A restaurant in Chiayi is serving up a lot more than tasty food by offering to help single patrons find their dream partner. This extra service has brought quite a few lonely hearts to the restaurant, and has already been responsible for bringing 10 couples together.
The Bella Vida restaurant was established by three good friends who share a passion for food and art. One of the owners, Chang Su-er, used to be a cram school teacher, but quit the industry and then pooled her capital with two friends in order to pursue her dream of opening a restaurant. When she started offering the free matchmaking service, she had no idea it would become the restaurant’s defining feature.
So where did this idea originate from? Chang says a customer who worked for the Forestry Bureau once told her she didn’t have many opportunities to meet new people, which prompted Chang to set up the free matchmaking service.
Chang says that while many of the customers are teachers, lecturers and doctors who are doing well for themselves, they lack an effective strategy for meeting new people, so the restaurant simply fills this need. Professional men and women aged 25 and over are eligible for the introduction service. Chang first finds out some basic background information, then takes down their personal details and the desired qualities of their partner. If another applicant matches the requirements, Chang sets up a dinner date at the restaurant where the couple can get to know each other. So far the service has yielded 10 stable relationships.
According to the restaurant’s statistics, women outnumber men by four to one, with most of the applicants being well-educated teachers.
Chang says the restaurant is just an intermediary, and while she can make the introductions, the couples need to work hard to make their relationships work. She says they once had a male customer who failed to find love three times, but where there’s a will there’s a way, and even if Cupid’s arrow doesn’t strike, at least you’ll make a new friend. (LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU)
嘉義一家餐廳不僅提供好吃的料理，還幫助單身男女尋找夢中情人。這項額外服務吸引不少單身民眾前往，至今已促成十對情侶。
這家「漫活廚房」由三名熱愛美食與藝文的好友開設。老闆之一的張素娥曾是補教老師，為了追求自己開店的夢想，淡出補教界，與兩名好友合資開了這家餐廳，也順便免費幫人配對，沒想到這項服務成了這家店的另類特色。
這個點子從何而來？張素娥指出，曾有一名在林務局工作的女性顧客反映，認識新朋友的機會不多，因此啟發她提供免費配對的服務。
她表示，來店的客人多是條件很好的教師、教授及醫師，只是缺乏交友管道，所以餐廳乾脆當起友誼的橋樑，友誼的橋樑，幫二十五歲以上、有正當職業的男女引介。他們會先初步了解個人背景，再請對方留下詳細個人資料及擇偶條件，若遇到條件相符的對象，就會約雙方來餐廳共進晚餐，讓兩人交個朋友，目前已撮合十對穩定交往的情侶。
根據店內初步統計，參加配對的女性與男性顧客比例為四比一，多數是高學歷教師。
張素娥說，餐廳只是個媒介，提供單身朋友一個交友的管道，但要有結果仍須個人努力經營維持。曾有一名男顧客三次都沒成都沒成功，但張素娥說有嘗試就有機會，沒緣分交往至少也能多個朋友。
（自由時報記者王善嬿）
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