06/09/2026
A Little Restaurant, Seen Through Someone Else’s Eyes ❤️
Sometimes, the most meaningful gifts are not the expensive ones.
Before my former colleague, Xiao Li (小李), returned to China to continue her journey, she gave me something I will treasure for a very long time.
She was a KTH architecture student from China and worked part-time at our little restaurant while studying in Stockholm.
Knowing how much I care about this little place, she took the actual floor plan of our restaurant and turned it into a handmade 3D model.
Think about that for a moment.
For me, this is the place where I work every day.
The kitchen where I cook.
The tables where I serve people.
The small corners that I sometimes don't even notice anymore because I see them every day.
But she looked at this place differently.
As an architecture student, she saw the space, measured it, imagined it, and carefully recreated it as a little model.
She didn't just give me a model of my restaurant.
She gave me a different way of seeing a place that means so much to me.
And then there was another gift — a traditional Chinese **锦旗 (jǐnqí)**.
Many people in Sweden may not know what a 锦旗 means. In Chinese culture, it is traditionally given as a public expression of gratitude and recognition. It is not something you casually give to someone. Receiving one is a great honor.
The words on mine say:
**“良心好老板”**
**“A Legendary Host”**
Those words mean more to me than I can easily explain.
A small restaurant is never just about the food.
Behind the food are people.
Behind the tables are stories.
And behind the business are relationships that sometimes continue long after someone has moved on.
Xiao Li (小李) has now returned to China to continue her own path. I am genuinely happy for her, and very proud to have been a small part of her Stockholm journey.
Thank you, Xiao Li (小李), for these two incredibly thoughtful gifts.
The little model reminds me of the place I built.
The banner reminds me of the people who made the journey worthwhile.
And perhaps that is what a restaurant really is — not just a place you come to eat, but a place where people meet, share a little part of their lives, and sometimes leave something behind.❤️