The kitchen had no dining room, no sign over the door and, strictly speaking, no restaurants. It had one fryer, two induction hobs, a steel counter and Reinhold. Out of these it served six establishments to the city: the Copper Skillet, Grandmother's Table, the Seaside Fry House, Green Bowl, Little Dumpling House and the Smokehouse Co-op. Each had a menu, a logo and a set of warm, glossy photographs, all produced in one afternoon by a program that had never eaten anything.
这间厨房没有用餐区，门上没有招牌，严格来说，也没有餐厅。它有一台油炸锅、两个电磁炉、一张钢制操作台，还有莱因霍尔德。就靠这些，它为这座城市供应六家店：铜平底锅、外婆的餐桌、海滨炸货屋、绿碗、小饺子屋，以及烟熏合作社。每家都有菜单、标志和一套温暖而光鲜的照片，全是一个从没吃过任何东西的程序在一个下午做出来的。
Emeric, who handled the accounts, had explained the idea on Reinhold's first day. "People trust a restaurant with a story," he had said. "Nobody wants to order from a kitchen." So the chicken that left the building at six o'clock was "rustic family-style" on Grandmother's Table, "crispy coastal" at the Seaside Fry House and, with a pinch of sesame seeds, "street-style" at the Smokehouse Co-op. It all came out of the same oil. Reinhold had stopped finding this funny some time in the spring and had started finding it merely tiring, like answering to six names at once.
埃梅里克负责账目，在莱因霍尔德上班的第一天，他就讲解了这个主意。“人们信任有故事的餐厅，”他说，“没人想从一间厨房点餐。”于是，六点钟从这栋楼里送出去的鸡肉，在外婆的餐桌是“乡村家常风”，在海滨炸货屋是“海边酥脆风”，撒上一小撮芝麻，到了烟熏合作社就成了“街头风”。它们全出自同一锅油。春天的某个时候，莱因霍尔德就不再觉得这好笑了，而是开始觉得只是累，就像同时回应六个名字。
The grandmother in the photographs had flour on her hands and a kind, creased smile. Her left hand, if you looked closely, had six fingers. Reinhold had pointed this out once. "Nobody counts," Emeric had said.
照片里的外婆手上沾着面粉，笑容慈祥，眼角带着皱纹。仔细看的话，她的左手有六根手指。莱因霍尔德曾经指出过这一点。“没人会去数。”埃梅里克说。
On a wet Tuesday in October, a review arrived. It was posted under Grandmother's Table, five stars, signed with a single initial, and Reinhold read it standing at the pass with a damp cloth over his shoulder, expecting a complaint about cold chips. Instead the customer wrote that the chicken had tasted exactly like the food her aunt used to make before the aunt moved away. She had eaten it at the kitchen table with the radio on, she said, which she had not done in years. "Please tell the cook thank you," the review ended. "Someone is clearly looking after this recipe."
十月里一个下雨的星期二，来了一条评价。它发在外婆的餐桌名下，五颗星，只署了一个首字母。莱因霍尔德站在出餐口，肩上搭着一块湿抹布读着，以为会是抱怨薯条凉了。结果，那位顾客写道，这鸡肉的味道，和她姑姑搬走之前做的菜一模一样。她说，她是坐在厨房的餐桌旁，开着收音机吃完的，这种事她已经多年没做过了。评价的结尾是：“请替我谢谢厨师。显然有人在用心守护这份食谱。”
Reinhold read it twice. Never in four months had a customer written more than the word "fine." It was the same chicken that had gone out that evening to the Copper Skillet, with a different sprinkle. If he was honest, he had cooked it badly, because a delivery had come late and he had been rushing. What bothered him was not that the woman had been deceived. It was that she had been, for the length of one dinner, genuinely looked after, and that the only person she had thanked was somebody who did not exist.
莱因霍尔德读了两遍。四个月来，从没有顾客写过比“还行”更长的话。这和那天傍晚送去铜平底锅的是同一份鸡肉，只是撒的料不同。说实话，他做得并不好，因为有一批货送晚了，他当时赶得很急。让他困扰的并不是那位女士被骗了。而是在一顿晚餐的时间里，她确实被用心照顾了，而她所感谢的，只是一个并不存在的人。
Had the grandmother been real, he would have passed the message on. As it was, there was nobody to pass it to but himself.
如果那位外婆是真的，他就会把这条话转达给她。可眼下，除了他自己，没有人可以转达了。
The reply box on the app blinked at him. Emeric's guidance for replies was a short template beginning, "Grandmother says thank you!" Reinhold typed it, deleted it, and sat for a while with the fryer ticking as it cooled. Then he wrote, "Thank you. The cook is glad it reached you." He considered adding a name and found that, of the six available, none of them was his. He pressed send before he could improve it.
应用上的回复框对他闪烁着。埃梅里克给回复定的指引是一个简短的模板，开头是“外婆说谢谢！”莱因霍尔德打了出来，又删掉，在油炸锅冷却时发出的嘀嗒声中坐了一会儿。然后他写道：“谢谢您。厨师很高兴这份心意传到了您那里。”他想再加上一个名字，却发现可用的六个里，没有一个是他的。他在能改得更好之前，按下了发送。
Behind him the printer chattered and produced three tickets, one for the Copper Skillet, one for the Seaside Fry House and one for Green Bowl. Reinhold tied on a fresh apron, wiped down the counter, and began, as carefully as on his first night, to cook the same chicken three times.
他身后，打印机嗒嗒作响，吐出三张小票，一张给铜平底锅，一张给海滨炸货屋，一张给绿碗。莱因霍尔德系上一条干净的围裙，擦了擦操作台，然后像第一天晚上那样小心地，开始把同一份鸡肉做三遍。
