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Planning to end up as a hawker |
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Here’s
a little injection of reality for all those budding
cooks with aspirations of being their own boss in a
fancy joint with scores of gastronomes impatiently waiting
for a seat in your eatery – it does not always
end up that way. It takes more than guts and determination.
If anything, it may just be a meaningful journey you’ll
embark on, not knowing when you’ll arrive.
Then, there’s this accidental fried noodle couple who weren’t even interested in their family hawking business but helped out nevertheless, on weekends and after hours. An opportunity to strike it on their own came along and they reluctantly took it and today, they are one of the more successful fried noodle chain stalls here with almost ten outlets in coffeeshops and fancy food courts. They are even into setting up a second chain of Hong Kong style cafes in the region- all within a space of three years. I wish Ben and Rena all the best in their future endeavors. They have an ingredient, besides hard work, many don’t - an obscene amount of good luck and great timing. Max Liew and Melvin Chiam met seven years ago and hit off while toiling as kitchen helps in many major western eateries before given the blessing to cook the first meal for customers. One of their last major stints was as chefs in the kitchens of the now defunct club, Centro 360, at One Fullerton. All those years of long hours, perspiration and hard work was diligently served with a goal in mind – to be partners and boss of their own F&B enterprise. After all, they have the pre-requisite skills to dish out stuff that folks will enjoy. They planned to start off with an Italian restaurant. They did some mathematics and realised that the humble salary they toiled and saved over the years could not afford to buy them their dreams. “We did not have the two hundred thousand bucks, so we thought of setting up shiny food court stall in prime location”, Max shared with a reluctant smile, revealing that he had no idea what the full cost of running a restaurant business here was. “Even the prime food courts needed almost half as much to set a stall up”, something Max was not even prepared to raise. So they went to the bargain basement centre and set up a hawker stall, with all of the $30,000 they realised they could afford, with equipments alone, costing up to $20,000. So, facing the daunting task of running this mile from square one, with not much bonus points inherited from their past experiences, they calculated that they only initially needed to shift about twenty portions of each item (they had three types) a day to see it through. They only managed five. “We chose this place to target the younger business executives, but each time they pass us by, it’s like this” as Max mimics a satisfied guest with toothpick in mouth passing by their shop after a meal at the other famous stalls there. But business has improved since they opened about a year ago, due to very simple reasons – their basic Italian meals are cheap and good. “We have adjusted our prices since day one and realised that about $5-$6 is the threshold for a meal in hawker centres”, Melvin added.
Their only dessert, tiraimisu “because we got no space to make more”, is a class act for a hawker. It comes creamy, cakey, nicely moist, it’s doused with three types of sweetish liquor – brandy, Kahlua and Marsala wine, topped with bread sticks and grapes. It wasn’t as nicely presented as the picture shows on my previous occasions there, but it was close. At $5 a pop, it can shame many top restaurants, although you’ll have to eat it with loud and curious Ah Peks and Ah Sohs around. Their aglio olio pasta with beef bacon (as they avoid pork and lard) was a bit off the mark as the packet pasta and the overly salty beef bits wasn’t well-tuned. They have a sign on the stall that says you’ll have to wait for your food as they make each order from scratch upon order, which is why their most popular crispy thin crusted Hawaiian pizza with pineapples ($10, medium-sized), requires a minimum 30 minutes wait as is for the Calzone (Italian curry puff) stuffed with onions, capsicums, chicken ham and cheese ($10). But if you’ve the time, sit out the wait with a bowl of their fresh blend thick mushroom soup (done with some shiitakes) with a cheese stick – it’s very hearty for a stall at an un-forsaken corner at this hawker centre. They also offer a value for money set meal at $5 which includes any pasta, a soup and cheese sticks. I wish Max and Melvin well in their next quest – to set up a small Italian café in a busy town centre. Luck may or may not knock, but they’ve got the best qualification – perseverance and dogged determination. Perhaps that good luck charm stuck on their sign will manifest itself someday soon.
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