Dinner at TAO with the "FoodGod" Jonathan Cheban
On a recent Friday night, Jonathan Cheban, a celebrity, strolled past a statue of a reclining Buddha on his way to the table at TAO Downtown in New York City.
最近的一个周五晚上，名人乔纳森·切班 (Jonathan Cheban) 在前往纽约市 TAO 市中心的餐桌前漫步经过一尊卧佛雕像。
Cheban became a name in many households through his frequent appearances on the television program Keeping Up with the Kardashians and other televised Kardashanalia where he appears as the best friend of both protagonist Kim Kardashian West and Khloe Kardashian.
切班因频繁出现在电视节目《与卡戴珊同行》和其他电视节目《卡戴珊娜》中而成为许多家庭的名人，在这些节目中，他是主角金·卡戴珊·韦斯特和科勒·卡戴珊最好的朋友。
But being a best friend is at best derivative fame—penumbral fame—and Cheban is going for the real thing now.
但成为最好的朋友充其量只是衍生名声——半影名声——而切班现在正在追求真正的名声。
He has refashioned himself as a professional tastemaker in the food world.
他将自己重塑为食品界的专业时尚引领者。
“I love Tao,” he says, slipping into the large booth that overlooks the room.
“我爱涛，”他一边说，一边溜进俯瞰整个房间的大隔间。
“I think, it’s like, I love places.“ A waitress approaches our table, offering us leather-bound menus that seem almost talmudic.
“我想，就像，我喜欢那些地方。”一位女服务员走近我们的餐桌，为我们提供了皮革封面的菜单，看起来几乎是塔木德式的。
“They always order for me here so I never look at this menu,” he says, looking at the menu.
“他们总是在这里为我点餐，所以我从不看这个菜单，”他看着菜单说道。
Quickly scanning the pages, his eyes alight on lobster soup dumplings.
快速浏览了几页，他的目光落在了龙虾汤包上。
“This is what I do.
“这就是我所做的。
I need to read it and then smell out what’s going to be amazing.
我需要阅读它，然后嗅出其中的奇妙之处。
It’s a talent.
这是一种天赋。
Like I can look at the menu and just look at the ingredients and be like, This will end up being amazing .” He also asks for deep-fried snapper, crispy Bao buns, a Kobe Beef Roll, and Crispy Crab.
就像我可以看菜单，只看成分，然后想，这最终会很棒。”他还点了炸鲷鱼、脆皮包子、神户牛肉卷和脆皮蟹。
The waitress asks if he might like greens.
女服务员问他是否喜欢蔬菜。
“Oh God no,” says Mr. Cheban, “We’d never waste anything on greens.” Mr. Cheban similarly declines rock shrimp in a lettuce cup.
“天哪，不，”切班先生说，“我们绝不会在蔬菜上浪费任何东西。”切班先生同样拒绝将岩虾放在生菜杯中。
He does not like rock shrimp.
他不喜欢岩虾。
It embarrasses him.
这让他很尴尬。
“Rock shrimp is so generic.
“岩虾很普通。
Anyone I go to Nobu with who gets rock shrimp, I freak out on them.
任何和我一起去 Nobu 吃岩虾的人，我都会被它们吓坏。
Every novice is like, Can I have the rock shrimp ?
每个新手都会问，我可以吃岩虾吗？
Then I’m always like, Don’t order rock shrimp with me .
然后我总是说，别和我一起点岩虾。
It’s such a bad look on the table.
桌子上的样子太糟糕了。
It cheapens me.
它让我变得廉价。
I’m embarrassed about it.
我对此感到很尴尬。
That’s the stuff I ordered for the first 10 years eating at Nobu.
这是我在 Nobu 的头 10 年里点的东西。
“
“
Cheban aims to be to food what his friends the Kardashians are to fame.
切班的目标是像他的朋友卡戴珊家族那样成名。
He has a handle—@FoodGod—and a tagline ”Amaaaaazing.” His fans are legion.
他有一个账号——@FoodGod——和一个标语“Amaaaaazing”。他的粉丝数量众多。
On Snapchat, his primary mode of communication, each post receives an average of 250,000 views.
在他的主要交流方式 Snapchat 上，每个帖子平均获得 25 万次浏览。
He also has 1.8 million followers on Instagram.
他还在 Instagram 上拥有 180 万粉丝。
Sometimes he styles himself Foodgōd—“It makes it pop!” he says, “and it looks like a halo!” Sometimes he doesn’t bother with the macron.
有时他把自己称为“Foodgōd”——“它让它流行起来！”他说：“它看起来像一个光环！”有时他并不关心马克龙。
“I’m a food environmentalist,” he says, “I’m about the food and the ambiance.”
