[ Bistronomy ]

Simple extravagance


Most of the international chefs wearing crowns are timid,

Afraid of changing seasons,

Second, I am afraid of changing the stove.

Three fears of changing local ingredients...

Once the per capita is 2,000 yuan,

It is not tolerated to play local by ecstasy,

Chef Fan has the ability to say,

"Today there are melons to eat melons and beans to eat beans",

That difficulty is no less than when playing Pac-Man when I was a child,

If you are hungry, you will have peas on hand.

It is difficult for cheap ingredients to "respond to any high-end changes at random",

What's more, customers can easily move to the street stalls.

A small request is a big request if you are not careful. For example, Jiang Zhencheng, the "Light of Taiwan" in the international culinary industry, has a meal at the RAW restaurant in Taipei. The celebrities in Taipei look forward to "gathering in RAW" every day. It is said that the 30-ton southern pine wood carving "Liuyun" at the door has become a powerful ins style background check-in place, and won three international design awards when it opened the door. I thought to myself, it won’t be another place to take pictures and pretend to be garlic! Then don't go...


James, the owner of Fika Fika, the godfather of coffee in Taipei, asked me one day if I knew about "Bistronomy", a combination of Bistro (tavern) and gastronomy (cooking), and I said I didn't know. He said that this concept refers to the presentation of luxury products in a way that is close to the people. This RAW, which has been ranked among the "Top 50 Restaurants in Asia" after only one year of opening, has been on the rise. In the first year of the 2018 Taipei Michelin Guide, it won the honor of one star; It has become the most difficult restaurant in Taipei.


Since he is lucky enough to look like a Nezha, no matter it is a demon or a fairy, he must go there.



I like Yunbian's "Dream Making Declaration" which says: we will respect the past and never forget where we came from. I personally think it can be translated as: "Don't forget the history, and don't forget the origin" or "Don't forget foreign technology, and don't forget Local ingredients,” whatever. This is Jiang Zhencheng's thinking beyond the dream of "Nature x Craft", and the pattern can be seen. This makes me very interested in the management of this restaurant. The most precious part of a first-class restaurant than the dishes is to be "sustainable" and "local". This "stupid way" is extremely difficult for high-end restaurants.


Taiwan's "tight inside and loose human touch outside"

56 locations and 10 waiters accompany customers for pure chatting

Kitchen management is to see "when does the waiter rest"



When I went there, Jiang Zhencheng was staying in Yilan in northeastern Taiwan to research ingredients. The menu really has the style of Chef Huang Yilun: "precise", and the list of simple ingredients fits his "simple yet powerful" cooking concept. Once the drawer under the table is opened, all kinds of tools are available.



The seat I was sitting on happened to be the "Gourmet Observation Deck", with the entire restaurant just behind it, and the semi-open "back kitchen stage" in front. Please allow me to use the word "stage". The breathing of the kitchen is on the table with the 24 solar terms. It seems that a drama is being performed in this space. The director is so strict that there is no script and the concept must be followed. All instructions are " French", in an orderly manner, no actor is allowed to say a wrong line.



I leisurely ate the appetizer of sakura shrimp jelly, feeling like a refreshing breeze, which was in stark contrast to the blazing fire in the kitchen. They actually work in French.


"It's easy for customers to come here. You can put everything down to enjoy it, and then the way of serving dishes is rigorous, which is very military-style management." RAW's compassion for customers is "stocking". In the original traditional French restaurant, you have to wear a suit and tie, and it may take two and a half hours to eat a meal, which is very formal. But the chef wants to make it more like a bistro (bistro). Therefore, the music in the restaurant is bright, the atmosphere is relaxed, and there is no strict dress code. However, management, service, and cooking details are meticulously carried out with the concept of French restaurants.


When Huang Yilun speaks, he is gentle and elegant, in stark contrast to the operating table-like kitchen.


