蘇波榮 So Boring 5.19

致各位有聽過無聽過、有幫襯過無幫襯過蘇波榮的朋友：

蘇波榮是一間位處油麻地邊陲，空間只有百餘呎的窄小店舖，曾經小店由業主經營，是間只做街坊生意的小食店。後來業主退休出租小店，雖然配備五臟俱存的廚房，但因為位置和店舖空間的限制，經營還是相當艱苦，曾經有人租下幾個月就離開了。

2013年5月，有班年青人經過蘇波榮現時的鋪位，心血來潮就租下來，要搞個油麻地「深夜食堂」。他們出錢出力，一切由零開始，6月就開舖！因為大家日抖要返工，開店時間定於晚9朝4，門前橋底一片不大不小的公共空間，開幾張枱就是街坊朋友的聚腳點。這個熱情又浪漫的開始，過了三個月後，有些朋友因太累而離開，亦必然的。有人離開，表示留下來的人需要填補空當。本身已有全職工作的人變相每人要打兩份工。在人手短缺的情況下，蘇波榮走到一個進退失據的位置。

9月有一天，Marykate和安娜（她們是堅持繼續蘇波榮的人之一。）很直接地去找「活化廳」及「德昌里二號三號舖」幫忙，他們都是在油麻地幾條街內的社區空間，一直不算親近但偶有合作。為了讓這個社區空間得以延續，其實大家都希望能在租金及營業時間上多幫忙分擔一點。當時活化廳剛知道未能續約，面前好像要打一場硬仗，還要幫手開舖實在有點猶豫。

結果，德昌素食合作社率先加入，大家都沒有做廚房的經驗，硬著頭皮試著經營日間時間的蘇波榮。過了一、兩星期，連續七天開舖實在累壞了大家，關舖休息又要白交租。所以活化星期日正式加入，希望分擔每週一天的租金之餘，讓其他人至多些時間抖抖。活化蘇波合作社就從這裡開始。

三班人都有很不同的意識形態，要合作、共用廚房其實並不容易，不過在這剛好一年多一個月的合作過程裡面，蘇波榮由宵夜燒烤小食店，慢慢過渡成現在的素食晩餐店。過程中，一個不計較盈利（要交租，但至少不是利益先行）的經營模式正不停地實驗中。我們與食客的默契也逐漸建立，現在我們都以「自由定價」來營運，表示我們對街坊、食客和社區的信任和默契，我們堅持自由定價的概念，是因為我們堅信食餐飯也是一種溝通和關係，而不只是一買一賣的消費交易。

上月收到業主消息，蘇波榮的鋪位已找到新買家。我們心裡都明白，在一切以利益為依歸的社會，在這個油麻地的角落，新業主不一定會與我們續租。以現在的生意額，在各人也幾乎沒有獲取薪金的情況下，我們還是希望把蘇波榮經營下去。後來透過經紀聯絡，幸好新業主有意續租，但續租需要重新支付水電租等按金，是額外幾萬元的開支。

面對住這種地產炒賣再加租等升值的模式，我們不願意成為支撐這個不公義系統的一部份。實情是地產霸權趕絶小店之事無日無之，舊區仕紳化亦是伸手可及。差不多開業了一年半的蘇波榮，除了結合了這一群在製造食物的人之外，亦累積了附近很多經常在忙東忙西的街坊食客、慕名而來的旅客或各式各樣的人。結束與繼續其實並非只是三個營運單位、十幾廿人需要面對及負擔的問題。我們希望，曾作為實驗的必要因數的你，或將會過來幫襯的你，今次可以幫幫手。因為在這一年半有多的日子，我們和很多過來食飯的人連帶他們所在的社區建立了關係。面對著自由定價的食客，在那個「埋單」的過程中(不論你付錢時可能相當輕鬆，或者相當頭痛)，這裡曾與你連繫中的社區比較，讓你思考過每一餐飯背後的價值。

-----------------------------------------------

To friends past, present and future:

So Boring is a small space on the fringes of Yau Ma Tei, and prior to its present incarnation it enjoyed a rather successful life as a neighborhood snack stand. When its owner decided to retire, he put the store and all of the equipment in it up for lease. If you've been to our corner of town, though, you would very quickly see that the space, a tiny niche tucked away in an obscure part of town, isn't the best of prospects for folks looking to get into the food and beverage business. Since the store went up for lease, it has changed hands a few times.

