Text/Tan Feng
At 10:00 a.m. on November 2, there were few diners in front of the first store in Beijing in Sanlitun West District (formerly Yaxiu), but the store was full of lights and ready to go. This is the first time that a traditional tea restaurant in Guangdong has been stationed in Beijing, and they seem to pay special attention to it, and the whole class has gone north, and almost all the staff on the scene are fluent in Cantonese.
At 10:30, some people asked the waiter when the Tao Tao morning tea shop would open. The waitress replied softly, "We will have an opening ceremony today, and we can't say when to open the door." "Bad to say? There's always a definite time. At the urging of the diners, the male waiter gave our group of diners who arrived early some attractive "pass cards" - the card had a number written on it, and we could directly enter the store with the number and sit down, not caring about the flow of people queuing up later.
I glanced at the male waiter, who was from the Guangdong main store, 1 meter 8 tall déjà vu, wearing a very fit suit, trousers and shoes to show his strong figure. The tail of his black glasses frame is decorated with carvings, and the whole person exudes a delicate and exquisite aura. But when he fixed his gaze, his shoes were full of mud. Because he has to keep moving things, keep delivering things, and sell his physical strength diligently.
After getting the seat number "Customs Clearance Ticket", I ran to other shops in sanlitun west district to hang around. At this time, many shops are in a hurry to decorate and polish in the hope of opening a grand opening in the near future. The old site of Yaxiu has changed its former people-friendly and easy-going appearance, and in the atmosphere of the opening ceremony of beating gongs and drums on the first floor, it has become cold and strange.
After being "annexed" by Taikoo Li Properties, Yaxiu as a whole presents a modern and simple style, which is not bad, but it seems to be the same, indistinguishable from other city landmarks. On the first floor of the "New YaXiu" was built a UNIQLO, and the Descente global flagship store was also among them; on the fourth floor, a Thai cuisine restaurant with the main store in Chongqing was opened, and I went up to the fourth floor just in time for their opening ribbon-cutting ceremony, which was spectacular. But I always muttered in my heart what the selling point of a Thai restaurant in Chongqing would be.
At 11:30, my escalator came to the fifth floor again, and I came to the door of Tao Tao Ju, but I still couldn't enter the restaurant to eat. At this time, the tourists who came to visit have begun to wrap it up layer by layer, and it is airtight. The lion dance team specially invited from Guangdong ran from the first floor to the fifth floor, and the people were full of people, flaunting their might, and the Lingnan style was once again put on the table.
Near 12 o'clock, the anticipated Cantonese restaurant finally decided to open its doors. A waitress spoke to me in a gentle voice, not very fluent in Southern Mandarin, like a warm sea breeze blowing from the southern subtropics. He directed me to sit in the viewing position of the store, and from the floor-to-ceiling window, I could see the urban atmosphere around Sanlitun - this area is also the best viewing place for the Tao Tao Ju store except for the private rooms.
Before my ass was hot, I handed over the menu to the waiter for the first time, which had been outlined on the recipe in advance, for fear that after a while, when there were more people, the dishes I ordered would be infinitely delayed. However, the actual serving speed on the spot was much faster than expected. When the dishes were almost finished, the lion dance team danced to the guests' seats and interacted eagerly with the people.
Another well-dressed suit guy walked up to me and gave me a red envelope, who was the store manager. He asked me to deliver the red packet to the mouth of a "lion" who passed by a while. I looked at the red envelope with a dollar in it, like a piece of childhood candy, cheap, sweet, and pleasant.
The "lion" swayed to my table, set by the noise of gongs and drums and the sound of firecrackers. I reached out to give the "lion" a red envelope, thinking it would roll its eyes at me—like the picture shown in a film and television work. Unexpectedly, after "eating" the red packet, people swung to other tables. Don't say the blink of an eye, even the head is too lazy to return.
In any case, as far as the dishes themselves are concerned, Tao Tao Ju's first store in Beijing is not picky. Roasted goose, roasted pigeon, the meat is tender and refreshing; the soup is full of supplements, which makes people feel unfinished; the "kung fu tea" that is burned is even more delicious and cheap, a pot is only 8 yuan, which is rare in Beijing.
After eating, I closed my eyes and heard a jumble of human voices in my ears. Many people are talking about work matters, and some are old and young who come to this shop to taste the early days. Some diners loudly urged the Cantonese waiter to serve slow meals, but still got a "slow" reply from the store. Some food bloggers, putting on their own cameras, are passionately teaching their "private" food secrets in order to be worthy of their tens of thousands of fans. The Cantonese tea culture that could have been leisurely seems to have lost its market in this territory and this scene.
Tao Taoju's popularity in Beijing will undoubtedly last for some time. But with the passage of time and the receding heat, will this Cantonese-style slow and rational "morning tea culture" be accepted and recognized by the Beijing market? Or, in other words, do contemporary Beijingers still have "tenderness" in their bones, and do they still have some "slow" genes?
Technicians on site are working intensively to commission the equipment
Go to the front desk to check out and spend just right. At the same time, our "lucky" diners can also enjoy a 12% discount. The waiters were so busy that each bill had to be tossed around for quite a long time. The store gave me a kind of poplar nectar and put it in a handbag printed with the logo of "Tao Tao Ju". I walked out the door and a young guy who was lining up looked at the "logo bag" I was carrying.
He asked me, "How's it going, buddy, is it delicious?" "Surrounded by a noisy waiting environment, accompanied by some customers' disgusted urgings.
I smiled and said nothing. Take one step and do two steps, and hurry away.
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