Beijing Boyce

Last Thursday night at The Bookworm, the Beijing Entrepreneurs Organization organized an event titled, “An Evening with Three Influential Beijing Restaurant Entrepreneurs.” Thanks to Shane Crombie, public relations guy, online advertising expert, and co-organizer of the “First Thursday” monthly ad industry event, for providing this write-up:

“We learned that Gaby Alves (SALT) was once a pro volleyball player in Brazil and sold bread from the back of a motorcycle, that Fred Lin (Bellagio) grew up in the Pacific island of Guam, worked for his family’s furniture and lighting business, then heard the call of big city life and joined a small restaurant business in China that now has more than 1000 employees, and that Bob Boyce (Blue Frog), who studied Mandarin in the mid-1990s, worked for a moving company in Guangzhou and then ended up in Shanghai where he decided to tackle, on his own terms, the shortage of good Western fare there.

“Opening a restaurant is a high risk venture in any market, and each of the speakers recounted scary moments along the way. After the closing of the Shanghai street on which his first establishment was located, Bob Boyce managed to keep his place open by convincing the police that he was doing a dinner for the British High Commissioner, while Lin remembers the “chicken and egg” challenge of obtaining a business license and safety permit when one was needed to get the other. Meanwhile, Alves had to wait nine months to get her license.

“The 437-kuai question on the night was what each saw as the key to success. Alves mentioned the introduction of a set menu and a focus on quality produce, Lin talked about providing simple Chinese food that “you can’t get mad at”, and Boyce emphasized the role of service with a smile and a focus on the needs of foreigners. It sounds simple, doesnt it? Roll the dice, take a few knocks, and hey, presto, you are a big success. Not so fast.

“What each speaker had in common was a recognition of the overarching role that staff development and training plays  in each of their businesses. From Alves providing accommodation for her staff to Lin building a dedicated employee training centre to Boyce developing a phone book-sized training manual, each has invested significant working capital in empowering their employees to succeed. If you want to emulate the success of these culinary pioneers, expect to dedicate yourself every day to the recruitment and retention of great people.

“PS:  In case you were wondering, the waittresses at Bellagio have those short haircuts for hygeine reasons, and this extends to the kitchen, where the policy first began, and cleaning staff.

The food scene at Nali Studio is starting to drift upstairs as Mosto just opened on the third floor. The team includes head chef Daniel Urdaneta, who until recently headed the kitchen at SALT, and restaurant manager Alex Molina, formerly with Torres, who back in 2006 used to make great Mojito Martinis at Garden of Delights.

Mosto seats about 50, including space for eight at the bar, and describes its food as modern with Latin influences. The a la carte menu includes about a dozen starters, including shrimp bisque, seared foie gras, and Mesclum salad, at RMB40-RMB75, and eight main courses, ranging from pan-seared sea bass to truffled red wine risotto from RMB115. The lunch special is RMB70 for two courses, RMB80 for three courses, with a choice of three starters, three mains and two desserts (the plan is to change the menu weekly). The photo shows the staff of Mosto with some Olympic gold-medal winning athletes from Australia.

I’ll have a full write-up soon.

Just an update on my earlier post on SALT, which it taking over The Park Grill space in TRIO. The restaurant, expected to seat 80, is set to open on November 28.

This story has been sleeping in the blog queue Rip Van Winkle style…

Gaby Alves, former partner in award-winning Brazilian restaurant Alameda, plans to open a joint on the upper floor of TRIO, in the Lido area. According to someone involved in the project, Gaby will team up with another restaurateur to launch SALT – you might have seen the ads in the city’s free English-language magazines. Rumor has it the place – to focus on contemporary cuisine – will open in late November.

Whew.

I first heard about this story eight weeks ago, but have avoided posting due to requests from several of the parties involved.

Being on board with a former partner of Alameda, one of Beijing’s perennial restaurant award winners, is a nice move by TRIO, and I expect SALT will bring in new clients to the benefit of all. I’ll have more on this in my next post…