餐館就餐始于何時？

戴夫·魯斯

France may be famous for its culinary legacy， but the first restaurants appeared some 600 years earlier on the other side of the world. 法國或因其悠久的烹飪文化而聞名于世，但最早的餐廳卻是出現(xiàn)在地球的另一端，早于法國600年左右。

People have been eating outside of the home for millennia， buying a quick snack from a street vendor or taking a travel break at a roadside inn for a bowl of stew and a pint of mead.

In the West， most early versions of the modern restaurant came from France and a culinary revolution launched in 18th-century Paris. But one of the earliest examples of a true restaurant culture began 600 years earlier and halfway around the world.

Singing waiters of the Song Dynasty

According to Elliott Shore and Katie Rawson， co-authors of Dining Out： A Global History of Restaurants， the very first establishments that were easily recognizable as restaurants popped up around 1100 A.D. in China， when cities like Kaifeng and Hangzhou boasted densely packed urban populations of more than 1 million inhabitants each.

Trade was bustling between these northern and southern capitals of the 12th-century Song Dynasty， explains Shore， a professor emeritus of history at Bryn Mawr College， but Chinese tradesmen traveling outside their home city werent accustomed to the strange local foods.

“The original restaurants in those two cities are essentially southern cooking for people coming up from the south or northern cooking for people coming down from the north，” says Shore. “You could say the ‘ethnic restaurant was the first restaurant.”

These prototypical restaurants were located in lively entertainment districts that catered to business travelers， complete with hotels， bars and brothels. According to Chinese documents from the era， the variety of restaurant options in the 1120s resembled a downtown tourist district in a 21st-century city.

“You could go to a noodle shop， a dim sum restaurant， a huge place that was fantastically and opulently put together or a little chop suey joint，” says Shore.

The dining experiences at the larger and fancier restaurants were strikingly similar to today. According to a Chinese manuscript from 1126 quoted in Dining Out， patrons of one popular restaurant were first greeted with a selection of pre-plated “demonstration” dishes representing hundreds of delectable options. Then came a well-trained and theatrical team of waiters.

“The waiter took their orders， then stood in line in front of the kitchen and， when his turn came， sang out his orders to those in the kitchen. Those who were in charge of the kitchen were called ‘pot masters or were called ‘controllers of the preparation tables. This came to an end in a matter of moments and the waiter—his left hand supporting three dishes and his right arm stacked from hand to shoulder with some twenty dishes， one on top of the other—distributed them in the exact order in which they had been ordered. Not the slightest error was allowed.”

In Japan， a distinct restaurant culture arose out of the Japanese teahouse traditions of the 1500s that predated todays “seasonal” and “l(fā)ocal” movements by half a millennium. The 16th-century Japanese chef Sen no Rikyu created the multi-course kaiseki dining tradition， in which entire tasting menus were crafted to tell the story of a particular place and season. Rikyus grandsons expanded the tradition to include speciality serving dishes and cutlery that matched the aesthetic of the food being served.

Despite centuries of trade between the East and West， theres no evidence that the early restaurant cultures of China or Japan influenced later European notions of the restaurant.

The communal midday meal

Around the same time that Japanese chefs were creating full-sensory dining experiences， a separate tradition took hold in the West known in French as the table dh?te， a fixed price meal eaten at a communal table.

This type of meal， eaten in public with friends and strangers gathered around a family-style spread， might resemble one of todays hip farm-to-table establishments， but Shore says it wasnt a real restaurant in several senses.

First， only one meal was served each day precisely at 1 pm. If you werent paid up and sitting at the table at one， you wouldnt get to eat. There was no menu and no choice. The cook at the inn or hotel decided what was prepared and served， not the guests.

Variations on the table dh?te first appeared in the 15th-century and persisted beyond the arrival of the first restaurants. In England， working-class communal meals were called “ordinaries” and Simpsons Fish Dinner House， founded in 1714， served up a popular “fish ordinary” for two shillings consisting of “a dozen oysters， soup， roast partridge， three more first courses， mutton and cheese，” according to Dining Out.

First French restaurants were bouillon shops

Legend says that the first French restaurants popped up in Paris after the French Revolution when the gourmet chefs of the guillotined aristocracy went looking for work. But when historian Rebecca Spang of Indiana University looked into this popular origin story， she found something completely different.

The word restaurant comes from the French verb restaurer， “to restore oneself，” and the first true French restaurants， opened decades before the 1789 Revolution， purported to be health-food shops selling one principal dish： bouillon. The French description for this type of slow-simmered bone broth or consommé is a bouillon or “restorative broth.”

In her book， The Invention of the Restaurant： Paris and Gastronomic Culture， Spang explains that the very first French restaurants arrived in the 1760s and 1770s， and they capitalized on a growing Enlightenment-era sensibility among the wealthy merchant class in Paris.