"Every time we change the menu, we will tell all the staff what words I will use this time. Which words may be pronounced in English, French or Japanese. I will tell them once or twice. I will remember that this stems from personal experience. When I first started working with the French a few years ago, I was not used to it. I always thought why France had so many requirements, and it was very difficult to do it at the beginning. Compared with Taiwan at that time The requirements of chefs are completely different. In comparison, language is still a trivial matter, whether it is the way to organize food with plastic wrap, or the number of times the kitchen is cleaned, or the entire communication method is completely different, and it must be brushed three times Four times, the kitchen will be tidied four times. At first, I would think that this is a big gap (gap), that is, I would think, how could this be?! I also do the same in the French in Taipei, and I am in Ask yourself, do you really need to be like this?” The rumors sounded true, when RAW employees worked together as a team, they all gave reminders in French, and the staff training was very strict.



You can’t see the normal menu here, and there is no name of the dish. The “ingredient card” left by RAW in the drawer for the guests is actually the menu. The memory of food is up to three ingredients.


"But when I went to France, I didn't resist it very much. I had developed that work habit in that year. So I had to learn things faster. Because when many people go to other places, they have to Re-adapt to that environment, but I don’t need it, because I’ve been in that atmosphere for a long time. So when I arrived in France, I started to work and study hard. That experience made me feel that when I return to Taiwan, it will also help me. The team goes to improve, how I do things when I am in France, I will set the rules when I come back here. That includes the names of the dishes I am speaking or the use of proper nouns. Basically, I did not speak to them in Chinese. Because the most important thing is when they Get used to this kind of accent or get used to this kind of international kitchen management.” This made me deeply aware that the learning of chefs is already cross-cultural, and the world’s first-class restaurants use the same language system.



Chef Huang Yilun's words made me finally understand that "the people on the bridge are looking at the scenery, and the people watching the scenery are looking at you from the window".


"Actually, I really like the design of this kitchen. The chef can see the guests. In traditional French restaurants, many chefs are locked in the kitchen. What happens outside, what kind of guests don't know. But in RAW Basically, the chef will try his best to see the feelings of the guests. When the same dish appears on every table, it tastes the same. The chef will make an evaluation in his heart, maybe what kind of food he eats, or whether he has ordered wine , it can be a little heavier, you may need to eat, or there are older guests who need to eat a little lighter, or some may be foreign guests. RAW’s accommodation will be adjusted according to the feeling of each guest, and then make a little adjustment .”


"After we talk about Taiwanese flavor, many people will say that it seems that using Taiwanese ingredients is Taiwanese flavor or how to use soy sauce to season it is Taiwanese flavor. In fact, more often, I think Taiwan is talking about human touch. We observe Guests may have needs. So I really need a space like this, where I can see the reactions of the guests, and then I can make timely adjustments.” Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that there are 56 positions and 10 waiters. Chat with Chun all the time, taking care of various requirements and emotions.


Huang Yilun who is processing the duck award


Restaurant management has no details, but it is actually a work habit recognized by everyone, and this needs to be verified. "Because I want them to get used to it, because in fact not every employee can understand English at the beginning. There must be such employees who first think that everyone is Taiwanese, why do we have to use English in restaurants? English and French. At the beginning of the first year, everyone was the most unacceptable, but when we did the first event, we invited foreign chefs to come. I did not change the way of communicating with everyone, and it became When the people in the two teams could understand, they realized that what he was doing now was what an international kitchen was doing. After they developed the habit, they didn’t feel anything wrong. He found that foreign chefs were also doing the same thing. , you will understand the meaning of making progress every day.”



There is a picture of bees by Taiwanese illustrator Zou Junsheng on the wall of the restaurant, recalling Einstein's saying: "Without bees, human beings can only live for another 4 years. Without bees, there will be no pollination, no plants, no animals, and there will be no human beings." The team that feels RAW is a swarm of bees.


I asked the chef's kitchen if there were any particularly strict rules. "I don't think we are very strict, but we are very strict about the meal time and rest time. I don't care what time the employees come to work. Sometimes some employees will secretly come early, but I don't care what time the clock is. Work card. But we require that you should eat, and all employees must sit down to eat. Whether you want to eat or not, you just can’t do anything. Then you should leave the kitchen during the break. You have to go to the office to blow the air-conditioning, go to smoke or You can buy things wherever you go, but you can’t do things. This is a big difference from Asian kitchens.”


