Public Relations

*Updated for grammatical mistakes.  Thanks Reenie!*
Attempting to use myself as the face of our new restaurant.  Here's a bio:

First draft on your questions.

1. “tell us a bit about yourself?”

1. I am born in Hong Kong, and raised in Sydney Australia.  I actually worked in the same company for the last 11 years, transferring from Sydney to New York and finally to Singapore for the last 2 years.  I loved New York, having lived there for 3 years. It was in New York that I experienced a whole range of restaurants all serving great food and providing great service.  It is indeed a place of infinite possibilities, to be able to do what one wants whenever one wants.

One of the great memories I have of New York is of this event called the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party.  Basically the whole Madison Square Park is converted to a food park, with the country's top ribs chefs cooking for 100,000 people over a weekend.  Fantastic food, wonderful atmosphere.

I moved to Singapore to explore the business opportunities here as well as to be slightly closer to my family in Sydney.  I think one of the things that people don't appreciate is that because it is so safe, everyone is so much more relaxed.  It's a great place to live.

2. “how did you end up running a restaurant?” 

2. I once did a personality test!  And one of my top traits was a category called "includer".  I realised how true this was, as I was (and still am) involved in organsing entertainment events.  In the restaurant business, it's all about celebrations, whether it is to introduce a new colleague to the team, a birthday or just a fun night out.  Restaurants help bring people together, whether they are old friends or new ones, and for everyone to have a good time.  It is a great avenue to channel my "includer" tendencies.

Going back to my New York experiences (with the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party), there was so much enjoyment digging in to a shared plate of ribs, getting the fingers dirty, having a laugh.  I like that about my restaurant.  We do give out bibs for those who are a bit on the messier side.

3. “why did you choose morganfields?” 

3. The first time I saw Morganfield's I was impressed by two things:  the first was the rustic charm of the outlet, with its exposed recycled woods, homely furniture and the movable bar top.  The second was how friendly and engaging the staff were.  All this before I had even tried the food!  

Morganfield's is a great new entry to the Singapore market.  Of course there is the ribs. We use spare ribs which are bigger, meatier and fattier, we rub them with our secret spice which really gets the flavours into the meat, smoke them low and slow for several hours in a combination oven to produce juicy, fall-off-the-bone tender ribs with just the right touch of smokiness and then baste them with our special sweet and tangy BBQ sauce as we finish them on the charbroiler.

I feel Morganfield's provides that "whole restaurant experience", a great combination of ambiance, food, and service, from the first hello through the the last goodbye.  It is genuine and warm and delivers hospitality to all out guests.  In my mind, hospitality is there when things that are done for you, it is not there when things are done to you.  I want all my guests to feel that they would want to return and bring their friends to Morganfield's.

Every Day is a Monday

On owning your own business, so true:

"The worries never end. You never sleep. Every day becomes Monday. Every minute becomes 3am Monday morning. Every day there is constant battles and meager successes to drive you forward. And sometimes there are stretches where it’s all 2 steps forward and three steps backwards.

I never once considered going back to the corporate job. It would be embarassing. A failure. I had to keep going forward. But the Mondays never ended. And 17 years later, the Mondays still don’t end. But you get used to it. Heck, it’s Monday right now! And I have 10,000 times more issues than I ever had at a corporate job . But over time the problems that used to be hard get easier. And the problems that you have today become opportunities. And the opportunities get better and better because you learn which ones smell, taste, look, feel better. And it’s no longer two steps forward three steps back. It’s five steps zig-zagged. And one of these days I’ll reach the end of the maze and a unicorn will be there. And I’ll ride her away and never look back."

From James Altucher

Culture

It's one of those intangible things that every good management person talks about.  And once it's established, it is so hard to change, usually because the culture fits with the most efficient way of getting things done in that environment.

We've experienced one culture here in KL.  And with all cultures, there's good and bad. One of the key differences with this culture (at least according to my two managers) is the high level of trust/support that the back of house and front of house provide to one another.  It's something that is really good to see and something that we would want to estsablish.

