By Lu Chenghui and Miao Bei

  At Zilang Life Hub in Chongchuan District, an exotic bar ‘PLS Public House’ built a bridge for cross-cultural dialogue with food and wine. 

  Opening the wooden door of PLS Public House, is like stepping into an old foreign movie: the dark leather booths and industrial-style metal pendant lights create a striking contrast. A giant screen, pool table and karaoke machine created a small entertainment haven. Cement paint gives the wall a nostalgic hue. On the wall, the foreign movie posters, football jerseys, basketball jerseys, and ice hockey jerseys highlight the customs and culture of Europe and the United States.

  ‘I want to make the hut an exhibition booth for the dialogue between Chinese and Western cultures.’ Reeta, the post-90s manager, introduced that a lot of the soft furnishings were from her personal collections. 

  Reeta went to Portugal to study hospitality management in 2015. She met her partner in the foreign country. After that, she stayed in Portugal, and ran a restaurant with her family along the Golden Coast in the Algarve region. 

  In 2022, Reeta returned to China to start a business. PLS Public House was looking for a manager, and experienced Reeta was accepted smoothly. 

  The parent company of PLS Public House is PLS (Nantong). It mainly provides comprehensive services to senior executives of foreign companies in Nantong. At present, the company is responsible for the life support services of more than 500 senior executives of foreign companies in Nantong from countries such as Sweden and Brazil who stay in communities such as Vanke Fangyuan. PLS Public House is a place specially created by the company for foreign friends to enjoy delicious food and socialize.

  Opening the menu of PLS Public House, secret-recipe lamb skewers and sirloin steak are listed together. Nantong specialties including Rugao sausage and Baipu tea-flavoured dried bean curd become ‘hidden items’ among appetizers. Vietnamese spring roll, which the foreigners are accustomed to, is replaced by Chinese fried spring roll. 

  ‘It is also fun to teach foreigners how to eat skewers, let them experience the flavor of street food, and teach them how to use chopsticks.’ Reeta said. 

  Senior executives of foreign companies including Scania tasted Baipu tea-flavoured dried bean curd with chopsticks, and took a bite of the delicious pork skirt meat...this scene happens every day at PLS Public House. 

  During the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner during the Spring Festival, the restaurant invited foreign friends to make dumplings and wear hanfu. On the Lantern’s Festival, they were invited to eat Tangyuan and guess lantern riddles, and cultural differences and commonalities were told by food. 

  Not long ago, as the Spring Festival movie Ne Zha 2 got very popular, Reeta also ‘rode the wave’ of its popularity, played Ne Zha 1 in the house. 

  ‘Although due to cultural differences, they could not understand the core of our mythology, exquisite and grand special effects attracted their attention throughout the whole process.’ Reeta introduced that cultural export was not about rigid indoctrination but rather about integrating into daily life.

【背景阅读】

“90后”女孩打造跨文化餐吧

    在崇川区紫琅生活汇，一家异国餐吧“普利斯小屋”用美食美酒搭建起跨文化对话的桥梁。

    推开普利斯小屋的木门，仿佛闯入一部外国老电影：深色皮质卡座与工业风金属吊灯相映成趣，巨大的影幕、台球桌、点歌机打造一方娱乐小天地；水泥漆将墙面刷成怀旧色，张贴的海外电影海报、悬挂的足球衣、篮球衣、冰球衣凸显欧美风俗人情。

    “我想让小屋成为中西文化对话的展台。”90后主理人Reeta介绍，其中不少软装都是来自她个人私藏。

    Reeta于2015年赴葡萄牙学习酒店管理，在异国他乡结识了自己的另一半。此后，她留在葡萄牙，与家人一起在葡萄牙阿尔加夫省黄金海岸边经营餐厅。

    2022年，Reeta回国创业。恰逢普利斯小屋招聘主理人，富有经验的Reeta顺利入职。

    普利斯小屋的母公司为PLS普利斯（南通），主要为在通外企高管提供全方位服务。目前，居住在万科·方圆等小区的500多名瑞典、巴西等国家的在通外企高管的生活配套服务，均由该公司负责。普利斯小屋是公司专为外国友人享受美食和开展社交打造的生活场所。

    打开普利斯小屋的菜单，秘制羊肉串与西冷牛排列在一起，如皋香肠、白蒲茶干等南通特产成为下酒菜中的“隐藏款”，老外们司空见惯的越南春卷则被替换为中式炸春卷。

    “教老外们撸串，让他们体会街头美食的风味，再教他们学用筷子，也不失为一种趣味。”Reeta说。

    来自斯堪尼亚等外企的高管们用筷子品尝白蒲茶干，再咬一口口齿留香的大油边……这种场景每天都在普利斯小屋上演。

    春节期间的年夜饭活动，餐厅还邀请外国友人包饺子、穿汉服；元宵节则安排他们吃汤圆、猜灯谜，用美食讲述文化差异与共性。

    不久前，随着春节档电影《哪吒2》的爆火，Reeta也“蹭”了个热度，在小屋里播放了《哪吒1》。

    “尽管由于文化的差异，他们并不能看懂我们神话体系的内核，但是精美宏大的特效全程吸引着他们的注意力。”Reeta介绍，文化的输出并不是生硬的灌输，而是需要融入生活中。

    作者：卢铖卉 苗蓓