乐展林, Julien David Le Gentil, 44 years old

French chef, sommelier, lifestyle consultant

“I’m not a chef. I became a chef. I’m still learning. I know my limits. I never claim and I will never claim to be the best chef in town.”

乐展林，44岁

法国厨师，侍酒师，生活顾问

“我虽然是一位厨师，但是这并没有达到我的目标，至今为止依旧在还在学习，也清楚自己的极限，从不称自己是最好的厨师。”

I’ve been working as a chef for almost three years now. My original profession was and still is a sommelier. I’ve been in the wine business for about twenty years. Apart from that, I’ve been teaching French lifestyle to Chinese and foreigners. Coming from France, food and wine are a part of me. My hometown is Brest, it is situated in the West of France on the Atlantic Ocean. As I’m used to saying, if you go forward from there, the next city you will find is New York. 

我是从三年前开始了我的厨师生涯，这之前在葡萄酒行业作为一名侍酒师工作了20年，除了这两份工作外，我还为中国人和法国人当过生活顾问。因为我来自法国，所以西餐和葡萄酒是我生活的一部分，我的家乡是法国布雷斯特，就跟我常说的那样，如果你从这里出发，下一个到达的城市便是纽约。

So far, I have been in China for 12 years: my first time in the country dates back to 2006, when I moved to Shanghai to work as a sommelier at fine dining places, such as ‘Bund 18’ and ‘Sens&Bund.’ However, the main reason to come was because I wanted to live with my wife who is Chinese. We’ve been in a relationship for 19 years now since we met in Dublin. We have two beautiful daughters, one is 9 and the other is 7 years old. During this period, I went back to France only three times to visit part of my family and to allow my daughters to see their grandparents. To be honest, I don’t feel the need to return to my country because everything I care about is right here with me. “Home is where you feel good, not where you were born.” 

从2006年我第一次来到中国，我在中国已经生活了12年了。当时是为了到上海外滩上的著名餐厅当侍酒师，比如外滩十八号或者Sens&Bund。不过，我来中国最主要的原因是想要跟我的中国妻子在一起，我们在柏林相识，至今为止我们已经在一起19年了，有两位可爱的女儿，一个9岁，一个7岁。这么多年，我们只回过法国三次，为了看望我的父母，也为了让我的女儿们见见她们的爷爷奶奶。坦率的讲，我并不认为一定要回到法国去，家并不是你出生的那个地方，而是你感觉最舒适的那个地方。

My life in Dalian started in 2011. By then, I was working as a lifestyle consultant. Since I’ve been cooking for a long time and having gained some knowledge from some chefs I worked with, I decided to open up a French restaurant called “Aux Petits Plaisirs” in July 2015. The first one was too small, therefore we moved to the one in Shahekou 6 months ago. Even if this place is not in the city centre or in a popular area, my opinion is that “it’s all about what you serve to customers, not about the location.” That’s why we have many regulars coming back. In particular, 70% of them are Chinese, while the rest are foreigners. A lot of the ingredients I use are imported, like butter, cream, or milk, and my clients like the genuine taste of my food. The fact that I kept the same original French cuisine made my restaurant successful. The best compliment I was given is “it reminds me of what my mother used to cook.”

2011年，我来到大连，那时是一位生活方式顾问，由于我常年自己做饭，也跟我的一些厨师朋友学习过，所以在2015年我决定开一家法国餐厅，起名叫“小乐趣”。第一家店面太小了，所以6个月之后，我在辽师附近开了现在的这家店。虽然这家店并不在市中心，不过我的想法是，一家餐厅重要的不是地理位置，而是你给顾客提供的体验，这也是我们一直有很多回头客的原因。我们的顾客群体中，中国人占7成，外国人占3成，我们的原材料基本都是进口的，比如黄油、奶油、牛奶。客户喜欢这些原汁原味的法国菜系，我认为这是我餐厅有这么多回头客的原因之一。对我最好的夸奖就是：“这些菜有妈妈的味道！”

My favorite thing to cook is definitely desserts, because you need precision and technique to make good ones. The apple cake is never missing from my menu. It is one of the dishes that customers order more often, along with some main courses, such as mushroom tartines, snails from Burgundy, pork rillettes, quiche, cheese plate, and sausage. When I have time, I also like to add some specials to the menu. Apart from food, I keep a selection of around 60 wines in the cellar, half whites, half reds and most of them obviously from France.

所有菜品中，我最喜欢做的是甜品，因为做甜品需要精度和技巧。比如深受大家喜爱的苹果蛋糕，这道甜品总会出现在我的菜单中，除了苹果蛋糕以外，大家也很喜欢蘑菇焗法棍，进口于勃艮第的蜗牛，法式熟肉酱，奶酪拼盘，还有自制法式香肠等。闲余时间，我也会研究一些新菜肴，如果成功的话就把他加到菜单中。除了菜品外，我的酒窖里差不多有60多种葡萄酒，一半是白葡萄酒，另一半是红葡萄酒，大部分是从法国进口而来的。

I work with only other three people and I have no intention to expand. “The word domination is not for me. We are small, and we want to remain small. It’s all about the package.”

餐厅总共有三个人为大家提供服务，而且我也没有扩大店面的打算，麻雀虽小五脏俱全，最重要的是我想为大家提供最好的服务。

The place has a chill cosy atmosphere. Here, you won’t find a Louis XVI style or French music in the background. I designed everything according to my taste and I chose the art myself. I love abstractionism and all the paintings you see are either by French artists or by my father who is an artist as well. 

“小乐趣”的整体氛围轻松又舒适，在这里，你看不到路易十六的装饰风格，也不会让你只能听法国音乐，这个餐厅的一切都是由我自己设计的，包括墙上挂的油画，都是由法国艺术家或者是我爸爸创作的。

I like to think of my restaurant as a combination of Starbucks and fine dining. I mean, people can come here for coffee or sit outside with their lemonade but they can also enjoy a dish of snails or foie gras.

我对“小乐趣”的定位是位于星巴克和环境优雅的西餐厅之间的一个餐厅，来这里的人既可以喝一杯咖啡，或者坐在外面喝一杯柠檬水，当然，你也可以在这里品尝地道的法式焗蜗牛、鹅肝酱等等。

My job keeps me very busy but I can’t complain. I like what I do and I’m lucky to do it. However, I keep my Sunday afternoons and Mondays free so that I can spend some quality time with my family. 

经营这家餐厅使我变得十分忙碌，不过我并没有任何怨言，现在的这一切都是我喜欢的事物，这让我觉得很幸运。尽管如此，我也会把周日下午和周一作为休息日，和家人一起度过难得的美好时光。

In my future plans, there is the intention of creating another concept soon, but I can’t reveal you anything about it yet…

关于未来，我还有一些新的想法，不过现在还是保密的，敬请期待吧！

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