世之道。秘訣其實是簡簡單單的兩個字：誠意。

（摘自《被人遺忘的天堂》海天出版社）