On the bad side, there is some tension in the team, and some of the managers are not doing their job of managing the personnel issues.  So in specific cases, the respect staff have for their peers is not there.

What I am hearing from my managers makes me happy that I hired them, as I think they embody the attitudes that we want in our team.  I have the values of "push, belief, responsibility, and teamwork" as things that we stand for.  Funny enough, even putting these things down into words makes everyone more committed to it.

Now I just need to make sure that we pass this culture and attitude on to any new staff we hire.

The Slam

It's been a great two weeks up in KL, learning the ins and outs of the restaurant.  I've been focussed on the prep are, getting a feel for the foods that we make.  It's a different world when preparing for 1 hundred people, compared to a family.  Best memory was mixing in 4 kg of butter for a cake mix!

The other area I have been focussing on is the expediter, or "expo" area.  This person's role is to prepare all the food, and make sure that they quality of the presentation (plating, condiments etc) is done according to the specification of the menus and procedures.  In essence, it's the link from front of house to the kitchen.

Generally this job is quite simple, but it starts getting complex due to the sheer number of orders that can come through at once, especially in a large restaurant.  I experienced the "slam" on Friday when I was the expo.  I've never had that feeling before, when my brain half shut down, I just could not process the information that was coming at me.  All I saw were plates of food in front of me, I didn't know what had or had not gone out, it was a mess.  Another one of the chefs had to tae over my position and do the rest of the expo for that lunch.

But it's the only way to learn, and the only way to appreciate the intensity of some of these F&B jobs.  Perhaps it just gets easier with more practice, but either way it's still tough when everyone comes in to the restaurant at once.  Of course, as an owner, that's what we all want all the time!

Post Career

So this is the second day of my post-LL career.  I'm finding my days a bit unstructured, without a clear set of things that need to be done.  I think there are a few key points to consider:
1. I have one boss, myself.  As Jo says "don't feel guilty, just know that you are now the generator of your own income". There are certainly a lot less ad-hoc requests from random people.  I have an obligation to Jo and the other investors, of course, but the responsibility lies with me.
2. One cannot get lost in "busywork".  Every action feels my weighted, again probably due to the consequence of the action direct to my bottom line.
3. I need to get better at planning out my day, especially in a situation where I do not have internet access (and printing facilities etc) all the time.  On that part, I need to start working on setting up a proper office at home.
4. I'm not yet conscious of the money issue (reduced salary and all that) but it may start to affect me when I see my updated bank accounts!
5. It would be very easy to let go and do nothing after having done 9-5 for so long.  The restaurant obviously providing some incentive to get things done.

Now there is absolutely no excuse.  It's time to deliver.

Emotions

People keep telling me "oh you must be so excited about the new venture".  I actually think I should be as well!  But I'm not, and I'm trying to work out why.

In my mind, I have made a commitment, both emotional and financial, for this restaurant to be launched. And once that commitment was made, it's now just a matter of completing the implementation plan, and get all our ducks lined up.

I am seeing this phase like a project that needs to be completed.  What I am realising, though, is that in my previous job I can just pass it over the fence, in this case I'm actually the one catching and running with it!  The difficulty is to imagine what running a restaurant would be like, in order to make the right decisions now.

I don't think I am that future focused, which may also explain the lack of excitement.  Just be in the moment, and do what needs to be done.  Good thing Jo has more future focus than I do!  What I do need to do better is to imagine how I will be managing and leading 30 people, driving the right culture to get the sales and results we are looking for.

Beverages

I got some sales figures from the KL outlet to review.  My initial aim was to get the alcohol volumes to be in a better position to negotiate with the alcohol suppliers.  I did get that, but the figures (and revenues) were very interesting, bringing to light some things that I hadn't thought of before.

