TRANSLATION | Eugenia Yang
甫踏進門口，躍入眼簾的水泥牆面、鐵皮建材，是常人所熟悉的街道元素，茶席區為匆匆前來的食客捎來一絲喘息，靜心前往機關房，將視線聚焦於石頭，隨著流水洗滌浸潤，剎地另一扇門開啟，猶如電影轉場前的停留畫面，經年華、人文、理念、創作所凝聚而成的「斑泊」，正續寫著相異台味情懷，於舌尖翻轉意外驚喜。
電影情節
以斑斕鏽蝕鏤刻歲月足跡，造就斑泊的命名由來，運用河川之匯聚與停泊打造深層寓意，流水般的光陰，亦驗證李澄和蘇品瑞擁有共同目標，生命如分水嶺般有了交集。「斑駁本身是歲月沉澱的意思，換一個角度可以很好看，也是我們想訴說台灣故事的主要概念。」身為科班出身的學長弟，分別擁有國外名店歷練的豐厚經驗，坦言曾以西餐自視甚高，經十年思鄉返台，讓他們開始推敲能為這塊土地帶來什麼，也向自我拋出無限提問，笑答斑泊一詞，實則象徵自身心境轉折，「做一間屬於台灣在地的 Fine Dining，質樸美麗，我們希望離開的客人可以擁有新的想法，原來台灣也有這麼多樣貌，並不是原本所看到的那些框架。」
一家理想的餐廳，對蘇品瑞而言，應持續保持質疑與好奇心，李澄則道出「面對創作」四字，其中蘊含了欲傳遞的訊息、感受與想法，「理想中的餐廳其實真的像一部電影。」將開頭結尾預先設定，中間的畫面便交由不同年齡的觀眾，藉種種情節引發共感，細品專屬自身的起承轉合。
內蘊台味
放眼望去，餐桌上的「童玩－東南西北」菜單使人會心一笑，若悉心觀察，便可發現藏匿其中的「昭和時期俯瞰大台北地圖」，對此蘇品瑞期望以蒙太奇手法引領賓客進入斑泊世界觀，靈感出自與李澄父親李崗導演談話而來，從空間、音樂、氣味步步堆疊，「讓你想起來小時候好像玩過，就像我們都吃過棉花糖，但第一次吃的瞬間感動，是大家有可能已經忘記的，我們嘗試想要把那個感動找回來。」
談起菜單的設計脈絡，蘇品瑞表示著重於整體均衡感，將台南精髓融入，尾端帶些許甜度的巧妙變化，是他特有的調和方式。「斑泊切入的角度是提供一個新的用餐體驗或選擇，把我們所熟悉的味道像滷肉飯、金沙小卷，每道菜的味型比較像是快炒店或家常菜的樣子。」尤其講究氣味，紅蔥頭、大蒜是蘇品瑞會直觀使用的食材，更透露中藥與乾貨為值得挖掘的在地風味，也是未來陸續會使用的原料之一。
當憶起兒時的專屬台味，蘇品瑞隨即答是阿嬤做的滷肉飯，但下飛機第一個會去吃的則是鹹酥雞；李澄則透露是父親的料理，某次鰻魚與中藥材的奇特融合，使他往後聞起藥膳味便產生連結，溫柔笑說這即是食物與回憶的溫暖共鳴。
工藝情愫
幽靜氤氳的用餐空間，可見不少石材、原木、鐵件、竹子、藺草等建材，處處皆有台灣巷弄的巧妙錯覺，一切皆出自伴境設計之手。提及喜愛的店內一隅，李澄笑答甫進門的鐵皮建材，呼應了不少創作者的心境，以新鐵呼應十年前的少年，如今充滿鐵鏽的斑駁質地，何嘗不是別有一番韻味。
匯聚在地工藝家的眾多創作，如台灣金工品牌「爆炸毛頭與油炸朱利」的「文心蘭黃銅筷架」、選用「邱顯成士林刀」與「柴犬刀具」的精緻牛排刀等，無不展現了創作者對於這塊土地的特有情愫，將抽象情感昇華為具象美感，新時代的刻痕正融匯於此，一個個故事交疊，造就了斑泊的無限可能，「目標是希望讓更多人可以感受到我們想要說的話，也許在走出餐廳的時候，會覺得原來今天認識了一些以前不知道的面向，把我們覺得很棒的分享出去。」異常堅定的語氣，著實令人期待李澄和蘇品瑞所言的將來。
Essence of Taiwan: Banbo
As soon as we step into the restaurant, we are welcomed by familiar street elements such as cement walls and metal roofing materials. While the tea area serves as a moment of relief for hurried diners, the enclosed room draws the gaze towards the stones. As the flowing water washes over them, another hidden door opens to our surprise, like a still frame before a scene changes in a movie. An accumulation of experience, humanity and culture, ideas and creativity, Banbo is writing a new chapter on the different flavors of Taiwan and how they can bring unexpected delights by surprising our taste buds.
