走進NBA球隊的廚房

When JaeHee Cho first auditioned for the executive chef job with the Philadelphia 76ers, he was going to wow the brass. He composed a menu titled "Chicken & Egg." He'd take four or five chickens and showcase every part of the bird — use the bones to make a broth of incomparable depth, confit the legs and craft an elevated salad from the meat, concoct an East African-style stew by braising the thighs in a berbere spice, and even bake chawanmushi, a Japanese egg custard tart, three ways.

當JaeHee Cho首次面試費城76人隊的行政主廚這一職位時，他打算驚豔到面試官。他創作了名爲“雞和蛋”的菜單。他使用了四到五隻雞，將雞的每一個部位（的做法）都展示出來——雞骨拿來熬製高湯，用雞腿肉精心製作了雞肉沙拉，用柏柏爾（一種特殊的香料）做成具有東非口味的蒸燉雞腿，甚至還做了日式蒸蛋，一種日本的奶油蛋撻，一種食材，三種做法。

Sixers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo received the suggested menu over email and winced. He appreciated Cho's ambition, but this might be a little bit too ... chefy.

當76人的籃球運營總裁布萊恩-科朗吉羅收到這封菜單的郵件時，他皺了皺眉（覺得不行）。他很欣賞Cho的決心，但那可能有一點太廚師氣了。

"I was looking to show off a skill set, and how I could use creatively every part of a chicken," Cho says. "but they were like, 'Can you make a good pancake?'"

“我想展示我的所有廚藝技能，展示我是怎樣創造性地使用雞身上的每一個部位。”Cho說道，“但是他們好像只在意‘你能做一份美味的煎餅嗎？’諸如此類。”

The Sixers countered by suggesting a meal that would start with basic breakfast items, then move toward crowd-pleasing lunch and dinner fare. Cho would also need to pay attention to the nutritional composition of the dishes because he'd ultimately be feeding world-class athletes.

76人隊相關管理層建議Cho先從基本的早餐類型做起，再考慮着手做比較大衆的午餐和晚餐的菜品。Cho也需要注重菜品的營養組成狀況，因爲最終他要服務的是世界級別的運動員。

Inside a friend's brick-walled restaurant a couple of blocks off the Italian Market, Cho started Colangelo and a few other Sixers execs at around 1 p.m. with omelets featuring fresh produce, then brought out three kinds of pancakes: one from his own sourdough culture mix, another made with flaxseed milk, and a more traditional pancake made with buttermilk sourced from a local dairy.

下午一點左右，在朋友的一間距意大利市場幾個街區遠的一家磚牆餐式的餐廳裏，Cho向科朗吉羅和其他幾位76人高管展示了自己最新制作的特色煎餅。他製作了三種煎餅:一種是自己獨家調製的配方，另一種用亞麻籽牛奶製作而成，最後一種採用了當地農場的奶油作爲原料，是比較傳統的煎餅。

Over the next two hours, the plates kept coming. Beef fajitas were followed by grilled salmon skewers served with couscous. When the meal was over, Colangelo and company could barely move. Pending a background check, Cho would become the executive chef of the NBA's most comprehensive, sophisticated and well-equipped food program.

在接下來的兩個小時，菜餚不斷被端上來。牛肉鐵板燒上過，緊接着是烤三文魚串伴有蒸粗麥粉。當這頓飯吃完，科朗吉羅和他的同伴撐得幾乎不能走路。通過背景調查後，Cho正式成爲76人的行政主廚，他也有望成爲NBA最全面、最精細和最完善的食品項目主廚。

The Sixers have put food at the center of the team's daily existence. Situated on the second floor of the Sixers' training facility in Camden, New Jersey, the team's enormous, light-filled dining room and professional-grade kitchen with a view of the Philadelphia skyline function not only as a fueling station where players receive nourishment, but also a hub for the communal life of the team.

76人已經把食品工作放在球隊日常實務工作的中心地位。在新澤西州肯頓這所城市，76人有一個寬敞而且採光性很好的餐廳和一個專業級廚房，坐落在76人訓練館二樓。在這裏視野非常開闊，費城這所城市的景色也可一覽無遺。這個地方已經不僅僅是球員們獲得營養的“加油站”，也成了這支球隊日常生活的集中地。

"It's always good to break bread with people, with your teammates," says Sixers wing Justin Anderson. "I've learned as much from my teammates in here or on the road at dinner or inviting them over. Food has been a great way over my career to get to know my teammates."

“能和別人，還是你的隊友在這裏一起吃點麪包，這感覺總是很好的，”76人的側翼球員賈斯汀-安德森這樣說道。“不論是在這裏還是在客場，亦或是邀請他們，每次共進晚餐，我都從我的隊友身上學到了很多。在我的整個職業生涯中，食物一直都是我瞭解隊友的很棒的途徑。”

The meals prepared by Cho, 34, and his team on game days power the Sixers. These athletes rely on Cho to deliver the goods specified in their individual nutrition programs, to make food that will sit well and will make them feel good, and to be discreet about their habits. It's an enormous investment of trust from players and from a franchise that has developed a taste for championship contention.

在比賽日，34歲的Cho和他的團隊爲球隊準備好飯菜，來爲他們提供能量。這些運動員還依賴Cho傳遞給他們個人營養計劃中的規定需求，兼顧他們各自的飲食習慣，讓食物保證口感的同時也能使他們感覺到身體機能良好。這是一筆對信任的巨大投資，這種信任來自球員和管理層，這也讓76人開始走上冠軍爭奪行列。

Sixers shooting guard J.J. Redick calls Cho's operation, "a top-10 Philadelphia restaurant." Over four days in February, we embedded ourselves inside that establishment.

76人的得分後衛J.J.雷迪克稱Cho的手藝，“費城所有餐廳前十名的水準。二月剛過去四天，我們就深深地陷入在Cho的菜品中不能自拔。”

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