Nathan Weill, Restaurant co-owner:

Life is short. If you just hold on to this thing that doesn't make you happy, just because you're scared to try something new. So let's do it!

Kitty Chen / Restaurant co-owner:

He's the best.

Meet Nathan Weill, a lawyer from New York, and Kitty Chen, originally from Nansha. After meeting in the US, falling in love, and marrying, they embarked on their next chapter in 2012 by moving to China to build their family and future together.

Kitty Chen, Restaurant co-owner:

He take a lot of responsibility and he has a very good heart to me, of course my family and people around him. I think I feel more stressful than him because I take him to China, I have the responsibility to make him live good here.

Nathan Weill:

I was tired of New York and tired of being a lawyer. It was a new opportunity and a new adventure maybe.

We moved to Panyu in Guangzhou which is where her family was all living at that time and then eventually we came to Nansha in 2021.

Kitty Chen:

So that was basically move here for kids.

Nathan Weill:

The fur baby.

Although Nathan arrived in China unfamiliar with its language and culture, his openness to new experiences led him to embrace a fresh start as a teacher. His bond with Nansha, however, began much earlier in 2006 when he first visited Kitty's hometown.

Nathan Weill:

The first place in Mainland China that I ever set foot was Nansha. We flew to Hong Kong first and then from Hong Kong we took the boat to the Nansha ferry port. “Where are we? This is like countryside!” like “Kitty, where did you bring me?”

We sort of wanted a little bit quieter lifestyle and Nansha does offer that. It's developing, there's malls and restaurants and there's transportation links, but you have the mountain parks and green space. It is becoming more international. 

Nansha's warm, welcoming spirit—which extends to foreigners and pets alike—made the couple feel right at home. In 2023, that same spirit inspired them to open a restaurant as a welcoming space for the community.

Nathan Weill:

We want to meet more people, we want to create a community.  We just wanted to give people something different that you can't get in your everyday life. 

Thanksgiving is on a Thursday. We invite some good customers to come and eat with us. We did all of that and these are not things you will find in a normal restaurant, even in the United States. This is only on Thanksgiving.

Kitty Chen:

They're already family right now, pretty much, not just customers.

Alan/US customer:

We came in as their first customers. We really liked it—the drinks, the food is really good. The decor is cozy. So we kind of really liked it so much that we've always come back ever since.

Nansha offered Nathan a new chapter—a place to settle and pursue his passions. From forming diverse friendships to starting a business in midlife, the city's welcoming community and accessibility provided the perfect foundation for reinvention.

Nathan Weill:

The quality of life (here) is relaxed. It's more convenient than ever has been before.

Kitty Chen:

I think it's very comfortable and easy to do all this in Nansha.

Nathan Weill:

We have everything we want in our life.