美
国大厨托马斯•凯勒（Thomas Keller）本周莅临香港，在四天之内推出了六场宴席。11道菜的宴席定价每人835美元，地点是香港文华东方酒店（Mandarin Oriental Hotel）的文华扒房（Mandarin Grill），所有的415个座位在半年之前即已全部订出。凯勒先生在美国拥有八家餐厅和两个面包房，这是他第一次在香港展示自己的厨艺。（此前，他曾经在曼谷和新加坡展示厨艺。）
他说，"自带原料在美国之外的地方烹制菜肴，对我来说还是第一次。烹饪是一件非常简单的事情，仅仅是原料和手艺的组合而已。"
本周，我们跟凯勒先生进行了一些交流，请他给我们解释了与这次访问相关的一些数字。
Reuters
托马斯•凯勒（Thomas Keller）
8：凯勒先生从自己在美国的各个餐厅里带来了8名随从，其中包括三名副厨师长、一名侍应总管、两名面点师、一名厨房主管和一名联络助理。（在此之前，莅临文化东方酒店的各位大厨要么是只身前来，要么就是只带了一名助手。）
4：凯勒先生的团队来自4个地方：纳帕谷（Napa Valley）、纽约、拉斯维加斯和比华利山（Beverly Hills）。
13：菜肴的原料来自13个美国供应商，其中值得一提的包括：加利福尼亚州佩塔卢马（Petaluma）的索洋•斯坎兰（Soyoung Scanlan），她为此次活动提供专用的奶酪；佛蒙特州奥维尔（Orwell）的黛安•圣克莱尔（Diane St. Claire），她为此次活动供应手工搅拌的生奶油；加利福尼亚州法洛（Philo）的施密特夫妇（Don and Sally Schmitt），他们为此次活动供应苹果；纽约布鲁克林（Brooklyn）的Mast Brothers巧克力工厂，他们为此次活动供应巧克力；夏威夷州阿雷瓦（Haleiwa）的约翰•伍德（John Mood），他为此次活动供应桃叶棕榈；爱达荷州博伊西（Boise）的蛇河农庄（Snake River Farms），该农庄为此次活动供应牛肉；凯勒旗下"法国洗衣房"餐厅（French Laundry）的农庄，负责为此次活动供应菊芋和萝卜。
9：配菜的葡萄酒一共有9种，其中一些的产地离凯勒先生在加利福尼亚的居所不远，比如产自索诺马（Sonoma）的2007年Patz & Hall黑皮诺红酒和产自纳帕谷的2007年Kongsgaard霞多丽葡萄酒。
4：到达香港的第一天晚上，凯勒先生的团队成员平均只睡了4个小时。
2：凯勒先生来过香港2次，前一次是在3年之前，当时他是和父亲一起来的。团队当中的其他成员则是第一次来到亚洲。凯勒说，"我希望能每年搞一次这样的活动，带着我的团队周游世界，以便激励那些年轻的厨师，把他们凝聚到一起。"
80：凯勒先生烹制一种标志性的蛋卷（名为Savory Tuile，美味瓦片脆饼），每一批蛋卷当中都有80%可以验收合格，成为宜于待客的开胃点心（其他的之所以不合格，要么是因为卖相不好，要么就是因为烤得太焦）。凯勒先生说，"这门手艺需要许多的力气和技巧，还需要用上石棉指套。"
关于价格、价值和厨艺，凯勒先生的最终结论是什么呢？为了说明自己的观点，他给我们讲了一件往事："上世纪八十年代我初到纽约的时候，纽约有一家著名的面包房，名字叫做Bonté。有一年，黄油的价格涨得很高，《纽约时报》（New York Times）就登了一篇文章，询问各家面包房都采取了一些什么样的应对措施。有些面包房提了价，另一些则选用了各式各样的黄油替代品，Bonté先生却说，他没有进行任何改变，只是把面包做得小了一点……事实证明，他的办法才是正确的。"
Amy Ma
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
U.S.-based chef Thomas Keller is in Hong Kong this week to prepare six dinners over four days. The 415 seats were all snapped up six months in advance for the $835, 11-course dinner, which takes place at the Mandarin Grill inside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Hong Kong.
It's the first time Mr. Keller, who owns eight restaurants and two bakeries in the U.S., has cooked in Hong Kong. (The chef has cooked in Bangkok and Singapore.)
'This is the only event I've ever done outside of the U.S. where I could bring my own ingredients,' he says. 'Cooking is a very simple equation ─ it's about ingredients and execution.'
We talked to Mr. Keller this week and asked him to break down the numbers behind his visit.
7.5: The number of months the Keller team spent planning the event. Key to the visit: menu development, integration of different team members and travel logistics.
