一
　　
　　楼外楼人素来崇敬苏东坡老先生。
　　在他们的店堂里，你能见到多幅由名画家所画的东坡行吟图，因为他们知道，图上老先生杖竹行吟那块杂花生树之地，上溯八九百年此地就在他们的店堂里外。
　　他们店堂里还有四块名家书写的木刻诗匾，刻的就是苏老先生的名作：“水光潋滟晴方好，山色空雨亦奇。欲把西湖比西子，淡妆浓沫总相宜。”这是所有咏西湖诗中最好的一首。楼外楼人认为，老先生这首诗就是在他们的店门口写的。因为，站在他们店门口，特别是登上他们楼上的露台，放眼望去无论是“水光”还是“山色”，无论是“晴雨”还是“浓淡”，千般风姿，万种妩媚，都在眼前。
　　楼外楼好福气，他们由衷感谢苏老先生。
　　
　　二
　　
　　在一个半多世纪里，楼外楼的职业追求就是烹制各种美味佳肴，就是继承和弘扬悠久的中华饮食文化。而苏东坡这位名传千古的伟人，对杭州及西湖特别有贡献的老市长，恰恰又是一位历代公认的、在饮食文化上的建树和传说特别多的美食家，这位史称“苏文忠公”的一代文豪传给后人的“文”中，有一脉就是归属在源远流长的中华饮食文化之内的。因此在中国很多地方，都有被当地人自豪地冠上“东坡”前缀的美味佳肴，如东坡肉、东坡鸭、东坡蹄膀、东坡鱼、东坡豆腐以及东坡酥、东坡酒等等，特别是东坡肉几乎无人不知，无人不晓。
　　在被列为“东坡美味”第一道的“东坡肉”之诞生地楼外楼，对这份遗产的价值自然有深刻的体会，因此他们始终抓住这一历史文化底蕴，以菜名楼，以文兴楼，这“菜”自然包括“东坡菜”，这“文”当然包括东坡饮食文化的“文”。
　　100多年来，一代又一代的楼外楼大厨们，都曾用这些有“东坡”前缀的美味让无数的佳宾大快朵颐，这既为自己赢得了声誉，也为企业的长盛不衰输入了无穷的营养和力量。他们不仅在宾客盈门的店堂里一日又一日地烧制“东坡菜”、东坡酥，还在拥有一整套现代化食品加工设施的食品厂里大批量地生产真空包装的系列“东坡美味”。这些“东坡美味”有十多个品种，一年的总产量近千吨。它们被送进杭州及上海、北京等地的大超市，送上了千家万户的餐桌，由此让更多的人品尝到了“东坡美味”。
　　楼外楼，在引以自豪的长盛不衰的经营之道中，头一条就是做足“东坡文章”，特别是从上个世纪80年代以来，楼外楼以总经理沈关忠及现已退休的老书记张渭林为首的新一代当家人，更是动足了脑筋，倾注了心血，把“东坡文章”做得有声有色，这在全国的同行中都产生了深远影响：记得2003年国庆节前夕，杭州市政府为恢复西湖300年前的历史风貌而进行的“湖西景区整治工程”竣工了，这是和当年苏老先生治理西湖的性质和内容都相似的惠民工程。为了表示对这个工程的赞许和庆祝，也为了进一步继承和弘扬东坡饮食文化及对这位“西湖大功臣”的纪念，楼外楼邀请了四个与苏东坡生平密切有关的外省城市的同行，在西湖边举办了一次“新西湖杯”中华“东坡宴”荟萃展。为了使这次盛会具有更浓的文化和学术氛围，他们还特请了我省的著名宋史专家、省旅游研究会会长林正秋教授和江苏的饮食文化专家、扬州大学烹饪系教授邱庞桐先生作顾问。
　　受邀的城市是四川的眉山、湖北的黄冈、广东的惠州和江苏的常州。它们和杭州一样，与苏东坡都有着很深的历史渊源：眉山是苏东坡的家乡；黄冈和惠州是他的谪居之地；常州则是他告老去世之处。这些城市的东坡菜都很有名，这些城市赴会的店家也和楼外楼一样，多年来都十分重视东坡菜的研究和烹制。杭州本地有十多家餐馆参加，他们都在店门口挂起了“游新西湖品东坡宴”的大红横幅，都在店堂里陈列出自己烹制的东坡菜的样品，于是一时间杭州形成了一股“满城争摆东坡宴”的热潮。经过5个城市参展厨师反复的切磋交流及制作，最后有55道东坡菜在楼外楼的大堂里作了展示。然后由顾问及嘉宾品评，从中选出了15道精品东坡菜，组成了一席“中华经典东坡宴”。