"Good old-fashioned employees will tell you that they work more than ten hours a day without stopping. But after working with the French, I found that they may come early, but they will definitely stop when they rest and eat. When they Knowing what time he must stop will create efficiency. I know, I only have three hours, and I can prepare these things. For example, if I need to prepare 140 people, how much I need to prepare at a time and how to arrange them. Because there are restrictions, just Starting to generate efficiency will stimulate thinking. I often talk about whether your technology will improve or not, it all starts with whether you have an idea. Have you re-planned this, because if I don’t tell you how many times this thing is limited, you must stop, Then everyone is in it and I do it for 20 hours. In this way, they can be controlled to produce the efficiency required by the restaurant in 12 hours or less."



"Now the kitchen is cleaning up a quarter of a day. After the dishes in any department are finished, they will be washed and put on plastic wrap. This department will not do anything else. Simple procedures at most, no There will be more polluting work. Then when the next meal starts, before the meal is prepared, the plastic wrap is removed, and the table is still clean. So in fact, especially the guests in your position can often feel that it is like I just saw that the kitchen was very busy, but after the meal, the kitchen seemed to be fine, and I don’t know where people went.”


"Efficiency depends on themselves. I will limit this first, and then they will think about how to adjust. I don't look at what time they go to work. I only look at whether they walk with me when they get off work, or look at the details of meal times. I know whether employees are efficient or not. This method is basically learned in France, because when the French first came to Asia, they felt that only Taiwanese and Japanese would work all day. But they believed that rest is the It’s part of the job. In fact, I realized later that of course you can work for a long time, and it’s good that you have that endurance. But, after all, sometimes you need to take a break and adjust, especially this restaurant, which is open from noon to night. How can I make my colleagues maintain the same concentration and spirit at night. I think the rest in the afternoon is very important. So I will not let them do work in the afternoon if it is not necessary matter."


The original ecological art installation around RAW is also as rigorous as a surgical lamp, as if carved with tweezers.




The secret of cross-border cooking is to find "delicious DNA"

The signature menu was born from the braised eggs and pepper cakes during a staff dinner

The cross-cultural presentation is appreciated by people from all countries


"This is when we set up this restaurant at the beginning, we hope to achieve a natural feeling, but it can be balanced with exploration." Huang Yilun said.


I was peeking at the dishes on the table of the laughing ladies at the next table, and a wine list of "non-alcoholic spirits" came up, which made me curious. Enter the official website of the Michelin Guide, and enter: Seedlip in the search bar. A line of words will appear impressively: This Man is changing the way we think about mocktails. (This man has changed the world's view of non-alcoholic cocktails). According to Ben Branson, the British herbal distiller, young people are increasingly inclined to live a healthy and environmentally friendly lifestyle. "Fitness" and "alcohol-free" have become a green revolution in wine lists.



Let me not discuss the taste of Seedlip. Ben Branson uses repeated distillation and concentration to retain the aroma and flavor of the spirit. Using seemingly simple grains, fruits, vegetables and spices as raw materials, it actually contains rich modern science. At present, there are three non-alcoholic distilled spirits, namely Seedlip Garden108, Seedlip Spice94 and Seedlip Grove42. This coincides with Jiang Zhencheng's "firstly, he does not use a lot of foreign ingredients, secondly, the cooking method still emphasizes the modern and new style, and finally, the restaurant style adopts a simple route." The way of Bistronomy.



I ordered a cocktail made by Seedlip, which has a pleasant wilderness atmosphere. The name Seedlip comes from a conversation Ben Branson had with his grandmother. Grandma told him that when people picked peas on the farm in the past, they used baskets called Seedlips to hold beans. Seedlip Grove 42 has aromas of bitter orange, blood orange and lemongrass.


"Seedlip Spice94 commemorated Columbus' discovery of the New World in 1594. After he landed on St. Maarten, he found allspice (not passion fruit, but a kind of pepper) and cardamom in it. He developed it to commemorate that year, and his focus is Spice, with hazelnut chocolate added, and the acidity and cumin flower aroma in the middle, and the fragrant taste in the mouth, these are three different series." The waiter said intimately.


Jiang Zhencheng once said: "If your location is not rich in caviar or truffles, use the existing ingredients to make use of them. Therefore, NOMA, the Danish restaurant known as the world's number one, uses local vegetables, herbs, and spices to create a freshness of the forest. The taste even uses wild crabs and langoustines to transform into an image of an orange sunset...creativity and taste are loved by countless gourmets.”


