胡同咖啡店里的暖心故事The heartwarming stories of Hutong coffee shops
“互相分享食物成了我和老街坊们相处的日常，路过的邻居们常给我甜桃、面茶，我也把早上煮的红薯、鸡蛋分给大家。”在北京市西城区宫门口东岔胡同的小狐狸咖啡店内，店长姚延泽向笔者分享这间社区咖啡店的暖心故事。
小狐狸咖啡店坐落于白塔寺历史文化街区。2015年白塔寺片区启动保护性更新后，各类特色业态逐步引入。这家于2023年初正式开门营业的咖啡店，已然融入社区，和老街坊、新顾客都相处融洽。
从宫门口东岔胡同步入，小狐狸咖啡店的店门正敞开着，浓醇的咖啡香飘了出来。“和十多年前相比，现在的胡同干净整洁又热闹，入驻的商业各有特色。”姚延泽回忆。随着老城更新机制的推进，胡同环境变好了，也给新业态留足了生长空间。
开店最初，这家咖啡店的定位就是胡同里的“社区咖啡店”，店内的装修陈设直观体现了这一点。全开放的吧台、营业时始终敞开的店门，拉近了顾客与咖啡店的距离。“我也喜欢做咖啡，有一次我好奇店长打奶泡的方法，他就让我站在咖啡机旁，当场演示给我看。”顾客张先生说。在店铺门口，姚延泽还放置了几个板凳，路过的街坊邻居、外卖骑手，都愿意在此歇脚休憩。
咖啡店与周边居民的暖心互动不止于此。在白塔寺附近，有一位常用肩膀扛着宠物猫遛弯儿的“网红大爷”关家亮。关家亮路过时，姚延泽会给他倒杯水、送杯咖啡，一起聊聊天。关家亮也惦记着姚店长，常给忙碌的他送来水果。“他第一次送来水果的时候，直接从门口扔了两根香蕉给我。”回忆起这个故事，姚延泽说，这算老街坊特有的相处方式。
咖啡店的客人们大多是附近金融街的“上班族”，因为喜欢店内氛围而相互推荐，姚延泽也与客人像朋友一样相处。店里，一名男孩正专心帮姚延泽把小狐狸挂饰套在冷饮杯上，手边是已经套好的三四个杯子。“他父母在附近上班，他做完作业后，会来店里问我：‘小狐狸叔叔，我能帮你装饰杯子吗？’”姚延泽为男孩制作一杯气泡水，奖励他的热心帮助。
咖啡店里，还有暖心的协商故事。“有矛盾时，大家可以来店里坐下喝喝咖啡。在轻松的氛围里，事情也好解决。”姚延泽介绍，店铺所在的西城区新街口街道安平巷社区，设立“甜面团议事角”，作为居民和商户议事协商的场所，小狐狸咖啡店便是其中之一。社区咖啡店的大门向邻里敞开，为常态化沟通搭建有温度的平台。当店内召开议事会议时，姚延泽也会在工作之余为双方提供中肯建议。“大家坐在这儿，不是要争出谁是谁非，而是互相帮助、互相促进，让街区变得更和谐。”姚延泽说。
小狐狸咖啡店的暖心故事，正是北京探索超大城市历史文化保护与有机更新融合的生动缩影。从活力不足的老旧街区，到新旧共生的温暖家园，白塔寺历史文化街区坚持小规模、渐进式的老城“慢更新”，既留住了胡同烟火与老城根脉，又搭建起商户与居民沟通共处的桥梁，为古都文化遗产保护传承与城市更新发展，交出一份有温度的答卷。（许颂清 项馨婵 南彤霏 人民日报海外版）
Sharing food with each other has become a daily routine for me and the old street vendors. Neighbors passing by often give me sweet peaches and noodle tea, and I also share the sweet potatoes and eggs I cooked in the morning with everyone. "At the Little Fox Coffee Shop in Dongcha Hutong, Gongmenkou, Xicheng District, Beijing, the manager Yao Yanze shared with me the heartwarming story of this community coffee shop.
The Little Fox Coffee Shop is located in the historical and cultural district of Baita Temple. After the protective renewal of the Baita Temple area was launched in 2015, various characteristic business formats were gradually introduced. This coffee shop, which officially opened in early 2023, has already integrated into the community and gets along well with both old neighbors and new customers.
Entering from Dongcha Hutong at the entrance of the palace, the door of Little Fox Coffee Shop is open, and the rich aroma of coffee wafts out. Compared to more than a decade ago, the hutongs today are clean, tidy, and bustling, with unique businesses settling in, "Yao Yanze recalled. With the advancement of the old city renewal mechanism, the environment of hutongs has improved, leaving ample room for new business models to grow.
At the beginning of opening the shop, the positioning of this coffee shop was a "community coffee shop" in the alley, and the decoration and furnishings inside the shop intuitively reflected this. The fully open bar counter and always open store doors bring customers closer to the coffee shop. I also enjoy making coffee. Once, I was curious about the way the store manager made milk foam, so he asked me to stand next to the coffee machine and demonstrate it to me on the spot, "said Mr. Zhang, a customer. At the entrance of the store, Yao Yanze also placed several benches, where passing neighbors and food delivery riders were willing to rest and unwind.
The heartwarming interaction between coffee shops and surrounding residents goes beyond that. Near the White Pagoda Temple, there is a "internet celebrity grandpa" named Guan Jialiang who often carries his pet cat for walks on his shoulders. When Guan Jialiang passes by, Yao Yanze will pour him a cup of water, bring him a cup of coffee, and chat together. Guan Jialiang also misses Manager Yao and often brings fruits to him who is busy. When he first brought me fruit, he threw two bananas directly at the door for me. "Recalling this story, Yao Yanze said, this is a unique way of getting along with old neighbors.
The customers of the coffee shop are mostly "office workers" from the nearby Financial Street, who recommend each other because they like the atmosphere inside the shop. Yao Yanze also gets along with the customers like friends. In the store, a boy was focused on helping Yao Yanze put a little fox ornament on a cold drink cup, with three or four already set cups at hand. His parents work nearby, and after he finishes his homework, he will come to the store and ask me, 'Uncle Little Fox, can I help you decorate your cup?' Yao Yanze made a glass of sparkling water for the boy as a reward for his enthusiastic help.
In the coffee shop, there are heartwarming negotiation stories. When there is a conflict, everyone can come to the store to sit down and drink coffee. In a relaxed atmosphere, things can be easily resolved, "Yao Yanze said. The" Sweet Dough Discussion Corner "is set up in Anping Lane Community, Xinjiekou Street, Xicheng District, where the store is located. As a venue for residents and merchants to discuss and negotiate, Little Fox Coffee Shop is one of them. The doors of community coffee shops are open to neighbors, providing a warm platform for normalized communication. When a meeting is held in the store, Yao Yanze will also provide constructive advice to both parties in his spare time. Everyone is sitting here not to argue over who is right or wrong, but to help and promote each other, making the neighborhood more harmonious, "said Yao Yanze.
The heartwarming story of Little Fox Coffee Shop is a vivid epitome of Beijing's exploration of the integration of historical and cultural protection and organic renewal in mega cities. From the old neighborhoods with insufficient vitality to the warm homes where old and new coexist, the Baita Temple Historical and Cultural District adheres to a small-scale and gradual "slow renewal" of the old city. It not only retains the hutong fireworks and the roots of the old city, but also builds a bridge for communication and coexistence between merchants and residents, delivering a warm answer to the protection and inheritance of the ancient capital's cultural heritage and urban renewal and development. (Xu Songqing, Xiang Xinchan, Nan Tongfei, People's Daily Overseas Edition)