青岛小镇:“随想曲”：伦敦餐厅繁荣30年的秘密

伦敦的“随想曲（The Caprice）” 摄影：Steve Davies

Running a successful restaurant has always been notoriously difficult, especially in lean times such as these. This year, around 140 restaurant businesses have failed each quarter (according to Stephen Broome of accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers), but despite this, a clutch of eateries continue to thrive, whatever the economic weather. What is the secret ingredient that so many seem to lack, but which keeps some restaurants in steady business for decades?

众所周知，经营一家成功的餐厅总是困难重重，特别是在当下这样的拮据时期。今年以来，每季度约有140家餐厅关张（据普华永道会计事务所的Stephen Broome称），尽管如此，一批小饭馆继续兴旺繁荣，无论经济阴晴。那么许多餐厅看起来都缺乏，而恰恰是维持一些餐厅数十年来稳定经营的秘密要素是什么呢？

This week one of London's best-loved restaurants Le Caprice – known for its celebrity clientele and unfussy, comforting food – reopens its door after a refurbishment to celebrate its 30th birthday. Thirty years, that is, since restaurateurs Chris Corbin and Jeremy King bought and relaunched it in September 1981. Le Caprice was originally opened in the West End 1947 by Mario Gallati, who had launched the Ivy 30 years before that. "There are these institutional restaurants," says Richard Harden, co-founder of Harden's restaurant guides, "which have gone on for ever. Rules is another one."

本周，伦敦最受喜爱的餐厅之一“随想曲（Le Caprice）”——因它的名流顾客和简洁、舒适的食物而闻名——在为庆祝30周岁生日修整一新之后重新开张。30年，是指从1981年九月餐厅老板Chris Corbin和Jeremy King买下它并重新开张算起。“随想曲（Le Caprice）”最初是由Mario Gallati于1947年开张于伦敦西区，他在此30年之前开张了“常春藤（Ivy）”餐厅。“这些制度下的餐厅，”Richard Harden——哈登餐厅指南的共同创办者——称，“永远流传下去。规矩则是另一条了。”

It is no coincidence, says Harden, that one of the longest-running restaurants, Le Gavroche in Mayfair, was founded by a French family. The British don't have a strong tradition of children taking over their parents' restaurants in the way they do in France or Italy, he says, so the natural lifespan of a long-standing restaurant is around 30 years, "when the owner decides to retire, or someone makes a good offer". The brothers Albert and Michel Roux opened Le Gavroche's doors in 1967, and it is now run by Albert's son Michel Roux Jr (his cousin, Alain, now runs the Waterside Inn at Bray, which Albert and Michel Sr launched in 1972).

"One of the secrets is staying true to your roots," says Roux Jr. Dishes such as the cheese souffle have been on the menu since the beginning. "We're a French restaurant, we're renowned for our classics so they have to be on the menu, but we have evolved. If you don't, you become staid, and your customers get tired." Holding your nerve through difficult times is key. "We have been through several recessions … the winter of discontent, the IRA bombing campaign, 9/11 … Experience helps, and [the ability] to make the best of what you've got without compromising quailty … when times are hard, you must never compromise on quality because that is the first thing your customer will see."

“秘密之一是真诚对待你的根，”Roux Jr说。乳酪蛋奶酥这样的菜肴从一开始就出现在菜单上。“我们是一家法国餐厅，我们因我们的经典美食而声誉卓著，所以它们必须出现在菜单上，但我们也不断演变。如果不这么做，你就会变得古板保守，那么你的顾客就会感到厌倦。”在困难时期关键是要绷紧神经。“我们经历过数次经济衰退……不满之冬（Winter of Discontent）、爱尔兰共和军的爆炸活动、911事件……这些经历帮助了我们，充分利用你所得到的而不在质量上妥协（的能力）……当时局艰难，你绝不能在质量上妥协，因为那是你的顾客看重的首要事物。”

However, he continues, "restaurants are not just food-led. It must be a whole experience for the diner - service, decor, ambience. And consistency." To which hiring and retaining great staff is key – Silvano Giraldin was at Le Gavroche for 37 years before he retired as its general manager in 2008. And the general manager of the Waterside Inn, Diego Masciaga, has worked with the Roux family for nearly 30 years.

