Le Richer 巴黎的名廚咖啡屋
Le Richer looks like dozens of other modernised Paris cafés, with 1960s-style chairs, exposed stone walls brightened with mirrors, and bay windows looking on to an unremarkable Right Bank street. The coffee provides the first clue that something is different: made with beans from the fashionable Left Bank roaster Coutume, it reveals an attention to detail increasingly common in bistros but still rare in the neighbourhood café. The same care goes into the inventive food served at lunch and dinner, which easily rivals that of much pricier restaurants in Paris.
Le Richer與巴黎諸多現代風格的咖啡屋大同小異——配備着上世紀60年代風格的椅子、裸露的石牆因掛有鏡子而顯得蓬蓽生輝，透過飄窗可眺望右岸地區(Right Bank)的尋常街道。它提供的咖啡就是展現自己與衆不同的第一道風景線：其咖啡豆來自時尚左岸地區(Left Bank)的Coutume咖啡烘焙店，Le Richer對每個細節都精益求精，這在巴黎的餐廳越來越司空見慣，但在周邊咖啡屋仍屬鳳毛麟角。同樣的事無鉅細態度還體現在獨出心裁的午餐和晚餐，與巴黎價格不菲的高檔餐廳相比，它們的水準毫不遜色。
Combining the warmth of a local hangout with the high standards of a modern bistro, Le Richer belongs to a handful of hybrids that are transforming Parisian café culture. Instead of contenting themselves with bitter mass-produced coffee and a predictable menu of salads, croque-monsieurs and steak-frites, these gastro cafés are allowing ambitious chefs to express themselves in a casual setting.
Le Richer把本地人流連忘返的溫馨感與現代風格小餐館的高水準合二爲一，作爲爲數不多的混合經營咖啡館，正在改變巴黎的咖啡文化。它們並不爲大量提供苦咖啡以及一般的沙拉、法式火腿乾酪熱三明治(croque-monsieurs)以及薯條牛排(steak-frites)而沾沾自喜，相反，這些美食薈萃的咖啡屋允許有抱負的廚師在寬鬆的環境中肆意發揮。Le Richer was created by Charles Compagnon of the nearby bistro L’Office. His no-reservations annex might look more relaxed but Le Richer’s young chefs are turning out sophisticated dishes such as veal cheek with creamy polenta, daikon radish and grapes. Churros are a speciality for dessert, perhaps with walnut crème anglaise, prunes and figs. The chatty waiters joke with customers at the bar, while the bartender shakes up cocktails such as the cucumber slide or the kiwi-kiwi. The organic and natural wines come from passionate small producers, as does the tea served in the afternoons.
Le Richer由夏爾•孔帕尼翁(Charles Compagnon)在毗鄰L’Office小餐館的地方創辦。它不接受預訂的附加條件也許看起來很隨意，但年輕廚師精心推出了用奶油玉米、白蘿蔔以及葡萄搭配的牛頰肉這等精美絕倫的大餐。巧羅絲(churros)則是本店的特色甜點，也許再配以英式核桃奶油醬、梅乾以及無花果。健談的服務員不時與顧客在酒吧間開着玩笑，而酒吧間服務員則在調製cucumber slide與kiwi-kiwi雞尾酒。這些天然有機葡萄酒由小型酒莊精心釀製，它供應的下午茶同樣如此。
A precursor to places like Le Richer was Café Constant, the popular bistro annex of Michelin-starred chef Christian Constant’s more formal restaurant Le Violon d’Ingres. Constant has since opened a second casual restaurant, Les Cocottes, and helped launch the seafood restaurant Les Fables de la Fontaine – both also on rue St-Domininque in the smart 7th. But Café Constant remains his favourite place to perch at the bar with an unlit cigar in his mouth and survey his mini-empire. Though it closes between lunch and dinner, it’s open all morning for breakfast, making it a friendly meeting spot in this neighbourhood of moneyed families and politicians.
Le Richer這類咖啡屋的“始作俑者”是遠近皆知的Café Constant，它是米其林星級廚師克里斯蒂安•康斯坦特(Christian Constant)名下較爲正規的Le Violon d’Ingres餐廳的分設咖啡屋。康斯坦特隨後又開設了一家更爲休閒的Les Cocottes餐館，並且幫助開設了Les Fables de la Fontaine海鮮酒樓——這兩家餐廳都位於時尚第七區的聖多米尼克街(rue St-Domininque)。但Café Constant仍是康斯坦特最喜歡的咖啡屋，他喜歡坐在酒吧間，嘴裏叼着雪茄，得意地掃視自己的“迷你帝國”。儘管它在午餐與晚餐之間關門歇業，但整個上午都都開門供應早餐，這使它成爲附近富裕家庭與政客們青睞的聚餐之地。Instead of the complex food served at Le Richer, Café Constant’s kitchen focuses on revisiting such childhood classics as eggs mimosa, veal cordon bleu and roast chicken – and even a French grand-mère would have trouble rivalling its versions. If some more modern dishes make it on to the menu, such as grilled prawn tart with baby spinach salad and frothy lemongrass sauce, the desserts are the stuff of nostalgic fantasies: profiteroles, floating island, crème caramel, flaky apple tart. Often abused in ordinary cafés, these puddings reclaim their rightful place here.