8: The number of people in Mr. Keller's entourage brought over from his U.S. restaurants. The team consists of three sous chefs, a maître d', two pastry chefs, a chef de partie and a communications associate. (Previous visiting chefs at the Mandarin Oriental have either come alone or brought one assistant.)
4: The number of places Mr. Keller's team came from: Napa Valley, New York, Las Vegas and Beverly Hills.
13: The number of suppliers from the U.S. whose ingredients are featured in each meal. Some of the highlights: Soyoung Scanlan's cheese (exclusive just for this event) from Petaluma, Calif.; Diane St. Claire's hand-churned raw milk butter from Orwell, Vt.; Don and Sally Schmitt's apples from Philo, Calif.; Mast Brothers' Chocolate from Brooklyn, N.Y.; John Mood's peach palms from Haleiwa, Hawaii; Snake River Farms' beef from Boise, Idaho; and sunchokes and radishes from Mr. Keller's own garden at French Laundry.
9: The number of wines selected to pair with the meal, featuring some bottles from near Mr. Keller's California location, such as the 2007 Patz & Hall Pinot Noir from Sonoma and 2007 Kongsgaard Chardonnay from Napa Valley.
4: The average number of hours of sleep the team got on their first night.
2: The number of times Mr. Keller has been to Hong Kong; the first was with his father three years ago. This marks the first time in Asia for the rest of his team. 'I try to do an event like this once a year and go international with my team to reward young culinarians and bring them together,' he says.
80: The percentage of each batch of Mr. Keller's signature cornets (savory tiles) deemed worthy of being served to guests as an amuse-bouche (the others are rejected because they don't look right or get burnt in the making.) 'This is a technique that requires a lot of labor and finesse, and asbestos fingertips,' says Mr. Keller.
Mr. Keller's final word on price, value, and cooking? The chef recounts a tale to illustrate his approach: 'When I first came to New York in the '80s, there was a famous baker called Bonté. One year, the price of butter skyrocketed, and the New York Times did an article asking all the bakeries what they were doing in response to that. Some increased prices. Some got different brand butter substitutes. But Mr. Bonté said he wasn't going to change anything ─ just make his croissants a little smaller…and that was the right answer.'
Amy Ma
It's the first time Mr. Keller, who owns eight restaurants and two bakeries in the U.S., has cooked in Hong Kong. (The chef has cooked in Bangkok and Singapore.)
'This is the only event I've ever done outside of the U.S. where I could bring my own ingredients,' he says. 'Cooking is a very simple equation ─ it's about ingredients and execution.'
We talked to Mr. Keller this week and asked him to break down the numbers behind his visit.
7.5: The number of months the Keller team spent planning the event. Key to the visit: menu development, integration of different team members and travel logistics.
8: The number of people in Mr. Keller's entourage brought over from his U.S. restaurants. The team consists of three sous chefs, a maître d', two pastry chefs, a chef de partie and a communications associate. (Previous visiting chefs at the Mandarin Oriental have either come alone or brought one assistant.)
4: The number of places Mr. Keller's team came from: Napa Valley, New York, Las Vegas and Beverly Hills.
13: The number of suppliers from the U.S. whose ingredients are featured in each meal. Some of the highlights: Soyoung Scanlan's cheese (exclusive just for this event) from Petaluma, Calif.; Diane St. Claire's hand-churned raw milk butter from Orwell, Vt.; Don and Sally Schmitt's apples from Philo, Calif.; Mast Brothers' Chocolate from Brooklyn, N.Y.; John Mood's peach palms from Haleiwa, Hawaii; Snake River Farms' beef from Boise, Idaho; and sunchokes and radishes from Mr. Keller's own garden at French Laundry.
9: The number of wines selected to pair with the meal, featuring some bottles from near Mr. Keller's California location, such as the 2007 Patz & Hall Pinot Noir from Sonoma and 2007 Kongsgaard Chardonnay from Napa Valley.
4: The average number of hours of sleep the team got on their first night.
2: The number of times Mr. Keller has been to Hong Kong; the first was with his father three years ago. This marks the first time in Asia for the rest of his team. 'I try to do an event like this once a year and go international with my team to reward young culinarians and bring them together,' he says.
80: The percentage of each batch of Mr. Keller's signature cornets (savory tiles) deemed worthy of being served to guests as an amuse-bouche (the others are rejected because they don't look right or get burnt in the making.) 'This is a technique that requires a lot of labor and finesse, and asbestos fingertips,' says Mr. Keller.
Mr. Keller's final word on price, value, and cooking? The chef recounts a tale to illustrate his approach: 'When I first came to New York in the '80s, there was a famous baker called Bonté. One year, the price of butter skyrocketed, and the New York Times did an article asking all the bakeries what they were doing in response to that. Some increased prices. Some got different brand butter substitutes. But Mr. Bonté said he wasn't going to change anything ─ just make his croissants a little smaller…and that was the right answer.'
Amy Ma
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