折桂“世界十大餐廳之一”的新德里帝國飯店香料之路餐廳（Spice Route）無異于一首史詩，以其滿堂名譽(yù)及異域之魅，傾倒感官，堪比“人間一場(chǎng)醉”。

Heralded as one of the top ten restaurants in the world and proclaimed to be the only one of its kind， The Spice Route is poetry in design. Te renowned restaurant mesmerizes all your senses， enrapturing you with its sensuous exotica.

禮贊人生A Tribute to Life

餐廳建造歷時(shí)七年，意在展現(xiàn)香料從喀拉拉邦的馬拉巴爾海岸，途經(jīng)斯里蘭卡、馬來西亞及印度尼西亞，最終落戶泰國及越南的漫漫之路。跋山涉水，一曲終了，而香料攜來的藝術(shù)與文化余音，借神秘東方的民間、宗教及文化想象，裊裊不絕。拉杰夫·賽思，這位令人仰止的印度文化之王，在獨(dú)有的美麗環(huán)境之間，創(chuàng)設(shè)出無二餐飲空間體驗(yàn)，將美艷懾人的香料之路餐廳升至建筑奇跡的巔峰：滿眼艷麗，壁板上神情與動(dòng)作極具夸張之能事的各路亞洲神祇——印度教氣勢(shì)逼人的大神，婆羅浮屠上慈眉善目的菩薩——目光炯炯。七年血汗之作的餐廳以蔬菜及鮮花染料純手工繪畫，而揮汗如雨的畫匠，特從喀拉拉邦的古魯瓦約奧爾寺廟請(qǐng)入。三千年香火明暗的廟宇，是這些畫匠們靈魂的禪修處。

風(fēng)水原理，古董寶藏——香料之路何止于一家餐廳。依據(jù)人生之路分出的九個(gè)區(qū)域，更為點(diǎn)睛。入口處的“知識(shí)區(qū)”，四根16世紀(jì)寺廟柱擎天而立，留出窄窄的通道；Artha， Kama Moksha區(qū)代表人生三個(gè)階段：唯物、欲望和救贖，本區(qū)壁畫泱泱風(fēng)采，描繪唯物主義，并將《愛經(jīng)》插圖點(diǎn)綴其間。此處天花言說人生歷盡艱辛之后的救贖，正如視線要跨越天花橫梁障礙并定睛細(xì)看才能一睹畫作真容那般，“撥云見霧，方見晴天”；“幫助區(qū)”古老天花引自喀拉拉邦，陽光可進(jìn)，雨水不入，很是罕見；第四區(qū)緊貼廚房，以“創(chuàng)造力”為題；緊隨其后的是“關(guān)系區(qū)”，雙座汽車與紅木、緬甸柚木古梁，一動(dòng)一靜，玄妙莫解；“命運(yùn)區(qū)”的“命運(yùn)墻”自是名副其實(shí)；“財(cái)富區(qū)”財(cái)大氣粗，墻壁及天花飾以24K金箔，深受商業(yè)食客青睞；第八區(qū)“祖先”復(fù)刻各家泰廟嵌板，預(yù)示生命終結(jié)；餐廳中央?yún)^(qū)——“飲食健康區(qū)”融合泰式與喀拉拉邦民居建筑風(fēng)。

Te Spice Route has been designed to refect the journey of spices from the Malabar Coast in Kerala through Sri Lanka， Malaysia， and Indonesia to Tailand and Vietnam. Te restaurant is an overwhelming visual depiction of the art and culture that also travelled with the spices through these regions， presented in a folk， religious and cultural fantasy of the Orient. Designed by Rajeev Sethi， the celebrated cultural czar of India， Te Spice Route is an architectural marvel that ofers a unique dining experience in a distinctively beautiful seting. Te Restaurant， that was seven years in the making， is completely hand painted with vegetable and fower dyes by mural painters brought in especially from a temple in Guruvayur in Kerala with a tradition dating back to 3，000 years.