　　这席“中华经典东坡宴”有荤有素，有冷有热，来自相距千里的五省市用不同的原料及烹饪手法制作，并在文化内涵上都是与苏东坡这三个字连在一起的：眉山苏轼酒楼的“连鳌琼楼”，就出典于苏东坡和弟弟苏辙应试时连过乡试、礼部试、殿试三关而同中进士一事，“连鳌”者连占鳌头也；黄冈德尔福美食广场的“东坡蛋黄排”蕴含着苏东坡和当地名胜安国寺僧继莲的情分；常州新淮扬酒店管理公司的“吟菊品人生”，就出自东坡先生的《后杞菊赋并叙》；惠州的“东坡红薯”虽然晶莹剔透，但令人一见就使人想起苏老先生当年在惠州的清贫和困苦；东道主楼外楼的大厨们除了奉献了特别菜品东坡肉、孤山三脆、两味蝤蛑、东坡酥、玉糁羹外，还特地制作了一个名为“苏堤春晓”的大拼盘：烟柳画桥，长堤卧波，有花有鸟，有塔有岛，全都是可赏可尝的美味。
　　对此，特邀顾问林正秋教授作了这样的评述：“这席菜肴，能使人领悟东坡饮食文化的过去和今天。它不是简单地贴标签，而是对传统的中华饮食文化的继承和创新，是当得起‘经典东坡宴’之称的。”
　　
　　三
　　
　　《东坡浚湖图》是一帧刚问世的大型东阳木雕壁画，由工艺美术大师陆光正创作完成，近日展现在楼外楼的大堂。
　　苏老先生虽然曾贵为太守，贵为龙图阁大学士，贵为一代文豪，在中国的文化史上也称得上是一位巨人，但由于他率真耿直，忧国忧民，一肚皮的“不合时宜”，他的一生过得并不顺溜。掐指排算，他一生中最顺利、最有成就的日子就要属在杭州的前后五年了。在杭州公事之余，他或踏歌山间，或吟诗湖上，留下了诸多锦绣篇章。特别是他在整治西湖时提倡筑堤架桥，堤上栽柳种桃，使杭州西湖真正成了世上少有的天堂胜境，使“苏堤春晓”成为西湖十景之首，一直为后人敬仰和乐道。正是有了苏老先生这番劳作，那位比他晚生了100多年的南宋人林，来到花团锦簇的西湖边才会心生感叹，写出“山外青山楼外楼，西湖歌舞几时休”的诗句。也正是因了这诗句，楼外楼才会有如此响亮的店名而名扬天下。
　　如今挂在楼外楼大堂上的《东坡浚湖图》，表现的就是苏东坡浚西湖筑苏堤架六桥的故事。这帧有85个人物、50平方米画面的大型艺术作品《东坡浚湖图》，气势恢宏，精美绝伦，令每一个为慕名而进楼外楼的宾客都会眼睛一亮，贵宾们在大饱口福之前总会先饱一番眼福。这帧壁雕由连成一气的五个场景组成：问计于民、甘苦与共、万民拥戴、东坡赠肉、惠泽千秋。它真实生动地记录和反映了苏东坡当年率众浚湖筑堤的全过程。它是纪实的，又是抒情的；它是物质的，又是精神的。
　　这是苏老先生的纪功碑，它将日复一日地向每一个来楼外楼的宾客讲述900多年前的那段佳话，讲述那位杭州人永远敬仰和喜爱的“西湖太守”，讲述前贤留给我们的恩泽和光彩。陆光正大师说，不发生特别的意外，这帧东阳木雕作品三四百年不会变形走样。
　　这是楼外楼的镇店之宝。它将提醒每一个楼外楼人：永远不要忘记自己承袭的历史与事业的责任。它清楚地宣示：做足东坡文章，就是要全面正确理解它所蕴含的历史文化意义，永远对它怀有崇敬和感恩之情。
　　
　　Restaurant Traces Its Fortune to Song Poet
　　By Wu Liusheng
　　
　　Louwailou Restaurant in Hangzhou always ascribes its gastronomic fortune to Su Dongpo (1037-1101), the greatest poet of the Song Dynasty who governed Hangzhou for five years. The paintings that decorate the restaurant walls depict the poet who lost himself enchantingly in the spectacular lake view on the spot where the restaurant stands today. The wooden tablets in the restaurant carry calligraphic lines from a poem by Su, presumably the best of all the poems that sing of the West Lake in Hangzhou.
