Two Scholars and Louwailou Restaurant

Yu Yue (1921-1907) and Yu Pingbo (1900-1990) were both prominent scholars of their days， the former being the great grandfather to the latter. Yu Yue also known as Yu Quyuan had a villa built on the West Lake in 1879. The villa， then located near the Guanghua Temple and the Liuyi Spring on the Solitary Hill on the Lake， still stands today. The two-storied architecture has a three-room-wide faccedil;ade and looks graceful.

In close vicinity of the quiet scholarly residence is Louwailou Restaurant which is more than 160 years old now. It is a famous eatery in the history of the development of Hangzhou cuisine since very ancient times and still the best known restaurant of Hangzhou. The two scholars had close ties with the restaurant and played a key part in spreading the reputation and allure of the restaurant with a great lake view and an unforgettable menu. Yu Yue is said to have contributed to the cooking of best known dishes of the restaurant.

Born in 1821 in Deqing， a county to the north of Hangzhou， Yu Yue was a brilliant scholar. He became a provincial graduate at 24 and a metropolitan graduate at 30. A great linguist of his time， he taught classic studies in Hangzhou for 31 years. Among his students were Wu Dazheng， Zhang Taiyan， Xu Huanong， Wu Changshuo and Zhang Youqiao， all outstanding scholars and artists of the good old days. When he lived in Hangzhou， the great scholar often entertained his guests with a dinner at his villa. The most popular delicious dishes from the scholar’s private kitchen were a fish soup and a fish cooked in vinegar.

The cooks at the nearby restaurant learned about the dishes， came over to the kitchen to take a look and then put the dishes on the restaurant’s menu. West Lake Fish in Vinegar Gravy became what it is today in the late 1920 when the West Lake Expo took place. Two chefs at Louwailou Restaurant improved the recipe and had the complete fish for the dish. Though it became famous throughout the country in the 1920s， its popularity resulted from efforts of chefs and other people from generation to generation， including the great scholar living the next door to the restaurant.

The scholar handwrote the name of the restaurant at the request of the owner， which testified to the close ties of the two neighbors. The plaque that bore the inscription is now lost. Yu Yue often ordered dishes from the restaurant and his dairy has detailed notes of these orders. An entry dated March 22 in 1892 says he had only eight teeth remain and as they were in different positions they failed to come together to grab water shield once it was in the mouth. But his remaining teeth were strong enough to chew the bamboo shoots. So he orally composed a short poem to describe his condition and his capability.

Yu Pingbo was only seven years old when his great grandfather passed away in 1907 at the age of 86. The young scholar established his intellectual excellence and brilliance at 22 when he published a literary criticism on Dream of Red Mansions， a classical novel of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). He came back from Britain in 1920 and came to live in the Yu’s Residence on the West Lake. He often entertained his guests at Louwailou Restaurant during his five year stay in Hangzhou from 1920 to 1924. In 1925 he moved to Beijing. It was in Beijing that the scholar wrote a few essays reminiscing about the restaurant and the delicious dishes there. These essays describe the brisk business of the restaurant and his boating on the lake and the unforgettable dishes of Louwailou. Thanks to Louwailou， these dishes are now important part of Hangzhou culinary tradition.

He reminisced about his great grandfather’s preference for the dishes of Louwailou. Whenever the senior came back home in Deqing， he asked his family to imitate the famous dishes of the restaurant. The recipes became the family kitchen’s best dishes.

The great grandson described in great detail how some dishes were prepared and served at the restaurant. These descriptions provide valuable information about the past glories of the restaurant.□