Designed on the principles of Feng Shui， Te Spice Route – a treasure trove of antiques – is divided into nine diferent sections and each one is a part of the journey of life. Te Knowledge section at the entrance is thronged by four 16th-century pillars from a temple marking a narrow entrance. Te next section signifes the three stages of life – Artha， Kama and Moksha， viz. materialism， lust and the ultimate salvation. Te mural in this section has paintings depicting materialism and illustrations from Kamasutra. Te ceiling in this part of the restaurant represents salvation， atained through hardships just as you need to cross the hurdles of the beams covering the ceiling and concentrate to see the complete picture within. Te next section is Help， which shows of an antique ceiling from Kerala， unique in the aspect that it lets the sunlight in but not the rain. Te fourth section， closest to the kitchen， denotes Creativity. Tis is followed by the Relationship section demarcated by two-seaters and with antique beams in Rosewood and Burma Teak wood. Te next section is Fate and Fortune with its ’ Wall of Fortune ，’ followed by the Wealth section， embellished with 24 karat gold leafng on the wall and the ceiling. It is extremely popular for business lunches. Te eighth section – the Ancestral indicating the end of the journey of life – has replicas of the panels from various Tai temples. Te courtyard in the middle of the restaurant is the Food and Health section and blends Tai and Kerala architectural styles.

食不厭精The Finest Foods

在亞洲，食物是圣潔的。餐廳擺設(shè)的羅摩衍那手稿以古泰語呈現(xiàn)，掩不住傲骨，字里行間神圣工巧。裝飾出彩，菜單也可圈可點(diǎn)，即便是老道的美食鑒賞家，也難免味蕾大動(dòng)。主廚維納·阿羅拉傾注滿腔熱血，藝術(shù)性地創(chuàng)制出精致菜單，自然一鳴驚人。每道菜都如寶石般光芒耀眼：喀拉拉邦風(fēng)格對(duì)蝦，加椰漿、咖喱粉及黑羅望子烹炒，以芥菜籽入味；飽受稱贊的冬蔭功湯，具檸檬草、檸檬葉及高良姜風(fēng)味；泰式香菇姜炒龍蝦，以貝殼盛盤；佐以豌豆及櫻桃茄子的泰式綠咖喱雞；主廚特供烹炒豆醬香菇小菠菜等。為了褒獎(jiǎng)維諾？阿羅拉對(duì)印度旅游業(yè)所做的突出貢獻(xiàn)和成就，印度旅游局頒發(fā)給她最佳女廚師的榮譽(yù)。除了前任總統(tǒng)普拉蒂巴·帕特爾女士外，她是唯一一個(gè)拿到這項(xiàng)榮譽(yù)的人。

Food is sacred in Asia. A manuscript of Ramayana in ancient Tai displayed with pride in the restaurant echoes the sentiment. Besides the stunning décor， Te Spice Route boasts a menu that ensnares the taste buds of a seasoned food connoisseur. Orchestrated with passion by Chef Veena Arora， the menu crafed almost artistically is starred by gems such as Chemeen Toren （Kerala style prawns， stir-fried with coconut， curry leaves and black tamarind； favoured with mustard seeds）， Tom Yum Kung （the famous Tai soup with prawns， favoured with lemon grass， lemon leaves and galangal）， Kung Nang Phad Khing （Stir-fried lobster with ginger and Tai black mushrooms， served in the shell）， Kaeng Kheow Waan Kai （Chicken in Tai green curry with pea and cherry aubergines） and Phad Phak （the chef’ s special stir-fried baby spinach with black mushrooms， favoured with soya bean paste）. Other than the former President of India Ms. Pratibha Patel， she was the only person to be Awarded as the Best Lady Chef by the Ministry of Tourism in India for my Outstanding Achievement and Contribution to the Promotion of Tourism in the Country.

餐廳擺設(shè)的羅摩衍那手稿以古泰語呈現(xiàn)，掩不住傲骨，字里行間神圣工巧。裝飾出彩，菜單也可圈可點(diǎn)，即便是老道的美食鑒賞家，也難免味蕾大動(dòng)。

A manuscript of Ramayana in ancient Thai displayed with pride in the restaurant echoes the sentiment. Besides the stunning décor， The Spice Route boasts a menu that ensnares the taste buds of a seasoned food connoisseur.

我們欣然圍坐于香料之路餐廳中央?yún)^(qū)的圓桌旁，感慨于餐廳的異域迷香。嘗的是菜品，品的是人生。

Delightly we sat around the desk in the center of Te Spice Route， being amazed by the the fragrance of foreign land. We were trying the dishes ， tasting our lives.