- Beers make up nearly 80% of alcoholic beverages.  This negotiation is key to our costs.
- The revenues from non-alcoholic "mixer" drinks is greater than all our spirits (bottles, mix drinks, cocktails) combined.  We really should look at developing a great set of "coolers" that people who don't drink would be proud of drinking.  Something with a bit of funk.
- Our drinks menu is also too focussed on those spirits.  Many of the options need to be removed, to improve the usability of the menu.
- Fountain soda is also very popular.  I always thought Coke (and variants) would be highest in volume, but Iced Lemon Teas are double the intake of Coke.

With all these negotiations, I would focus on the areas where we have greatest volume (and therefore greatest cost).

Ethnicity

We (verbally) hired our first employee today.  A milestone!
I love her attitude, I think she will really help us with the service levels and hospitality of the restaurant.  Question I have is will she fit the "american casual dining" concept, or a better question, can customers associate her with the "american casual dining" concept, or will her ethnicity (Indian) and her demonstration of that ethnicity be an issue?

I want to say no, it's all about the service.  But Singaporeans (as with any one, really) can be racist and judge people by their covers.  It's this kind of stuff that I may need to be more sensitive to.

A similar potential issue would be hiring a Muslim to manage a kitchen or manage a restaurant that is focussed on pork.  Even if the they have no issue with handling that meat, would we have an image problem and be disrespectful to the wider community by having that person in the restaurant.

We should never discriminate based on religion, let's hope it doesn't become too much of a sticking point.

Organisational Plans

Going into the Unilever kitchens was an experience.  So much kitchen gear, so little of it is used!  I am still in dire need of understanding the food preparation side, to appreciate the quality of the foods.  When the rubber hits the road ie when I'm in my own kitchen, that may be the time where the learning really starts.

Talking to Tham, he provided some good suggestions regarding the organisational structure.  He argues that at the end of the day, the duty manager (one of the restaurant managers or myself) should have the final say for the whole restaurant, including the kitchen.  In essence, the customer, that the restaurant manager represents, is the boss.  I think this system has value, as ultimately the customer is the one bringing in the revenue.  What it does imply is that the kitchen cannot be an independent area, with its own rules.  What it also implies is that all our restaurant managers need to have a working understanding of the kitchen, how it works, what is required to run it.

It was also good to have Tham do a review with the shortlisted candidates.  He provides a much more structured way of interviewing staf, more so than how we did the first round of interviews.  Some good questions he asked were: who was your ideal boss and why; how do your staff see you; what analytical awareness do you show, especially in terms of costs and profits etc.

HK Restaurant Thoughts

Some thoughts from the places I went to in HK
40 Gough St - very helpful staff to flag me at the entrance and guide me to the private dining room.  Service was unobtrusive, but efficient.  My water was always filled.  Food did not all arrive at the same time (linguine came out first) but the delay was not significant.  Decor was stylish.

Cafe Grey - The view is always great from up there.  WAter was always refilled, staff were not super attentive.  One forgot the request from Bec for milk for her tea.  Presentation of the food was quite good, but it can be seen that certain items (like the pear salad) were overdoused in the italian dressing, making it look less fresh.

Goldfinch - A solid restaurant, value oriented.  Decor hasn't changed, since they used the restaurant for filming "2048".  Service is friendly, efficient.  Treating elders better is a good thing. Roasted pigeon was great, moist and crispy. Fries were terrible.

Coast - Very Australian feel, light woods.  Staff were friendly, although they messed up the food for me.  It came to the table before the waiter realised the issue, should have been picked up before that point in time.

Quinary - Cocktails presentation was very good.  The truffle fries were very tasty.  Waiters disappeared for long stretches of time, most likely because of the number of orders they needed to process, and cocktail making is a slow process.  Decor was classy, dark timbers, dark corrugated iron, beautiful leather couches, good lighting.  Tough to be the owner in that situation, as you want your guests to be treated the best.

Hei Chin Rou - I got there late, so food was coming already.  Yum cha always delivers.  I didn't find any issues with the service, although our cokes took a while to get to our table.