與提供複雜美食Le Richer不同的是，Café Constant專注於提供讓食客重溫雞蛋含羞草、藍帶牛肉以及烤雞這些兒時的美味佳餚——製作水準甚至連法國老奶奶也望塵莫及。如果說用涼拌嫩菠菜及起泡檸檬香草醬搭配的烤蝦撻是菜單中不斷推陳出新的現代菜，那麼空心甜餅、覆有蛋白的蛋糕、焦糖蛋奶以及片狀蘋果餡餅就是回味無窮的經典懷舊甜點。在一般咖啡屋通常不受待見的這些甜點在這兒算是重新找到了自己的歸宿。Another restaurant offshoot is Buvette, where the chef simmers free-range chicken in red Burgundy for classic coq au vin, a dish rarely seen in bistros nowadays. Behind this cosy café billing itself as a “gastrothèque” is Jody Williams, who opened a nearly identical restaurant in Greenwich Village in 2011 before realising that Paris could also benefit from a dose of old-fashioned French cooking.
另一家高檔餐廳下設的咖啡屋是Buvette，那兒的大廚用勃艮第紅酒慢燉散養雞，烹製出經典的酒悶仔雞(coq au vin)，這道菜如今在小餐館裏已經難覓蹤影。這家自詡美食薈萃(gastrothèque)的溫馨咖啡店店主是喬迪•威廉姆斯(Jody Williams)，他2011年在格林尼治村(Greenwich Village)開設了幾乎一模一樣的餐廳，而後意識到傳統法式烹飪也可大饗巴黎的美食饕餮。Croissants sit on the counter beside American cakes in the morning, while at lunch and in the late evening the croque-monsieur on country bread with pickles on the side puts most Paris cafés to shame. Heartier dishes such as l’os à moelle (bone marrow) and cassoulet take centre stage at dinner, though small plates – black pudding with apple on toast, or salads (perhaps raw Brussels sprouts tossed with Parmesan shavings) – are also available. As at Le Richer, the coffee, wine and cocktails are top-notch.
每天早上，羊角麪包與美式蛋糕一起擺在櫃檯上；而午餐以及晚餐時，放在鄉村麪包上的法式火腿乾酪熱三明治，旁邊再配以醃菜，讓巴黎多數咖啡屋無地自容。骨髓以及豆燜肉等熱菜儘管用小盤子盛放，卻是晚宴的壓軸菜——此外還供應吐司麪包上放着蘋果黑布丁及沙拉（或許是灑着乾酪屑的生球芽甘藍）。在Le Richer咖啡屋，咖啡、葡萄酒以及雞尾酒都是出類拔萃的水準。Where the down-to-earth yet charming café Le Cherche Midi once stood, Café Trama has created a winning formula with its old-meets-new decor of vintage tiles and Swedish furniture – and food that reflects the same spirit. Among the dishes listed on the blackboard menu are lentils with poached eggs and mackerel, and an unlikely but successful steak tartare flavoured with ginger and lemongrass.
在原先實在卻又可人的Le Cherche Midi咖啡屋原址上，Café Trama咖啡屋創建出成功模式——用仿古瓷磚與瑞典式傢俱打造出傳統與現代合二爲一的裝修風格，而它的飲食也體現了同樣風格。菜單就寫於黑板上，其中包括了荷包蛋與鯖魚搭配小扁豆，以及可欲不可求卻又美味無比的生薑與檸檬香草做就的韃靼牛扒。Most tempting of all are the cakes, including a chestnut fondant made from a secret Trama family recipe and an exquisite lemon tart. The coffee is from Veronese roaster Gianni Frasi, and the same care goes into the list of organic and natural wines. Open from 11am to 10.30pm and with surprisingly reasonable prices, Café Trama has become one of the best places to linger in this chic neighbourhood.
最讓人垂涎欲滴的莫過於各種蛋糕，其中包括用特拉馬家族(Trama famil)獨門配方製作的板栗軟糖與無比精緻的檸檬塔。咖啡則來自意大利維羅納烘焙廠家Gianni Frasi，而各種天然有機葡萄酒同樣精挑細選。Café Trama咖啡屋的營業時間是從上午11點到晚上11:30，而且價格頗爲公道（這很出乎意料），它已成爲巴黎時尚第七區最爲流連忘返的地方。Rosa Jackson is a cooking teacher and food writer based in Nice and Paris
羅莎•傑克遜是長駐尼斯與巴黎的烹飪教師及美食作家