　　But the unique lakeside restaurant’s artistic bonding with the great literary master is not merely a matter of highlighting his poetic glory. A business started more than 150 years ago, Louwailou attaches top importance to Su Dongpo for a reason: the ancient mayor of Hangzhou is generally acknowledged as the most legendary epicurean in the country’s history. Age-old anecdotes about his contributions to the nation’s culinary art and about his passion for scrumptious cuisine are legion. Today, many traditional dishes in China proudly carry his courtesy name Dongpo to indicate their culinary origin and show their respect to the great gourmand.
　　
　　But claiming Su Dongpo as its patron saint is more than a profit-oriented business strategy. Louwailou regards it an obligation to keep Su’s epicurean legacy and fantasy alive in a faithful and creative way.
　　Dongpo Pork, a dish well known all over the country, was first cooked up by chefs at the restaurant. For the past century and more, Louwailou chefs have allured foodies with house specials all flaunting Su’s name. Today, the restaurant has a state-of-the-art food processing facility that turns out nearly 1,000 tons of vacuum-packed food in a dozen of product lines per year, all carrying Dongpo in their brands, for supermarkets in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou as well as other cities across the country.
　　In October 2003, a large-scale dredging and face-lifting project was completed to restore the West Lake to its appearance of three hundred years before. To celebrate the success of the project which resembled Su Dongpo’s dredging project 900 years before, Louwailou Restaurant invited their counterparts in four cities where Su Dongpo once lived to present tasty dishes in memory of the great epicurean. The cities invited were Meishan of Sichuan Province, where Su Dongpo was born, Huanggang of Hubei Province and Huizhou of Guangdong Province where Su once lived in exile, and Changzhou of Jiangsu Province where he passed away. Chefs from these cities came up with their unique Dongpo dishes. Chefs from more than 10 local restaurants in Hangzhou also contributed their special understanding of Su’s culinary legacy. After rounds of preliminaries, 55 Dongpo dishes were displayed in the lobby of Louwailou. Then a panel of experts and VIP guests handpicked 15 from the 55 dishes to finalize a banquet menu, each of the 15 related to some event or someone important to Su in a specific period of his life.
　　To better display the restaurant’s roots in Su Dongpo’s great services to Hangzhou, Louwailou commissioned a master artist to create a Dongyang wooden sculpture. The masterpiece now has been on display in the lobby. The huge sculpted artwork, named Su Dongpo Dredges the West Lake, measures 50 square meters and depicts 50 figures. Although a giant in the history of Chinese literature and a high-ranking court official in his hay day, Su suffered miserably when he was exiled from the court. Given the ups and downs of his eventful life, the five years he spent in Hangzhou were stress-free and successful. It was in Hangzhou that he had the lake dredged, a causeway and several bridges built, trees planted around the lake. All this contributed to the making of the lake into what it is today. The Spring Dawn Round the Su Causeway, one of the top ten scenes of the West Lake, is named after him, testifying to his everlasting contribution.
　　Lu Guangzheng, the artist who made the sculpture, says that the artwork will well resist the wear and tear of time for at least 300 years without distorting its shape a bit. It is exactly what Louwailou wishes to see, for the restaurant wishes to carry its Dongpo legacy forward into the future.
　　(Translated by David)