I think I am too blase about a lot of these things, as in I don't mind if the food is a bit sloppy, or the waiter is a bit late.  My tolerance for such "mistakes" is very high.  I need to improve my own standard of quality in order to enforce it on my staff so that others whom may have higher standards than I, will appreciate the efforts that we have done.

Checklists

Quote from David Allen's "Getting Things Done":
The degree to which any of  us needs to maintain checklists and external controls is directly related to our unfamiliarity with the area of responsibility.

I need to get back on this track and manage the information I am getting on setting up the restaurant.

Restaurant Realisations

Interviewing more staff has the benefit of a crash course in learning about restaurant tips and realisations about our own place:

• Role play is important for staff training.  How do we simulate those situations where staff will have to react quickly and well to issues that a customer brings up?
• Having someone with setup skills will help us get through this first month of operations.  How do we set ourselves up for success?
• There should be little or no divide between "Front of House" and "Back of House".  We are all one team.  It goes to the extent that the servers should know what all the food tastes like and is made up of.
• We have to be proud of our food in order to upsell it.  
• The hard part with a new restaurant is finding a proper place to train the staff, given that any other kitchen will be different to the kitchen that we will use.
• Everyone has an opinion for a restaurant because everyone has been to one.  Be prepared for the barrage of (good and bad) advice.
• Cooks love the freedom of a small restaurant.  We have to make sure our kitchen manager knows that they will be constrained by a set menu.
• Any breakages / variance in beverage sales need to be reported.  It may sound harsh, but sometimes the waiter must pay in order to learn.  I am unsure about this one, not sure about the culture that this will bring to our restaurant.
• Our kitchen manager must be about execution. quality and consistency.  It is like an army in the kitchen, everyone has to know their place.

Finding the Right People for F&B

We had another round of interviews for Restaurant Managers today.  It was good to see some candidates that had potential, within the salary range we were looking at.  Jo's question challenged me, are these the people I expected?

I had pictured people that were more upbeat, a bit more willing to learn and understand what we are trying to do with the company.  The people I am meeting seem more clinical, detached.  No doubt some of them have the technical ability, I'm just not sure of their emotional capacity.  How "can do" are these people?  Would they take the right initiative when given the opportunity?  Would they go the extra mile to provide that level of hospitality that we are aiming for? It's so hard to tell this from just 45 min with one person.

Are we essentially dealing with a different culture of people?  I'm thinking back to when I prepared for an interview, I would have approached it with a lot more engagement, striving to understand how I can add value to the company.  People don't seem to care as much.  The cynic in me would equate that to the failure rate of the F&B industry!

We have to be able to adapt to the situation, to recognise that even with this difference in culture we can still get those people to achieve the goals we set for them.  It is still early days for this round of interviews, perhaps we will get more quality as we go along.  I want to find someone where providing hospitality gives them energy.

Opinions

In my conversations with my business partner, I fundamentally believe that he has a stronger vision for the future.  Hence I am willing to follow that lead, and execute based on that vision.  Our current vision of moving "up" the food production chain to get back to primary agriculture is a good one, as I do think that food (processes, technology, markets) will grow rapidly in the next decade, especially around south east Asia.

Now in this F&B business, he does have a lot more domain knowledge, and hence has been taking the lead in the financials and the setup.  I'm caught between thinking that I'm asking too many stupid questions but without the necessary understanding to provide valuable feedback.  And generally I'm not that outspoken a person, with strong views, so I am tending to keep those opinions to myself.

When there are clashes of opinion, I do allow Jo to take the lead on the decision.  What I have noticed though is that he would lead to a decision that is not where I am thinking, but would, upon reflection, move closer to my viewpoint.  It's a strange thing, but does show that we are both willing to let other opinions shape our decisions.

I do know that I need to have a stronger view of how I want the restaurant to run, especially since I am the general manager.  Have to know where the centre is so I can guide everyone there and realign them when they are off track.  Having my thoughts validated through a revaluation of a decision means that I know my opinion is moving us to the right place.

Job Hunting

Or rather employee hunting!