While eating, listening to Huang Yilun chatting about ideas, he gradually felt RAW’s sensitivity to food culture, including Taiwan’s human touch, and then used his own unique understanding to combine Taiwanese flavors and French flavors together. Through the seasoning system, there is an art of expression.


"A dish from the previous season, because we made tea eggs in the autumn of the previous year. We made this tea egg at that time, not because the tea egg was particularly delicious. At first, we thought of making this tea egg because we had a My colleague’s home is in the egg business, and he resells boiled eggs, tea eggs, and marinated eggs. Many of them can be bought in packaged form at the vegetable market. One day, he took the marinated eggs that he made at home. Eggs, I think they are delicious, and colleagues from the company bought a lot of them in group purchases.”



"We wanted to tailor a new dish according to his background. Actually, this colleague didn't study cooking, he was an art student. So at the beginning, we agreed, let's start with making tea eggs , because tea eggs are a very Taiwanese dish, so we make tea eggs first. But we don’t make whole tea eggs as big as this, we make smaller ones, we use bird eggs to make them. This bird egg is our First of all, I want to make it in the best state, that is, the egg yolk should not be cooked until it is fully cooked, and then how long should it be marinated, so that the traces of cracks will be obvious, why? At that time, everyone thought of using the concept of bird's nest. Let's try to use potatoes and a few other things to see if we can make a bird's nest. So after we slowly practiced a few times, we found that there are eggs and bird's nests , but after there are eggs and bird’s nests, we would like to ask, can this bird’s nest grow on a tree. So that colleague, because he is an art student, he will buy some art and come back to arrange flowers. There are some branches. Slowly, we moved the bird’s nest to the tree. So the whole process was developed in this way. Of course, many people in the restaurant said that all our employees must be undergraduates, but in fact they are not. We will now I asked him about his second specialty, if he might be good at fitness, he is especially good at art, flower arrangement and so on. Because his other sub-departments can actually help with cooking. Later we really made tea eggs grow on trees. At that time It is also very creative, and this is very interesting to him. So in that season, we invited his family to dinner, and the staff's inner sense of identity was complete."


The "lantern" in the Japanese roasted bird shop is actually taken from the immature eggs in the belly of the hen. RAW’s method is special. The outside is thin slices of filet beef marinated in sake, the inside is wrapped with a lantern, and the top is Taiwan’s local caviar. When you pick it up, you can eat it directly with your hands. The waiter specially reminded that because it will explode, so keep your mouth closed when you bite. I still remember the deliciousness of that mouthful. Although it is intuitively similar to the puffy Xiaolong Tangbao, but because the outer membrane is extremely thin and the amino acids are concentrated enough, it can only be described as a bomb!




Stir-fried small fish with dried tofu in Taiwan is a home-cooked dish. This one is a taco sandwich made of dried tofu, with marinated horse mackerel inside. Echoed with fermented bean curd sauce and crisp rice paper-like bean skin. One bite and the Mexicans, Japanese and Chinese will all cheer.


Where did I ask so much inspiration? Huang Yilun replied: "When choosing a flavor combination, you also need a DNA. For example, the taste of the basic dishes in Taiwan that we think is delicious; sometimes we think it is a special ingredient that needs to be introduced; sometimes it is a coincidence. We are following When discussing with my colleagues, I found that what the employees eat is the most direct, and we only order it when we think it is delicious. But how to introduce it to foreign guests will also make all other employees have a higher recognition of this dish You can use your own understanding to introduce this dish. This is very important.”



When the waiter served this dish, I didn't expect it to be so beautifully presented, but with such simple ingredients. "RAW's dishes pay great attention to the changes of solar terms. Summer mainly covers two solar terms. The first one is called Ear Grain. According to the lunar calendar, we need to eat five grains, so we use barley, wheat, red wheat, and barley to make risotto, which is risotto. It brings a surprising taste. But its concept comes from the salted egg bitter gourd porridge we often eat in Taiwan in summer, with homemade mayonnaise, and there are two colors of emerald jade and white jade in it, which is a refreshing and simple combination.”