“我是一名食品环保主义者，”他说，“我关心的是食物和氛围。”
Cheban was born in Russia in 1974 but grew up across the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Cheban 1974 年出生于俄罗斯，但在新泽西州李堡的乔治华盛顿大桥长大。
His father, who died in 2011, was a diamond dealer but his mother who works in real estate, Galina, is still alive and his frequent dinner companion (“She’s very classy,” says her son) when he returns to Jersey.
他的父亲于 2011 年去世，是一名钻石经销商，但从事房地产工作的母亲加琳娜 (Galina) 仍然健在，当他返回泽西岛时，她经常与他共进晚餐（“她非常优雅，”她的儿子说）。
Like Janus, there are two Jonathan Chebans: the Jersey Cheban and the Amazing Cheban.
和 Janus 一样，Jonathan Cheban 有两个：Jersey Cheban 和 Amazing Cheban。
When he’s in Fort Lee, he eats fried hot dogs at Hiram’s Roadside.
当他在李堡时，他会在海勒姆路边吃炸热狗。
Sometimes he drives out to Englewood with his mom to eat at Baumgart’s Cafe, a Chinese American cafe.
有时他会和妈妈一起开车去恩格尔伍德，在鲍姆加特咖啡馆（Baumgart’s Cafe）——一家美籍华人咖啡馆——吃饭。
Or the mall.
或者商场。
But when he’s in metropolitan cities like New York and Los Angeles, or in the vortices of power and money like Ibiza and Monte Carlo, where he often finds himself, he eats at restaurants like TAO with people like the Kardashian-Wests.
但当他在纽约和洛杉矶这样的大都市，或者在伊维萨岛和蒙特卡洛这样的权力和金钱的漩涡中时，他经常会发现自己在TAO这样的餐馆里和卡戴珊-韦斯特这样的人一起吃饭。
These experiences are mostly what he shares as the FoodGod.
这些经历大多是他作为食神分享的。
“I definitely want to be like a Guy Fieri or Anthony Bourdain for the young and hot.
“我绝对想成为像盖伊·费里（Guy Fieri）或安东尼·波登（Anthony Bourdain）那样的年轻人和炙手可热的人。
That would be amaaazing.”
那将是令人惊奇的。”
To peruse Cheban’s recent Snapchat output is to enter the shadowlands of harshly lit desserts, Lucullan spreads, food in profuse and prodigal display, cameos by celebrities, Escalades and other vehicles, yachts in Cap Ferrat, more food, more yachts, donuts.
仔细阅读 Cheban 最近在 Snapchat 上发布的内容，你会发现这里有灯光璀璨的甜点、卢库兰酱、琳琅满目的食物、名人的客串、凯雷德和其他车辆、费拉角的游艇、更多的食物、更多的游艇、甜甜圈。
Throughout it all, Mr. Cheban provides color commentary, a sort of friendly Virgil through the netherworld.
切班先生在整个过程中提供了色彩丰富的评论，就像穿越地狱的友好维吉尔一样。
Often he trains the camera on himself, his ageless face uncreased, his lips delicate and features filigree.
他经常将镜头对准自己，他那张不老的脸没有皱纹，嘴唇精致，五官精致。
Often he wears graphic sweatshirts, gold chains, and appears at least two sheets to the wind.
他经常穿着图案运动衫，戴着金链子，至少有两层床单被风吹着。
He is very friendly and enthusiastic.
他非常友好和热情。
“Yo, wassup guys!” he said recently, in a Snapchat from the back of an SUV.
“哟，伙计们！”他最近在一辆 SUV 后座上的 Snapchat 中说道。
“It’s Saturday night.
“现在是星期六晚上。
I think it’s Saturday.
我想今天是星期六。
On our way to Fat Joe’s birthday party.
在我们去胖乔生日聚会的路上。
On the boat.
在船上。
It’s gonna be lit.” Later, after we see the boat—which appears to be a booze cruise at Chelsea Piers—and Fat Joe, we find Cheban and his friends at Nobu.
它将被点燃。”后来，我们看到了那艘船——这似乎是切尔西码头的一艘豪酒巡游——和胖子乔，我们在诺布找到了切班和他的朋友们。
“Nobu Nobu Nobu,” says Cheban.
“Nobu Nobu Nobu，”Cheban 说道。
In another randomly selected Snap from a few months ago, Cheban visits Carbone.
在几个月前随机选择的另一张 Snap 中，Cheban 拜访了 Carbone。
Over plates of out-of-focus pasta captured in restless roving cinematography, the FoodGod provides narration.
在焦躁不安的流动摄影中捕捉到的一盘失焦的意大利面，美食之神提供了旁白。
Here it is transcribed: “Woooah.
此处转录为：“哇哦。
Look at this.
看看这个。
Really pigging out tonight.
今晚真的是大吃大喝了
We all around.
我们都在周围。
Pasta.
