Two stars of the Paris dining scene now have a pied-à-terre in Hong Kong. Last August, Fred Peneau, formerly the business partner of I?aki Aizpitarte at Le Chateaubriand, and the chef Christophe Pelé joined with the interior designer Charles Pelletier to open Serge et le Phoque, a contemporary French restaurant in the heart of the Wan Chai district. (The restaurant was named both after and by Mr. Peneau's young son, Serge, who thought that le Phoque, French for "the seal," would be a good companion to Le Dauphin, or "the dolphin," another of Mr. Peneau's ventures.)
巴黎美食界的两大明星现在已进驻香港。去年8月,巴黎小酒馆(Le Chateaubriand)伊纳基·艾兹皮塔特(I?aki Aizpitarte)的前商业伙伴弗雷德·佩诺(Fred Peneau)和主厨克里斯托弗·珀莱(Christophe Pelé),与室内设计师夏尔·佩尔蒂埃(Charles Pelletier)联手在湾仔中心地带开了一家现代风格的法式餐厅——塞尔日与海豹(Serge et le Phoque)。(佩诺年幼的儿子塞尔日[Serge]以自己的名字为餐厅命名。在法语中,le Phoque是海豹的意思。Le Dauphin是海豚的意思,也是佩诺另一家餐厅的名字。塞尔日觉得“海豹”会是“海豚”的好伙伴。)
With its product-focused cooking, natural wines and artfully unkempt waiters, this restaurant would easily feel at home in eastern Paris. The service is eager to please, if occasionally distracted. "I have to keep telling them to stop looking in the mirror," said Mr. Pelletier, who runs the floor.
这家餐厅注重在烹调时突出食物自身的美味和天然葡萄酒,服务生刻意显得不修边幅。这一切让人觉得这仿佛就是巴黎东部的一家餐厅。服务员极力想让顾客满意,即便他们偶尔会分心。负责管理餐厅的佩尔蒂埃说,“我得不停地告诉他们不要照镜子。”
He also designed the room. That irresistible mirror covers the back wall, reflecting a whitewashed space furnished with pale plywood tables and mint green banquettes. Plate-glass windows bring a lively street scene indoors. (One oddity: A trip to the bathroom means visiting the parking garage next door.)
房间也是由他设计的。令人无法抗拒的镜子遮住了后墙,反射出一个刷成白色的房间,里面摆有白色胶合板餐桌和薄荷绿色的长凳。大玻璃窗映射出热闹的街道景象。(奇怪的地方:去洗手间要去旁边的停车场。)
The menu changes regularly. Many of the ingredients are Japanese or European, including the meat, which comes from the Parisian butcher Hugo Desnoyer.
菜单会定期更换。很多原料都来自日本或欧洲。比如,肉是由巴黎肉商雨果·德努瓦耶(Hugo Desnoyer)提供的。
Like the room, Mr. Pelé's presentations are stark and modern — but that belies their bold flavors. Sauces and starches are rare. Elements are assembled more than combined, but the results are generally cohesive and often delicious. On my last visit, a pure pea gazpacho was enriched by a quivering hen's egg, garnished with paper-thin rice wafers black with squid ink. Raw yellowtail was thickly cut and seasoned by salty bottarga, peppery radish and throat-tickling olive oil. Mackerel was shrouded by lardo di colonnata and crowned with squeaky enoki mushrooms. Rare lamp chops sat atop charred eggplant, a piece of herring perched on the rim. Ruby beet sorbet brought out the bitterness in a thick caramel sauce.
就像房间一样,珀莱装盆的方式非常简约、现代——但这掩盖了他们大胆的口味。他们很少用调味汁和芡粉。各种原料放在一起,但并不相互融合,但结果却通常很和谐,而且美味可口。我上一次去这家餐厅时,厨师在一碗纯豌豆冷汤中加入了弹性十足的鸡蛋,上面配有浸沾了墨鱼汁的薄米饼。生黄尾鱼被切成厚片,并用咸鱼子、辣萝卜和让人嗓子发痒的橄榄油调制。鲭鱼外面裹了腌猪白肉,上面覆盖着咬起来咯吱作响的金针菇。烤茄子上放了一块半熟的羊排,旁边还配有鲱鱼片。红色的甜菜冰糕上淋了厚厚一层焦糖酱,吃起来有点苦。
With all this mixing-and-matching, a board of ripe cheeses from Alléosse, a fromager in Paris, settles any doubt as to whether this is a French restaurant, as does the butter on the table, straight from Brittany.
这样的混合与搭配,再加上来自法国巴黎Alléosse奶酪店的熟干酪,还有桌上摆的来自布列塔尼的黄油,会打消你有关这是否是一家法国餐厅的任何怀疑。