"When we were thinking about this dish, we actually didn't use Chinese cuisine to make a Western-style presentation directly. We first thought about which dish would make us feel delicious and where to order it. It seems that we are talking about a taste DNA, such as The risotto of bitter gourd. At first, I thought it was delicious because it had some onion flavor and bitter gourd taste, and then it was paired with salted eggs. So in fact, we only had to intercept these three, instead of frying a plate of bitter gourd with salted eggs Come out. I match the salty smell with the smell of green onions and salted eggs. So in fact, every time we design these dishes, we first look for the dishes we like to eat in our memory , why do we think it is delicious or the general Taiwanese customers think it is delicious, and then we reorganize its arrangement. Sometimes, we also look for some things that we think should be mentioned again, like big clam rice, or just Like cake residue or like Yilan’s duck reward.” When Huang Yilun introduced it, I suddenly realized that Chinese food is also a science of taste.




Duck rewards are very special. Most of them are pickled with salt and sugar in Taiwan. But the RAW ones are only salted, and the sweetness is completely smoked by sugar cane, not sugar, so the taste is completely different from other past ones.



The guests who taste this dish for the first time will be as amazed as I am. At that time, I estimated that there was 10 million watts of energy in the eyes of the chef. "Its structure will also be very similar to Spanish ham, so we made such an idea." Huang Yilun responded calmly.


"Mango is the best seasonal fruit in this season. Eating cantaloupe and ham is a classic. We make fruit and duck rewards possible, and we will also notice during the experiment that we need a little bit of other flavors in the middle, such as a little Lemon, and some fresh cream to match, can make the taste more mellow. So every time we do creativity, we actually come up with an idea first, or first find the ingredients we want to represent, and then combine them In the future, we will pay attention to this adjustment step by step. So the whole trial process will take more than one month."



"I highly recommend this winter melon, because the farmers say that winter melon is eaten in hot weather. It is more delicious than the white pear juice that has been released in the season. It is very delicious when eaten in its original flavor. This concept of Korean lettuce wraps meat, with a whole piece of green on top. It is kale, which is wrapped with salmon, mixed with smoked oil, so that the fish will have a smoky taste. After the kimchi is dried, brush it into powder and add it to the top. Finally, it is in Everyone will prepare white pear water this season. The chef wants to use different ingredients to make the taste and taste of winter melon similar to the aroma of white pear water, and then mix it with Japanese seaweed. The chef suggested that we try the original flavor of winter melon, Then match it with the ingredients next to it." These are actually not important, the key is that every customer here feels caring after listening to the waiter.


The Spanish pronunciation of this dish is Kokotxa. It was originally made in the Basque Country of Spain. It is a way of eating cod chin waste. Because the body of cod can be used to make cod steaks, Europeans don’t eat the head, but there are a lot of colloids in it, so RAW found a way to simmer slowly in a pan, simmering out collagen like chicken soup, and adding olive oil. The sauce is made, and the practice of sauce is called piupiu. Then RAW made some changes and replaced it with the most delicious chicken in the field in Taiwan, plus the mountain jadeite in the water of Nantou. Mountain jadeite is actually the bud of a special tuberose. The chef's suggestion is to smash this with a spoon and a fork, and mix it with the sauce below, which tastes a bit like chicken sauce prince noodles.


"There are also two authentic Taiwanese snacks that have been lost. One of them is big clam rice, which is very similar to Taiwanese meat dumpling. Because there are a lot of seafood on the outer island of Penghu, this kind of big clam used to be everywhere. I will pick it up, and eat a lot of oily rice inside, a bit like rice dumplings. Big clams look like coins in the past, so Taiwanese pray to the clams for everything to go well, and then throw the clam shells into the sea. Now Clams can hardly be found in Penghu, just like Japanese white shells. RAW uses Spanish paella and puts paella in it.”



"The second lost dish is the cake dregs in front, a snack from Yilan. There are only one or two stalls in Yilan in Luodong Night Market. After the last night's banquet, all the good ingredients were eaten by the guests, and then the master thickened the glutinous rice in the pot, scraped it, and then patted some thin powder for frying. The first is thrifty food, the second Second, it is a dish that only the chefs can eat, because ordinary guests have no chance. The next generation of Yilan people will not make this kind of cake. Chef Jiang Zhencheng now lives in Yilan, and he himself thinks this is delicious.”



Residents from all over the world make their own cake crumbs. When you bite into it, it looks like Malay cake, which is relatively moist. There will be fish broth, shrimp, chicken, shrimp roe, and delicacies from mountains and seas. RAW adds bonito to enhance the umami.