面食。
Yo, we leave Europe and we’re still eating like fucking pigs.” Same Snapchat story, a few hours later, a shirtless couchant Cheban speaks from his bed: “Mornings to be happy, to be in my own bed today.
哟，我们离开了欧洲，但我们仍然吃得像猪一样。”同样的 Snapchat 故事，几个小时后，一名赤裸上身的躺卧者 Cheban 在床上说道：“快乐的早晨，今天躺在我自己的床上。
Wait I just saw the coolest thing from Burger King.
等等，我刚刚看到了汉堡王最酷的东西。
It’s like a whopper and burrito together.”
这就像一个皇堡和墨西哥卷饼在一起。”
What might be called quality by food critic curmudgeons does not rank highly among Mr. Cheban’s criteria for selection.
脾气暴躁的美食评论家所谓的质量在切班先生的选择标准中并没有名列前茅。
“No one is just looking for a Michelin star,” he says.
“没有人只是在寻找米其林星，”他说。
He's right.
他是对的。
In fact, among his favorite restaurants in New York—TAO and Nobu; a Japanese restaurant called Zuma on 38th street; Vandal , a nightclub downtown which is also part of the TAO Group; and an American restaurant in Midtown, close to Mr. Cheban’s Madison Square apartment, called Hillstone—none of them have a star.
事实上，他最喜欢的纽约餐厅包括 TAO 和 Nobu； 38街有一家叫Zuma的日本餐厅； Vandal ，市中心的一家夜总会，也是 TAO 集团的一部分；中城有一家美式餐厅，靠近切班先生在麦迪逊广场的公寓，名为 Hillstone，但没有一家是星级餐厅。
He also enjoys JG Mellon for its burger and Chloe for its avocado toast.
他还喜欢 JG Mellon 的汉堡和 Chloe 的牛油果吐司。
Desserts are disproportionately represented in Mr. Cheban’s feed.
切班先生的食物中，甜点的比例过高。
He recently featured a video of himself eating $100 gold-covered donut filled with a jelly made from 1997 Cristal from Williamsburg’s Manila Social Club on his Instagram account.
最近，他在自己的 Instagram 帐户上发布了一段视频，视频中他正在吃价值 100 美元的金包甜甜圈，甜甜圈的果冻是由威廉斯堡马尼拉社交俱乐部 1997 年的水晶制成的。
The post received 178,000 views.
该帖子获得了 178,000 次浏览。
“It was amaaaazing,” he notes.
“这太棒了，”他指出。
But generally he prefers desserts for their photogenic nature.
但总的来说，他更喜欢甜点，因为它们很上镜。
“I don’t eat much of them,” he says, “I wouldn’t be the FoodGod if i was fat.”
“我吃得不多，”他说，“如果我很胖，我就不会成为食神了。”
Before our dinner together, I was not familiar with Mr. Cheban, his oeuvre, or his fame.
在我们共进晚餐之前，我并不熟悉切班先生、他的作品或他的名声。
I had not watched his television program, Keeping Up With the Kardashians , which puts me in the minority; nor had I caught The Fabulous Life of...
我没有看过他的电视节目《与卡戴珊同行》，这使我属于少数派；我也没有看过《美妙的人生》
; his own short-lived reality show The Spin Crowd (a chronicle of his work as founder of CommandPR); or the most recent season of Celebrity Big Brother UK , which he quit in January after one week, in part because the food was terrible.
;他自己的短命真人秀《The Spin Crowd》（记录了他作为 CommandPR 创始人的工作经历）；或者是最近一季的《英国名人老大哥》，他在一月份一周后就退出了，部分原因是食物很糟糕。
Though I now know how famous he is, I was not alone in my ignorance.
虽然我现在知道他有多出名，但我并不是唯一一个无知的人。
Recently Mr. Cheban sat next to Martha Stewart at a charity dinner in Cannes.
最近，在戛纳举行的慈善晚宴上，切班先生坐在玛莎·斯图尔特旁边。
(As one does.) In a very Connecticut but also cut-a-bitch way, Ms. Stewart tweeted a picture of Cheban’s face, writing: “#SeriouslyPopular Do you know who this guy is?
（正如人们所做的那样。）斯图尔特女士以一种非常康涅狄格州但也很刻薄的方式，在推特上发布了一张切班的脸的照片，并写道：“#SeriouslyPopular 你知道这个人是谁吗？
He says he is seriously popular.” The answers to Ms. Stewart’s shade-producing inquiry came fast and furious.
他说他很受欢迎。”斯图尔特女士提出的遮阳询问得到了快速而激烈的答复。
Yes, he is known, and yes, he is seriously popular.
是的，他很出名，而且他很受欢迎。
(Reached via email Cheban claims, “We did it as a joke.
