Michelin-starred and other gourmet eateries across France will slash prices for a week in September in a campaign to bring in a less well-heeled clientele and rid “haute cuisine” of its stuffy, pretentious image.
“Tous au Restaurant” (Everyone to the Restaurant) is the brainchild of Alain Ducasse, the French-born celebrity chef who boasts 19 Michelin stars and exclusive restaurants in New York, Tokyo and Paris.
From Sept. 19 to 25, restaurants such as his one-starred Paris bistro Benoit will offer two gastronomic menus for the price of one, in the hope the familiar “two-for-one” formula will attract more cash-conscious and mainstream clients.
Photo: Reuters
照片:路透
“People are often scared to come in, not just because of the price, but because they don’t know what they’ll find, because they have a certain image of gastronomy,” said Laurent Plantier, head of Alain Ducasse Entreprise, the chef’s business empire.
“It’s a lot easier to go to your local high-street chain restaurant, because you know you’ll get a warm welcome, you’re not scared of the menu, and you don’t feel ridiculous,” he told Reuters.
At Bistrot 7 in Valence in southern France, Michelin-starred chef Anne-Sophie Pic will offer a stylish but recognizable menu of farm-grown tomatoes and creamed mozzarella, ravioli of lamb confit and mint, and pungent cheeses all for the mouth-watering price of 57 euros (NT$2,362) for two, excluding wine.
More intrepid diners can opt for her slightly less pronounceable dish of salmon marinated in Voatsiperifery pepper, or the perplexing “spirit of a finger” dessert with “iced cream of mint”.
Ducasse’s bistro Benoit, meanwhile, aims to serve four courses of veal tongue, chicken fricasse, cheese and profiteroles, all for an affordable 70 euros (NT$2,901) for two.
“Gastronomy in France probably only concerns about 5 percent of the restaurant-going population,” Ducasse told reporters at a finger buffet at Paris’s opulent town hall. “Really, it should interest everybody: that’s what this operation is about.”
If the price and atmosphere are shedding their exclusive image, however, competition for a table could remain as difficult as ever when bookings open at 8am local time on Sept. 7.
In a first run of “Tous au Restaurant” last year, 82,000 eaters crammed into the available spaces at the 1,000 participating restaurants.
(REUTERS)
法國各地的米其林星級餐廳與其他饕客飯館,九月將舉行為期一週的降價活動,吸引不甚富裕的顧客登門,消除對於這類餐廳「高檔料理」古板與自命不凡的印象。
這個「Tous au Restaurant」(大家到餐廳)的活動,是法國出生的頂級名廚亞蘭‧杜卡斯的心血結晶。他自誇擁有十九顆米其林星星,在紐約、東京與巴黎開了數家高級餐廳。
從九月十九日至二十五日,杜卡斯的一星級巴黎小酒館「貝諾瓦」等數家餐廳,將推出「兩人同行,一人免費」的好康,希望以此促銷方式,吸引較多精算餐費的顧客與老主顧。
任職於杜卡斯企業帝國的亞蘭‧杜卡斯飲食集團負責人羅宏‧普蘭提耶說,「人們怕進餐廳,往往不單是因為價格,還有他們不知道會發現什麼菜色,因為他們對於美食有既定印象。」
他告訴路透說:「到當地大街上的連鎖餐廳是較平易近人的,因為你知道有熱情歡迎,也不怕看不懂菜單,更不會有格格不入的尷尬。」
米其林三星女廚安–索菲‧碧克在南法瓦倫斯的餐廳「Bistrot 7」,將會推出新潮與淺顯易懂的菜單,包括農場自種的番茄、莫澤雷勒乾酪奶油、義大利方型餃佐羊肉糖漬和薄荷,與強烈刺鼻的起司等,全部兩人只要垂涎價五十七歐元(新台幣兩千三百六十二元),不過不包含酒品。
更為有膽識的饕客可以選稍微難念的料理,像是Voatsiperifery胡椒醃鮭魚,或是令人百思不解的甜點「手指精神」佐「薄荷冰淇淋」。
杜卡斯的小酒館「貝諾瓦」此時專推小牛舌、白酒燴雞、起司與泡芙四道菜,全部只要七十歐元(新台幣兩千九百零一元)。
在巴黎豪華的市政廳內的一個點心自助餐會上,杜卡斯告訴記者說,「法國老饕可能只占上餐館用餐人口的百分之五。」他說「真的,這樣就能勸說每位民眾來吃,這也是此促銷的目的。」
儘管價格與用餐氣氛使高檔餐廳略遜一籌,當地時間九月七日上午八點將開始接受訂位,屆時可能還是一位難求。
去年第一輪的「大家到餐廳」活動,有八萬兩千用餐民眾參加,擠爆一千家參與活動的餐廳。
(路透/翻譯:林亞蒂)
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