When a dish that resembled the French Duck Pâté (duck batch) came up, the waiter reminded me to pay attention to the salt on the table. "This salt was a gift for our guests when we participated in the fourth anniversary of the meeting last year. There are dried onions in the salt, sesame seeds, star anise, and pepper. This combination of flavors is reminiscent of our Chinese snack pepper cake." One Thinking of the duck batch that tasted like pepper cakes, I couldn't help worrying, "My plane will be overweight after eating this one."



Fortunately, everyone eats a piece. The side dish that day was even more special. It is called artichoke in English and artichoke in Chinese. I eat a lot of it in French cuisine, but few people eat it in Asia. This is the ingredient that RAW found in Nantou. "I was surprised when I found it at first. No one eats it in Taiwan, but why is there a species of it? Later, I found out that it has good medicinal ingredients and can lower blood pressure, so it is usually sold to pharmaceutical factories for dispensing." With French pine Cucumber salad, RAW specially blended lemon juice, added yogurt, soybeans, and black beans, so scrape up the white and put it on the French meat. Although the outer leaf of the artichoke is hard, the root is soft and waxy, so I peeled off the leaves one by one, like eating custard pineapple and melon seeds. Personally, I think this dish is a bit salty to eat alone. RAW prepared Pinot Noir to match this dish, and the taste is complete.



"The pepper cake was originally a meal for our employees. We had a colleague who first made a pepper cake sold in the general night market. For the first time, I thought it was delicious. Later, I went to every night market and made the pepper cake. I’ve eaten them all, and I probably know what are the delicious things about pepper pancakes. I wrote it down and came back. I told this colleague, actually, I think the thing you made last week was pretty good, so I put it on the menu. At first, he would think that this is just a night market dish. I said it’s okay, but I’m just telling you how the French might do it, or what method they use, but we can use this logic to adjust the taste , so I kept this thing. In fact, this is a very good opportunity. For Chinese guests, this is a very good taste connection, because one bite already understands what we want to express. So I I think this is a direction that is well introduced to both foreign and local guests."



Seeing that the dessert time is coming, as usual, it is a Michelin-style petit four. "Cocktails include Mojito and Negeroni, which are made with cactus and grapefruit respectively, then pineapple and coconut, mint and rum, and in the middle are made with bergamot. You can see some coconuts in it, and Some simple dishes. The top, middle and bottom have different textures, so you have to scoop from top to bottom and eat together.” After taking care of the busiest time in the back kitchen, the chef serves himself.



If you think the following dish is Daifuku or fresh cheese like me, you are wrong. The outer layer is white mochi, wrapped in winter melon sugar, and the inside is Italian Burrata cheese. It tastes dense and happy.





The last pair of snacks are fortune cookies made from Taiwanese hojicha and matcha meringue. One is full-bodied and the other is refreshing. It’s the perfect ending.




Therefore, every dish of RAW is very attentive. According to the taste of each of us, the balance of each item is different, but the demand after eating is the same, that is, happiness.


My lucky draw: no one sees me eating, so zero calories.


Even though I was full of wine and food, Huang Yilun's "localization" creation still made me vigilant. "We have always used very local ingredients. In the past five years or so, most French restaurants in Taiwan would import French ducks or American beef. Everyone believes in imports. We are equivalent to a translator. We It is an innovative process to use the skills and other knowledge of international cuisine to manipulate local ingredients. Therefore, any Taiwanese ingredients should have the opportunity to be presented in a more delicate way. Even tofu, last autumn , we also made handmade tofu, and we even brought this dish to Germany. The tofu we grind in the morning, when the guests come in, we add salt and marinade. Counting that time, the finished ones are very soft. During the process Among them, we paired it with other sauces, and the sauce we paired with tofu at that time was also made with the water that would come out when the tofu was pressed, the tofu clear. This will be a completely different experience.”


In other words, I suddenly wanted to take a photo with the chef at the door in the same pose as the rich woman next to me!




Goddess asks

What do you like to eat in Taiwan?




Carry a bag of peas,

Leave one everywhere you go.

——Yoko Ono: Peas


Food Bless You!

Chief Food Consultant of Asian Design Management Forum