（Cheban 通过电子邮件声称，“我们这样做是为了开玩笑。
I think it was the most retweets she's ever gotten.”)
我认为这是她收到的转发次数最多的推文。”）
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
该内容也可以在其来源网站上查看。
To many civilians, myself, and perhaps even Martha Stewart, celebrity at Cheban’s level seems like a parallel universe of dark matter.
对于许多平民、我自己，甚至玛莎·斯图尔特来说，切班级别的名人似乎是一个暗物质的平行宇宙。
It is The Upside Down of the IRL, a pod of humpback whales swimming deep underneath the daily water, gliding and near, massive, and ponderous.
这是现实世界的颠倒，一群座头鲸在日常水下深处游泳，滑翔而近，巨大而沉重。
That it exists is indisputable, and yet, it still feels incredible.
它的存在是无可争议的，然而，它仍然让人感觉难以置信。
This feeling intensifies as one approaches the famous, as I did, for dinner at TAO.
当一个人像我一样在 TAO 吃晚饭时，这种感觉会更加强烈。
Snapchat offers fleeting intimacy from afar and for many.
Snapchat 为远方的许多人提供短暂的亲密感。
Conversely, those like Cheban, who are primarily known through the medium, seem increasingly alien the closer one gets.
相反，像切班这样主要通过媒体为人所知的人，越接近就越显得陌生。
Sitting beside him, both he and his fame seem like a put-on.
坐在他旁边，他和他的名气都像是个骗子。
Could someone really be embarrassed about rock shrimp?
有人真的会对岩虾感到尴尬吗？
Is that a thing?
这是一件事吗？
Do 250,000 people peer into their phones to peer into his face every time he posts something?
每次他发布内容时，是否都会有 250,000 人通过手机查看他的脸？
As he was with Mrs. Stewart, at TAO, Mr. Cheban seems intent to prove his bona fides.
正如他在 TAO 与斯图尔特夫人在一起一样，切班先生似乎一心想证明自己的诚意。
“I’m like a few points away from people going nuts,” he tells me.
“我距离人们发疯只差几分，”他告诉我。
To prove his point, Mr. Cheban takes out his phone and navigates to the Snapchat application.
为了证明自己的观点，Cheban 先生拿出手机并导航到 Snapchat 应用程序。
He points his phone towards the table, narrating as he records: “So we just got to TAO and we’re staying slow but we will end with a Peking Duck.
他将手机指向桌子，边录音边叙述：“所以我们刚刚到达 TAO，我们的速度很慢，但我们将以北京烤鸭结束。
This is FoodGod.
这是食神。
Food Vibes.
食物氛围。
This place is slammed.” He stops recording.
这个地方被猛击了。”他停止录音。
“My Snapchat and my Instagram probably get more views than every magazine out there.”
“我的 Snapchat 和 Instagram 的浏览量可能比市面上所有杂志的浏览量都多。”
Eighteen minutes later, 7,500 people have watched the vignette.
18 分钟后，7,500 人观看了这个小插曲。
Thirty minutes after that, that number increased to 12,500.
三十分钟后，这个数字增加到了 12,500。
Add another five thousand in the next ten minutes.
在接下来的十分钟内再添加五千。
By the time dinner was done, the number hovered around 50,000 and it would grow all night long.
到晚饭吃完的时候，这个数字已经徘徊在五万左右，而且整个晚上这个数字都会不断增加。
“See,” says Cheban, “I own my own TV station.
“看，”切班说，“我拥有自己的电视台。
I own my own magazine.”
我拥有自己的杂志。”
By the end of the meal, the rock shrimp have been eaten in their lettuce cups.
用餐结束时，岩虾已经在他们的生菜杯里吃完了。
The snapper has been Snapped and devoured.
鲷鱼已被咬断并被吃掉。
The lobster dumplings are, as Cheban initially posited, refreshingly amaaaaazing.
正如切班最初所说，龙虾饺子令人耳目一新，令人惊叹。
The FoodGod is full but his night is young, and besides, there are new friends to be made.
食神已经吃饱了，但他的夜晚还很年轻，而且，还有新朋友要交。
From the bowels of TAO come a trio of glittering women, tottering up the steps past our table.
从 TAO 的内部出来了三个闪闪发光的女人，摇摇晃晃地走上台阶经过我们的桌子。
One of the sylphs stops at our booth.
一位精灵停在我们的摊位前。
“Oh my god!” she says, “Can I take a picture of you?” “Sure,” he says.
“我的天啊！”她说：“我可以给你拍张照片吗？” “当然，”他说。
“I could just die,” she replies, “I love you so much.” The FoodGod smiles benevolently.
“我可以死掉，”她回答道，“我非常爱你。”食神仁慈地微笑着。
“I love you too.
“我也爱你。
I don’t know you but I love you.”
我不认识你，但我爱你。”