One of my favorite things about this particular Gemini season has been realizing just how many new Geminis I’ve met since moving to Portland. Surprise, surprise, all of them have become, what I consider, fast friends. You know, the type of friendships that grow quickly, from just one meeting or hello or one passing comment to one another. No doubt, there’s always an instant connection when you bring two Geminis together and it always brings me immense joy to experience that magic! If you’re a Gemini in my life, just know I’m so lucky to know you. Happy birthday to all of my Geminis!
I woke up last Friday to Xiao Ye being listed as one of Bon Appetit’s 8 Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings of Summer 2023. Talk about an early birthday present! Getting noticed by such a major food publication is insane (!!) and grateful doesn’t even begin to cover how I feel about a writer somehow stumbling upon our story, reading through my substack, and feeling compelled enough to list us alongside some amazing restaurateurs (half of them also first-timer restaurant owners!).
I know it’s still so early in the game, but seeing that was really validating; I think any creative can understand this, but when you work on a project that is so deeply personal, one, it’s feels pretty scary to put it out into the world, and two, when you do, it’s a little hard to judge whether what you’re putting out there is actually good without some kind of real, unbiased feedback. Of course, my gut has been telling me that our concept is good, that it’s the perfect time in our career to showcase what we can do, AND that we happen to live in a city that’s really ready for it. But for our business to succeed, it also needs to resonate with people outside us. Getting written up on Eater Portland and then garnering a mention in Bon Appetit is so rare already, not to mention getting that level of attention having had no previous experience in opening restaurants and still being deep in construction. It definitely gave me an extra boost of confidence for what we’re doing and why we are working so hard to make this happen.
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