然而，他继续说道，“餐厅不只是食物导向型的。对用餐者来说这必然是一整套体验——服务，装饰，氛围。还有一致性。”为达到上述条件，关键在于雇用和留住好员工——Silvano Giraldin在“流浪儿（Le Gavroche）”干了37年，于2008年在总经理的职位上退休。“水边客栈（Waterside Inn)”的总经理，Diego Masciaga，他与Roux家族共事了将近30年.

Similarly, Jesus Adorno was head waiter at Le Caprice in 1981 and is now the director; one of the fixtures its customers expect to see, along with the salmon fishcake that has never left the menu. If a restaurant serves intricate, overtly fashionable dishes, he says, "you end up changing them more often. Here people come expecting their favourite dish. Whenever we change it, I have an outcry."

同样地，Jesus Adorno在1981年曾是“随想曲（Le Caprice）”的领班，现在则是主管；与从未离开过菜单的炸三文鱼饼一样，他也是顾客期望看到的固定不变的事物之一。如果一家餐厅供应复杂的、明显时髦的菜肴，他说，“你将以太过频繁地改动菜肴而告终。来这里的人们期望他们最喜爱的菜肴。每当我们改变它，我都要强烈抗议。”

It is also crucial to resist hiking up the prices in the wake of success, says Adorno. "People would say to Jeremy King and Chris Corbin, 'Why don't you put your prices up?' They would say 'Why? We're making money, customers are happy.' When they left [King and Corbin sold their restaurant group to Richard Caring in 2005], I followed the same philosophy. I don't want customers to feel they are being taken for a ride."

抵抗随着成功而来的涨价也至关重要，Adorno称。“人们过去总对Jeremy King和Chris Corbin说，‘你们为什么不涨价？’他们俩常说‘为什么要涨价？我们已经在赚钱了，顾客们都很高兴。’当他们离去之时（King和Corbin于2005年将他们的餐厅团队卖给了Richard Caring），我遵循了同样的哲学。我不想让顾客们感到他们是冤大头。”

Of course, not all long-standing restaurants are celebrity haunts. Paul Milsom has worked at Le Talbooth in Essex, which his father opened in 1952, since he was 13. Their secret? "It starts with a great location, whether that's Jermyn Street [in Mayfair] or out here in beautiful countryside," he says. "Then it's about serving the kind of food your customers want to eat. So many restaurants don't end up cooking for their customers, they cook what their chef wants to, or they cook for the guidebooks or accolades … If a star chef spends two or three years with us, when they leave we have to start again."

当然，并非所有的长期存在的餐厅都是名流常出没之处。Paul Milsom工作于塞克斯郡的“监狱（Le Talbooth）”餐厅——他的父亲开办于1952年，从他13岁起。他们的秘密是什么？“这都始于绝佳的地理位置，不论是（伦敦上流住宅区梅菲尔）的哲曼街还是这里美丽的乡村，”他说，“然后是供应你的顾客想吃的那种食物。许多餐厅以没有为顾客烹饪而告终，他们烹饪出厨师想做的菜肴，或者他们为美食指南或赞扬声而烹饪……如果一名星级厨师与我们共事两三年，当他离开我们就不得不重新开始。”

Finally, he says, when you're out of town, success depends on local trade. "In London, if you have a great name for yourself, there will be a constant flow of new people who want to go. We don't have that, but we have a fantastic community of people who live near us and we have to look after them so they come back time and time again."

最终，他说，当你不在城里，成功取决于当地贸易。“在伦敦，如果你有好名声，将有固定流量的新顾客想去你那里就餐。而我们没有这种条件，但我们有不可思议的一社区的人们住在我们附近，我们必须关心他们，他们才能一次又一次地回来光顾我们。”