"Isn't the little bowl open?"
If it weren't for a colleague asking me, I would still be struggling with whether to announce the matter of "the small bowl and the cup is closed" for the old Yu official.
Yu Jun, the owner of the small bowl, I met him because of the interview, and I said that I have been an old friend for many years.
In fact, the first time I received the news that he wanted to turn off the small bowl was more than two months ago. It was a weekend, I went to the store to eat, the small shop that used to be in the city, it seemed a little deserted, but these two years have become the norm. That day, Lao Yu called me aside and talked to me about my next plans, mentioning the idea of "shutting down".
Lao Yu's real determination was actually at the end of last year.
One day in mid-December, he called me and said he wouldn't do it by the end of the year (December 31, 2021).
In the past two years, affected by the repeated epidemics, many street shops like "Small Bowls" in Hangzhou have been greatly impacted, "shop rent, labor costs are very high, and business is not good." ”
According to the statistics of a check, in 2021, a total of 1 million domestic catering-related stores were cancelled, of which nearly 400,000 fast food restaurants were cancelled, nearly 100,000 hot pot restaurants were cancelled, and nearly 350,000 milk tea shops were cancelled.
Lao Yu said that next, he plans to find a smaller storefront in the north of the city and open a wonton shop.
At the end of the conversation, he added that this year he could finally eat a Chinese New Year's Eve meal at his home (in previous years, the small bowl made Chinese New Year's Eve rice every year).
The predecessor of the small bowl was the "light rice" opened on Xinhua Road.
In 1998, when the casual rice was opened, a popular restaurant in Hangzhou's restaurant circle. The bosses pay attention to the large area and high grade of the store. At that time, foodies loved to go to big restaurants such as New Kaiyuan, New Flower Midtown, and Red Clay Garden to eat and "punch in".
In Lao Yu's view, his restaurant belongs to "small and beautiful", and he also knows that a small restaurant like him must rely on "down-to-earth taste" to survive.
How popular was "light rice" before?
You know, at that time, there were more than 30 "high-imitation" small restaurants in Hangzhou with the name of "casual dishes". His family's "thousand pieces of meat and bone pot", relying on word of mouth, created almost today's "happy tea" results, "when the business is good, the store entrance is lined up, full of bicycles, there is no queue for an hour, think ah don't want to eat this bone pot." ”
From Xinhua Road to Qingtai Street, Hushu South Road, and then to Jiangcheng Road, Yu Jun's restaurant moved several times, and in 2013 it moved to Jiangcheng Road and renamed "Little Bowl Cup", the scale has gradually grown, but the taste has never changed.
Lao Yu said that he just wanted to make a small restaurant for serious eating, and he wanted his neighbors to have a sense of cordiality and comfort in eating at home.
The dishes in the small bowl are all the taste of Hangzhou with an old foundation.
Lao Yu has a bunch of food recipes, "Hangzhou Cuisine Materials" published in 1965, "Chinese Cooking" published in 1981, and a bunch of cooking magazines that are also old, "turning over when there is nothing to do, always find new ideas."
"Delicious", "cheap" and "sufficient" are the unified evaluation of diners. Nearby foodies said that the restaurant was from snacks to adults, married and had children, and continued to eat with children. There was once a foodie who asked Lao Yu to help arrange a family banquet of 100 yuan per capita, and as a result, Lao Yu lined up all the ingredients on hand at that time, put the signature dishes on, and finally told people, "Enough is enough, 877 yuan, it is less than 1,000 yuan." ”
Signature meat and bone casserole pot, which is a must-order dish for many regular customers. Many people ate from Qingtai Street to Jiangcheng Road, from ignorance to knowing the Destiny of Heaven.
The barrel bone is slowly simmered for 1 and a half hours, and the thousand sheets should be thin, so that even if it is cold, it will not clump. Drink a bowl of soup before eating, the rich and fragrant broth with a bowl of white rice, the hungry people can suddenly surge a sense of "satisfaction" in their hearts. Scoop up a piece of bone, nibble on the flesh on the bone, and suck on the bone marrow that has seeped into the soup - two words, delicious!
The red-faced lees walnut soup was once a must-order for my strong Amway to the little sisters around me. Red yeast rice purchased from the countryside is paired with brown sugar to make the whole bowl red. A faint smell of wine fills the mouth, and crushed walnuts enrich the palate.
Lao Yu said that he had deep feelings for this small shop. Every time the shop put on the newspaper, he would cut out the contents of the newspaper and collect it. The oldest collection of newspapers is now yellowed, but when it comes to these reports, Lao Yu is still a family treasure.
On the evening of December 31 last year, I called Lao Yu and asked him, is today the last day? He was sitting alone in the car, giving a positive answer, and saying something that I couldn't pick up, "I don't even know what I'm going to do when I get up tomorrow."
Indeed, for more than 10 years, Lao Yu went to the Jiangcheng Road store at 10:30 a.m. every day, and had to stay until almost 9 p.m. before leaving, and the life of the two points and the line, the life of staying with the store, was already accustomed to him.
Have you ever chatted with Lao Yu, will you still make catering next?
He said, it would be. However, if you open another store, the scale may be smaller. "In this way, I can have a little more time to accompany my wife out for a walk."
Who does not like to go to a familiar small shop to eat, not because it is delicious, but covets the familiarity and beauty of the phrase "you are back".
-END-
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