“They believed that knowledge was obtained by being sensitive to the world around you， and one way of showing sensitivity was by not eating the ‘coarse foods associated with common people，” says Spang. “You might not have aristocratic forebears， but you can show that youre something other than a peasant by not eating brown bread， not relishing onions and sausage， but wanting delicate dishes.”

Bouillon fit the bill perfectly. It was all-natural， bland， easy to digest， yet packed full of invigorating nutrients. But Spang credits the success and rapid growth of these early bouillon restaurants not just to what was being served， but how it was served.

“The restaurateurs innovated by copying the service model that already existed in French café culture，” says Spang. “They sat customers at a small， cafe-size table. They had a printed menu from which people ordered dishes as opposed to the tavern keeper saying， ‘this is whats for lunch today. And they were more flexible in their meal hours—everybody didnt have to get there at 1 p.m. and eat whatever was on the table.”

Once the bouillon restaurants caught on， it didnt take long for other items to show up on the menu. A little wine， perhaps， some stewed chicken. By the late 1780s， the health-conscious bouillon shops had evolved into the first grand Parisian restaurants like Trois Frères and La Grande Tavene de Londres that would serve as the archetype of fine restaurant dining for the next century.

Restaurants come to America

As shown by the history of restaurants in both China and France， you cant have restaurants without a large and hungry urban population. So it makes sense that the first fine-dining restaurant in America was opened in New York City in the 19th century.

Delmonicos opened its doors in 1837 featuring luxurious private dining suites and a 1，000-bottle wine cellar. The restaurant， which remains at the same Manhattan location （although it closed its doors during the 2020 Covid-19 crisis）， claims to be the first in America to use tablecloths， and its star chefs not only invented the famous Delmonico steak， but also gourmet classics like eggs Benedict， baked Alaska， Lobster Newburg and Chicken à la Keene.

從街頭小販那里買一份快餐，或是在路邊小飯館里歇歇腳，吃一碗燉煮，飲一品脫蜂蜜酒。人們外出就餐已有數(shù)千年的歷史。

在西方，現(xiàn)代餐廳的雛形大多始于法國。18世紀(jì)的時候，巴黎曾爆發(fā)過一次烹飪革命。然而，在此600年前，真正餐飲文化的最早典范就已在地球另一端出現(xiàn)。

宋朝唱菜名的服務(wù)員

埃利奧特·肖爾和凱蒂·羅森是《外出就餐：全球餐館發(fā)展史》一書的作者。據(jù)他們介紹，最早有明顯餐館特征的場所出現(xiàn)在公元1100年左右的中國，當(dāng)時開封、杭州等城市人口密集，數(shù)量均超過百萬。

布林莫爾學(xué)院歷史學(xué)榮休教授肖爾解釋道，12世紀(jì)時，曾為北宋和南宋都城的兩座城市貿(mào)易往來頻繁，但是，行走異鄉(xiāng)的中國商人并不習(xí)慣當(dāng)?shù)仄婀值娘嬍晨谖丁?/p>

“在這兩座城市，最初的餐館主要是為北上的南方人準(zhǔn)備南方菜，為南下的北方人準(zhǔn)備北方菜。”肖爾稱，“可以說，第一家餐館實際上是‘民族風(fēng)味餐館。”

這些最初的餐館位于熱鬧的娛樂區(qū)域，這些區(qū)域為客商提供服務(wù)，客店、酒肆、妓館一應(yīng)俱全。據(jù)當(dāng)時的中國史料記載，在1120年代，餐館種類繁多，類似21世紀(jì)城市中心的旅游區(qū)。

肖爾說：“你可以去面館、點(diǎn)心鋪，或是規(guī)模宏大、裝修華麗的酒樓，也可以選擇一家小雜燴店。”

若是在宏偉豪華的酒樓，用餐體驗同今日幾乎別無二致。《外出就餐》一書中引用了一份1126年的中國古籍手抄本。其中寫道，在一家頗受歡迎的餐館，客人一進(jìn)店就會看到備好的菜肴展示，有數(shù)百種美食可供選擇。緊接著，一群訓(xùn)練有素的伙計上場表演（唱菜服務(wù)）。

“行菜得之，近局次立，從頭唱念，報與局內(nèi)。當(dāng)局者謂之‘鐺頭，又曰‘著案。訖，須臾，行菜者左手杈三碗，右臂自手至肩馱疊約二十碗，散下盡合各人呼索，不容差錯。”1

在日本，有一種獨(dú)特的餐飲文化，起源于16世紀(jì)的日本茶道，比當(dāng)今的“季節(jié)性”和“地域性”飲食熱潮早了500年。16世紀(jì)時，日本茶頭千利休開創(chuàng)了懷石料理的餐飲傳統(tǒng)，一餐配多道菜，所有菜品精雕細(xì)琢，突出某個特定地方和季節(jié)的主題。千利休的孫輩發(fā)揚(yáng)了這一傳統(tǒng)，講求上菜專用器皿和餐具與菜肴之間的美學(xué)搭配。