In May of 2013, a group of friends came across the space and became taken with the idea of opening a late night street eatery that would sprawl on to the pedestrian concrete. A month later, things were up and running. Because the restaurant was a side gig for everybody involved, it would open after everybody got back from work, and the few tables that were set up outside would be frequented by a small crowd of friends and neighbors. The honeymoon would be brief, and folks would get tired, would realize that it wasn't what they had hoped it would be, as the difficulty of making the rent would weigh especially hard on staff who already worked full time jobs in the day time. So Boring was very quickly in a dire situation, short-handed and exhausted.

In September, Marykate and Onna (the two who remain standing after all the trials we have spoken of) sought the help of Wooferten and Tak Cheong Lane, two collectives whose spaces are within a few feet of the restaurant. At the beginning the suggestion was that folks from both collectives with an interest in cooking could help to keep this experiment going by running the kitchen when Marykate, Onna and friends were away at their day jobs. Wooferten, of course, had their hands tied when they were approached. They had just discovered that their grant from the ADC would not be renewed and their space would have to be surrendered, so they were preparing themselves for a long and bitter struggle.

Tak Cheong Lane, then, were the first to come on board. Beginnings were unforgiving- lacking even the most elementary sort of kitchen sense, a group of friends that had previously only cooked for family or friends in their collective now found themselves having to meet the demands of customers, and having to do it every day of the week while worrying about meeting the rent at the end of the month. When Wooferten eventually decided to take over on Sundays, it was a massive relief for everybody involved.

Anybody who knows anything about these three groups of people would be well aware of the vast differences in ideology, attitude and style that they have between them, differences that have made the sharing of a kitchen incredibly trying at times. Over the course of time, though, without anybody having planned the course of things, So Boring went through a gradual but decisive transformation into a vegetarian eatery, one that, while having to fork over a sizeable chunk of earnings to the landlord every month, would not place profit at the center of things. So Boring would also do away with fixed prices, adopting the free pricing that Tak Cheong Lane and Wooferten had always maintained as a gesture of trust in their patrons. For all three groups, food is not a commodity, but a medium through which relations can form and concatenate.

Which brings us to today, where we find our romantic enclave at the mercy of property. As you may know, the space that we rent has found a new buyer. When we first heard the news, we anticipated the worst. After all, there aren't many tenants that could be more unglamorous and unlucrative than we are. Despite our growing 'success' in business terms, most of us still work at the co-operative on a largely voluntary basis, and any hope of being paid for our trouble was given up a long time ago. That we want to continue, though, was never in question. Having met with the owners' property agent, who went beyond his professional remit to adivse us on the utter pointlessness of our co-operative, we were told that the lease could be renewed on similar terms. As with all such things, though, good news comes with mindnumbing fine print- we would have to put down a new deposit, stuff an envelope of cash in the agent's pocket for his troubles, etcetera, which would set us back $50,000. And we would have to come up with that money in a number of weeks.

All of this stuff about speculation, avaricious landlords, private property, the despoliation of our city , its diversity and its ecology by capital, the ruination of every form of common by the dominion of money and whatnot is old hat, so we will save our complaints for now. 'So Boring' is the name to which we give an experience that, over the last year and half, has brought together not simply people who like to cook and eat, but neighbors, wanderers and strays from all over the place. The plight that we face, commonplace as it is, miserably ordinary as it is, tragically mundane as it is, does not simply concern the romantic aspirations of this co-operative and the twenty or so people who are responsible for running it. We very much believe that this experiment has not been in vain, that something in this food, this space and the way that it has taken shape has touched somebody enough that they feel impelled to defend it as their own territory, a modest part of the map that we are- each of us in our own neighborhoods- trying to draw with actions and desires that rebel against the rule of money.

Come eat, hang out, share in what could be the last days of So Boring...we hope to see you between the 1st and the 15th of January.