Just started working on the job descriptions for the staff that we should be hiring.  I am drawing/copying a lot of inspiration from the book "Setting the Table" by Danny Meyer.  It talks of an enlightened hospitality, and delves into detail regarding the types of staff, and particularly managers that we should be hiring.  This is what I am writing for the job description.


The candidate displays the following Attributes:

• Infectious positive attitude.
• Self-awareness and how they can add value to the company.
• Long term view of success, that tomorrow dollars still counts.
• Sense of abundance to other staff and our guests.
• A trust of staff to do the right thing.
• Approving patience and tough love.
• A character that will command respect, not demand it.
• Ability to focus on customer service, to write a great “last chapter” of a client’s experience with the restaurant.

So what does this mean?  It means that we want our managers to be the source of inspiration for our staff.   They should embody "hospitality", where hospitality is there when something is done "for" you, hospitality is not there when something is done "to" you.
I need to start visualising scenarios how this would play out.  Thinking of things like a dropped plate, a double booking, guests who are trying to make a theatre show, the regular Sunday couple, a badly cooked plate of food, etc.

With the restaurant manager role, I do think of a "da jie" manager, an older women who would be the heart and soul of the restaurant, but whom has the ability to keep those young waitstaff in line.  I think she would be a good compliment to my managerial style.

How do you capture a vision of proactive service?

Alcohol Supplies

So I had my first meeting with an alcohol supplier, Moet Hennessy Diageo.  It is, as with all things in this business, a learning experience.  Some key points:
1. An American ribs and casual dining restaurant would not likely to have significant amounts of wine consumed, and even the type of wine that is consumed would be on the lower scale.

2. What wines one does carry will reflect in the image of the restaurant.

3. Given the general heat and humidity, white wines should be more crisp and refreshing (which would be the ones coming from NZ, Australia etc) compared to the white wines from Europe.  I have a feeling that this was the sales guy doing his pitch.

4. Advertising and promotions can be provided as working capital, but the restaurant must then hit the volume targets.  There is some kind of "clawback" clause for the supplier to get the money back from the restaurant. For us, I think this will be unknown for the first 6 months, so we should consider just nett purchases, or performance based bonuses.  The other option is that they drip feed you capital for specific items like uniforms, or menus so you don't get the whole working capital straight up.

5. I need to understand these wine offerings better.  I cannot tell the difference between all the different types of wines available.  Perhaps it's more of "what is a good wine that will go with the dishes that we are serving?"

6. There is alcohol that you purchase for house pours and then there is alcohol that you purchase to sell by the bottle.  If you have one brand of house pours, then you cannot utilise a competing brand in the same category.  Of course if he supplier does not stock a category, you're free to buy from whomever. But for wines, there is no category.  You can only serve their white or red.  I assume this depends on the restaurant's buying power.

7. We should look at reinforcing our image with American wines and spirits.

8. Contracts where there is performance bonuses or A&P subsidies are at least 1 year long.

9. Looking at wines in the low $20s range for this restaurant.

10. MHD doesn't do their own deliveries, they work with suppliers to execute the order.  However, suppliers do not provide the A&P subsidies.

Overall, I think we don't suit MHD as their range is too high.  Need to keep looking.

New Beginnings

I resigned from my job.  2 month's notice, starting 8 May 2012.
I'm embarking on a new business adventure.  At least it's with a familiar face.
A ribs franchise restaurant in Singapore, 4,500 sqft, 200 seats.
6 months of looking,1 month of negotiating, and now 4 months to get this restaurant built and ready for trading 17 Sept 2012.  Estimated investment: SGD $1m.

My restaurant experience is zero.  But I have a passion for hospitality, to meet and serve new people, to give them an experience that they will remember.  I'm willing to learn, I want to build a culture and a team and I want to make some money!

I'm happy that Jo is on board.  He does have much more experience in this field, and knows what to look for,  I need to start taking ownership of this place, it is as much his investment as it is mine.  I'm the general manager, I have to set the tone, the vision and the direction of the operations.

4 months to go.  Let's make every day count.