雖然東西方之間的貿(mào)易往來已延續(xù)數(shù)百年，但沒有證據(jù)表明中國或日本的早期餐飲文化對后來的歐洲餐飲觀念有所影響。

公共午餐

在日本廚師創(chuàng)制全感官用餐體驗的同時，西方確立起一種不同的餐飲傳統(tǒng)，在法語中稱為table dh?te（客飯），即固定價格的午餐，在公共餐桌上食用。

與朋友和陌生人一起，在公共場所圍坐在一桌家常菜肴前用餐，這種飲食方式或許類似于今天流行的“農(nóng)場到餐桌式”餐館就餐。但肖爾說，從多方面來看，這種場所并不是真正意義上的餐館。

首先，這種地方只在每天下午1點(diǎn)整供應(yīng)一頓飯。如果沒有付款、沒有在1點(diǎn)時坐在餐桌前，就不能用餐。這里沒有菜單，無法選餐。由客棧或旅館的廚師而非客人決定提供什么飯食。

各式各樣的客飯最早出現(xiàn)在15世紀(jì)，一直延續(xù)到最早的餐館出現(xiàn)。在英格蘭，工薪階層的公共餐被稱為ordinaries（客飯）。1714年開張的辛普森魚餐廳供應(yīng)一種“魚肉客飯”，非常受歡迎，價格為兩先令。《外出就餐》一書中介紹，這種套餐包括“12個牡蠣、湯類、烤山鶉、另外三道頭盤、羊肉和奶酪”。

法國最早的餐館是清湯店

法國大革命以后，貴族被送上斷頭臺，他們的主廚開始外出求職謀生。相傳法國最早的餐館就是這一時期出現(xiàn)在巴黎。但印第安納大學(xué)歷史學(xué)家麗貝卡·斯潘對這個關(guān)于法國餐館起源的流行說法進(jìn)行了研究，有一些截然不同的發(fā)現(xiàn)。

英文restaurant（餐館）一詞源于法語的動詞restaurer，意為“恢復(fù)體力”。最早期真正的法國餐館在1789年大革命前幾十年就出現(xiàn)了，自稱是售賣健康飲食的店鋪，只有一種主菜，就是清湯。法國人稱這種文火慢燉的骨湯或清燉肉湯為清湯或“滋補(bǔ)湯”。

斯潘在她的《餐館的誕生：巴黎與美食文化》一書中稱，最早一批法國餐館出現(xiàn)于1760年代和1770年代，它們充分利用了啟蒙時代巴黎富商階層日益增強(qiáng)的鑒賞力。

“他們認(rèn)為，人們通過感知周圍世界獲取知識，而感知力的表現(xiàn)之一就是拒絕普通人吃的‘粗俗食物。”斯潘說，“你可能不是貴族出身，但你可以通過追求精致美食而不吃黑面包、遠(yuǎn)離洋蔥和香腸來表明自己不是粗鄙之人。”

而清湯就是不二之選。它純天然，清淡，易消化，且富含營養(yǎng)，令人精力充沛。不過斯潘認(rèn)為，這些早期的清湯餐館之所以能獲得成功并迅速發(fā)展起來，不僅是因為菜品本身，還應(yīng)歸功于其上菜的方式。

“餐館老板借鑒法國咖啡文化中的服務(wù)模式，在此基礎(chǔ)上進(jìn)行創(chuàng)新。”斯潘介紹說，“他們請顧客坐到小咖啡桌前，奉上印好的菜單，顧客可以依照菜單點(diǎn)菜，而不是聽酒店老板說一句‘午餐就吃這個。而且用餐時間也更加靈活，不必趕在下午1點(diǎn)到場，只能桌上備什么吃什么。”

清湯店流行以后沒過多久，菜單就開始豐富起來，或許有了少量葡萄酒、燉雞等。到1780年代末期，這些注重健康的清湯店已經(jīng)發(fā)展成為巴黎第一批高檔餐廳，包括三兄弟餐廳和倫敦大飯店，這些餐廳也成為19世紀(jì)高級餐廳的典范。

美國餐館的誕生

從中國和法國餐館的發(fā)展歷史可以看出，城市人口達(dá)到一定規(guī)模、人們開始追求口腹之欲，這是餐館出現(xiàn)的前提條件。美國第一家高檔餐廳誕生在19世紀(jì)的紐約，也符合這一規(guī)律。

德爾莫尼科餐廳于1837年開業(yè)，以豪華私人套間和藏有1000瓶葡萄酒的酒窖為特色。餐廳位于曼哈頓，開業(yè)以來未曾遷址（2020年因新冠肺炎疫情暫停營業(yè)）。這家餐廳宣稱是全美第一家鋪擺桌布的餐廳，店里的星級大廚們自創(chuàng)了著名的德爾莫尼科牛排，以及班尼迪克蛋、火焰冰淇淋、紐堡醬燴龍蝦和皇家奶油燉雞等經(jīng)典美食。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎?wù)撸?/p>