Anthony Bolton may be one of the world’s most accomplished investors, but using chopsticks is still a struggle. The man known as “Britain’s Warren Buffett” dips his head low over a steaming bowl of noodles and attempts to slurp them up without splashing broth on his white shirt. Success! A meal the previous day left a couple of greasy spots, so he is being careful. We are in Shanghai, in one of the 700 branches of Ajisen, a Chinese chain of Japanese noodle restaurants that was booming until last summer, when an unfounded food scare sent sales tumbling.
安東尼•波頓(Anthony Bolton)或許是全球最嫺熟的投資家之一，但要拿穩一雙筷子依然有些喫力。這位「英國的華倫•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)」把頭埋進一碗冒著熱氣的麪條裏，試著把麪條吸溜進嘴裏，而不把麪湯濺到白襯衫上。成功了！前一天喫的一頓飯在襯衣上留下了兩點油漬，所以這次他小心翼翼。我們正在上海，身處味千拉麪(Ajisen)700多家店鋪中的一家。味千拉麪是一家中國的日式麪條餐廳連鎖店，去年夏天之前生意一直很紅火，但一場沒有根據的食品恐慌導致味千拉麪銷售額急轉直下。