Scenes from a Movie
The colorful rust that marks the footprints of time is what inspired the name Banbo, the meaning “mottled” in Mandarin. Creating meaning with depth, the convergence and berthing of rivers capture how time flows, a reflection of how Cheng Lee and Steven Su share a common goal as their lives intersected like a watershed. “Mottled itself means the sedimentation of time. It looks beautiful from a different perspective, which is also the main concept we want to tell with the story of Taiwan.” Both graduated from culinary schools, they each acquired broad experiences working at renowned restaurants abroad and admits that they used to have rather high self-esteem just because of the fact that they studied western culinary. However, returning to Taiwan ten years later, they began to ponder what they could bring to this land and started asking themselves endless questions. Perhaps the phrase Banbo actually symbolizes the shift in their mentality. “By building a fine dining restaurant that belongs to Taiwan, one that is simple but beautiful, we hope that our customers will leave our restaurant with new ideas in their head and recognize that Taiwan has so much variety in it, things that lie outside of the framework they used to see.” For Su, to build an ideal restaurant, one has to maintain curiosity and doubts. On the other hand, Lee believes it is about facing the process of creation, as it entails the message, emotions and ideas one hopes to deliver. “An ideal restaurant is really like a movie.” By setting the beginning and ending in advance, the scenes in between are left for the viewers of different ages to find the connection and savor the unique plot twists that may differ from person to person.
Tastes of Taiwan
Setting eyes on the dining table, the menu resembling the paper fortune teller will definitely bring a smile to your face, and if you take a closer look, you will notice the map of Taipei during the Showa era. Through these montages, Su hopes to lead his guests into the world of Banbo, an attempt inspired by a conversation he had with film director Khan Lee, who is also Lee’s father. “It reminds you of your childhood memories. For example, we’ve all had cotton candy before, but we may have forgotten the sensation of trying it for the first time. That is what we are aiming to recreate, the feeling of being moved by something for the first time.” When it comes to the menu, Su focuses on the overall balance of flavors. By incorporating the essence of Tainan, the dishes come with a sweet aftertaste, which is his unique way of blending flavors. “What Banbo offers is a new dining experience or choice that works with familiar flavors like braised pork over rice or salted egg yolk squids. The dishes are more like the ones you see at stir-fry restaurants or home-cooked meals.” Especially emphasizing on the aroma, Su uses ingredients such as shallots and garlic intuitively and reveals that Chinese medicine and dried goods are local flavors worth exploring, something that he will be using more in the future. When asked about his favorite childhood dish, he immediately chooses his grandmother’s braised pork over rice, while popcorn chicken has always been his go-to choice whenever he gets off the plane. As for Lee, it is his father’s cooking. Once, his father made a dish using eel and Chinese medicine, a unique combination that evokes certain emotions whenever he catches a whiff of the herbal scent. Smiling gently, Lee says this is exactly the warm resonance shared between food and memories.
Artisanal Ardor
From stone, wood, metal, bamboo, to rush, the tranquil dining space is filled with clever illusions of Taiwanese alleys, all made possible by Radius Interior Design. Of all the corners in the restaurant, Lee chuckles and says the entrance and its metal roofing details are his personal favorite. Resonating with creators, the newer metal reflects the younger self, while the rusty and mottled texture echoes with all the years that have passed, an ingenious metaphor that is full of charm. Meanwhile, the utensils used at Banbo are carefully selected from the works of local craftsmen, such as the Dancing Dall Orchid chopsticks holder by Bomb Metal & Fry Jewelry or the exquisite steak knives from Chai Quan Knives and Xian Cheng Qiu’s Shilin Knives. Everything showcases these creator’s district affection for this land by transforming their abstract emotions into tangible beauty. Right at this moment, the marks of the new era are merging here, while different stories are overlapping with one another to create endless possibilities for Banbo. “Our goal is to let more people hear and feel what we want to say. Perhaps when they leave the restaurant, they will understand concepts they didn’t notice before and pass it on,” conclude Lee and Su with a steadfast and determined tone, making us look forward to the future they have in mind.
