Tom, whose parents are from Germany and Taiwan, now sells Taiwanese hamburgers or Gua Baos every Thursday at the Berliner Markthalle 9. He has lived in 9 countries so far (Argentina, England, China, Taiwan…) and returned to Berlin two years ago before founding Bao Kitchen.
為什麼是柏林？
Why did you come back to Berlin?
回柏林之前是住在台北，覺得台北的生活很方便，也有家人在那裡，但是漸漸開始覺得生活沒有進步，我對於教語言沒有興趣（在台灣工作的外國人很有很多都是選擇當外語教師），剛好這時候在柏林的Deutsche Welle有主播的缺，於是就這樣回到柏林來了。
喜歡柏林嗎？
Do you like Berlin?
喜歡啊，儘管我覺得這裡很多時候不像一個大城市。速度很慢，慢到我其實有時候不是很習慣，或許是我已經習慣在亞洲生活的時候那種忙碌和快速的生活步調。不過或許正因為這個城市還不是很成熟，所以他還有很多潛在的發展性/可能性。舉例來說：這裡有不少的台灣餐館或是中國餐館，但是真的有道地嗎？對我來說，這就是一個機會點。
柏林你有什麼推薦的點嗎？
Any tip for visiting Berlin?
在Seestraße的Asia Deli有很不錯的湖南菜，是家常菜的口味而且價格也滿合理的。如果想要吃比較高級一點的，可以去米其林一星級的 Facil，他們的午餐很不錯，我覺得是柏林最美的餐廳之一，美味的食物還有許多十分可口的甜點。
Here are my food tips: Asia Deli on Seestrasse. Great Hunanese restaurant with home style cooking at very affordable prices. For something fancier, I'd go for the lunch menu at 1 Michelin starred Facil. One of the most beautiful restaurants with great food and some of the best desserts in Berlin.
為什麼會開始賣刈包？
How did you get the idea to sell Gua Bao?
我一直都想要有自己的事業，而且我自己又是一個很熱愛美食，享受美食的人。再加上台灣的美食文化（這是真的，人們總是排隊好幾個小時只為了享用美食）。剛好四月的時候Markthalle 9開始，我想，或許這可以是我的小吃事業的開始。當然台灣美食很多，不過我選擇用刈包作為開始，我覺得人們會喜歡他的。
I always wanted to run my own business and I also have deep affection for food in general. That’s part of the Taiwanese culture (that's true, people do wait for hours for something delicious). So when the Martkhalle street food event began in April, I thought this is it, let me try and establish my own small food business. There are many delicious foods in Taiwan, but I chose to sell Gua Baos because I had a good feeling that people would like them.
我在台灣吃了很多不同家的刈包，然後也學怎麼做，回到這裡也請朋友幫忙試吃，大家都覺得不錯，再加上其實在美國等地，陸續也有人開始賣掛包，我想，歐洲或許也行得通，所以我在六月開始也開始在Markthalle 9賣，評價都很振奮人心，很多客人都跑回來跟我說好吃。
I've tried a lot of Gua Baos before and learned to make them in Taiwan, and then I invited friends to taste the product first and the feedback was quite positive. Besides, there are also some people selling Gua Bao in the US and they’re doing well, so I thought it should work in Europe too. I joined the street food event at the Markthalle 9 in June, and the feedback was very encouraging, as many people who tried my product came back to say it's delicious.
你唸書和後來從事的事情都是媒體與公關，你覺得這有影響到你的事業甚至你的人生嗎？
You said that you've studied and worked about the media and PR(public relationship), what do you think, does that effect your business or even your life?
是的，他們的確影響了我的事業。事實上我想做的並不只是開一間餐廳，我想要透過Bao Kitchen來創立一個品牌。我在媒體和公關這方面的經驗讓我可以主動的去推廣我的事業，並透過不同的媒體，如報紙，雜誌，部落格，電視台...等等，來建立我的品牌形象。
有遇到什麼困難嗎？
Is there any difficulty?
困難有很多啊，一個人要開始一個事業，我本來又不是一個廚師，所以一開始就要先去適應廚房龐大的勞動量，做一個很簡單在家吃很容易，但是要一次做300就不是一件容易的事情，必須要找到符合衛生條件的廚房以及適合的設備。有時候一個人忙到凌晨，就會有很多對自己的疑惑，想著“從事這個工作是正確的決定嗎？”不過當隔天在市集上看到很多帶著微笑享用美食的客人，疑惑就有解答了。
A lot. It's not easy to establish a business by oneself and I was never a chef before, so the first thing is to get used to was the heavy work load in the kitchen. I needed to find a kitchen with high hygiene standards and the right equipment, since preparing 300 portions is something totally different than home cooking. At times, when I worked alone in the kitchen till 2 in the morning, I had some doubts. I asked myself "is this the right thing to do?" But those doubts vanished when I saw the smile from satisfied customers the following day.
一開始有設定什麼停損點嗎？
Did you have a stop loss?
其實開始做這個的時候真的先不要說賺錢，這其實是一個像是冒險一樣，或說是對自己的挑戰，一切從頭開始，然後問題一個一個來，然後要一個一個去解決。我不會說現在對我來說這個事業已經很容易，但是已經比剛開始輕鬆。我不相信輪迴，對我來說人生就這麼一次，時間有限，真的要好好去用。建立一個事業對我來說，就是跟隨我的熱情並讓我的客戶感到快樂。
To be honest, regardless of earning enough money in life, opening my business was more of a personal adventure or challenge. When you do something from zero, problems arise all the time, and you must solve them. I won't say it is easy for me now, but it is definitely easier than when I just started. I don’t believe in reincarnation, so in my opinion, one should really make the best of life’s opportunities. For me, creating a business, following my passion and making customers happy is what I want to do.
有什麼未來的計劃？
Is there any further plan?
短期的計劃，下一步希望可以在柏林開一間店，當然我希望不只是賣刈包，還有賣一些其他傳統台灣美食，我希望可以以推廣台灣美食，且有快速並友善的服務和用餐環境。
My short term plan is to open a store in Berlin, not only selling Gua Baos, but also some other traditional foods from Taiwan. I want to promote and serve Taiwanese cuisine in an efficient and friendly environment.
我的終極目標是希望可以結合我對食物的熱情並運用適合的媒體來主持一個旅遊/美食節目。我希望，這一天會到來。
Also, ultimately I would like to combine my passion for food with media by hosting a travel/food show. Hopefully, some day that will happen.
到目前為止，訪問的人的共通點都是很努力在做自己想要做的事情，雖然每個人的方向都不同，目標都不一樣，但是大家都用自己的方法去實現。真的覺得創業很困難，但是總會在每一個時間點遇到對的夥伴，對的地點，對的事情，這真的是很酷！
So far, I've interview many people, they are all different, but there is one thing in common, they are doing their best to realize what they want to do. Though everyone has different goal, different direction, but all using their own way to reach it. It's really hard to build a brand or business, but there is always the right time to meet the right partner, right place and right things, how cool it is!
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你可以在這裡找到BAO KITCHEN！
FOUND BAO KITCHEN HERE!
OR
Markthalle Neun Berlin Kreuzberg
每週四 THU 17:00 - 22:00
Eisenbahnstraße 42, 10997 Berlin
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