1. What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture or to make significant changes in an existing business? How did the idea for your business come about?
We were very keen to start Sakae Sushi in Malaysia. Back in August 2005 when Sakae Sushi first entered the Malaysian market, we felt that the market for Japanese food was poised for exponential growth. At that time, there were only 2 other conveyor belt sushi chains in Malaysia. Hence, we strongly believed that there was a huge potential for a conveyor belt sushi chain like Sakae Sushi. At Sakae Sushi, we provide value for money sushi and a great dining experience. Besides offering quality sushi, we have another point of differentiation which enhances the customer dining experience. By introducing our Sakae Sushi’s interactive menu, which is also the 1st of its kind in Malaysia, customers are able to order their food using the computer ordering system attached to each table.

2. What were the biggest challenges when you were starting as new leader?
When I first started, I didn’t have any prior F&B experience and so it was a steep learning curve. In order to lead the team, I felt that it was essential to understand the heart of our business which revolved around the operations and customers. I used to spend the day in the restaurant understanding the operations, customers’ behaviours as well as the nights working on the back end support for the restaurant namely purchasing, marketing, human resource, and business development. Although the period was tough, it helped me to achieve a well rounded understanding of the ins and outs of the business, which made me more positive in our expansion phase.

3. What is the best part of being in a managerial position for you?
I derive the most satisfaction in seeing individuals in the team developing and growing their jobs. One of our Management Trainees who was part of the team that started the Curve outlet is now an Assistant Area Manager. Similarly, our Admin Executive has now become our head of department for purchasing. Besides, what also warms my heart is when I see the teamwork spirit embedded within the team. For instance, I recalled once when we were told by the landlord after office hour that we had to submit something urgently the next morning. I was pretty worried as it was a little late to engage a designer and the team was already rushing another urgent project due the next day. However, when I got back to the office late in the evening at about 9pm, the team had pooled together their resources and completed the required design themselves. Our admin executive who had some knowledge of Photoshop from her previous job had come up with something together with our marketing and business development colleagues who surfed the web for designs and with help from our IT executive on the technical issues.

4. Describe your typical day?
There is never a typical or a boring day working in Apex-Pal! Not only are we constantly expanding, we are also continuously innovating new concepts in outlets, be it in Senjyu Sushi, Sakae Izakaya, Sakae Teppanyaki, as well as creating new customer dining experience. For example, Sakae Sushi is becoming very popular amongst parents who demand healthier choice for their children. In line with that, Sakae Sushi will be the first restaurant in South East Asia that will introduce a two-tier kiddy conveyor belt. This kid’s friendly two tier conveyor belt will carry a full range of colourful, cute and interesting kids’ sushi items such as bunny, candy or donut sushi placed within easy reach for children.
(*Apex-Pal is the parent company for Sakae Sushi, and other outlets; Senjyu Sushi, Sakae Izakaya, Sakae Teppanyaki)

5. What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
One thing I believe I could do better is in striking a better work-life balance. I enjoy my work so much that I do not really consider it as work. However, it would be good for me to be able to spend more time with my family and friends.

6. What three pieces of advice would you give the BestFoodJunction.com readers who want to become leaders?
• Age and experience does not matter as much. The right attitude is critical.
• Always be open to new ideas. Listen to the team/customers. Being at the top doesn’t make you always right and it is alright not to be always right.
• Never say die!

7. Is there any pattern to be a successful leader?
Nope – if only life could be so straightforward! I’d better say no else that would put all the authors of books on leadership out of job and we wouldn’t want to be adding to the unemployment rate at this point of time.

8. Who has been your greatest inspiration?
Ray Kroc.

Chef Sunisa was born Surat Thani, southern provinces of Thailand and was a graduate in Business Computing from Bangkok University, Thailand. She began her culinary journey from being a part time waitress in a restaurant to be the commis chef.

1. What ignited the spark in you to become a chef?
Chef Orathai: Since young, I have developed both the passion in cooking and eating. And from there, it had shaped me to become a chef.

Chef Susila: I was a business computing student during my university days, and I wasn’t thinking about becoming a chef at all. Similarly like Chef Orathai, I enjoyed cooking as well. I guessed that, my opportunity for me to be here in Malaysia in a way made me a chef.

2. What were the biggest challenges when you were starting as a chef?
Chef Orathai: I would be very nervous and worried when there were big functions. I was afraid that I am incapable to handle
such burden as well as the pressure. Learning from that, I have to be alert and conduct planning when there are big functions approaching. Taking proactive steps are indeed crucial to prevent unwanted circumstances such as the delay in the food serving, food getting cold, and bad food presentation. Besides that, when I first started as a newbie in this line, I had to be brave to deal with customers’ never ending comments.

Chef Susila: To me, I felt that dealing with the difficult and hard to please customers were the toughest when I first started. But then, I have realised that their comments and criticisms were important for me to improve in my cooking skills.

3. What is the best part of being chef and also a master at your own flair?
Chef Orathai: Aha… cooking makes me happy! It makes me feel good as I am able to visualise that my dream to own a restaurant is getting nearer and nearer.

Chef Susila: It is also my ambition to own a restaurant one day. Being a chef is a part of my journey to realise my ambition. It’s fun and challenging!

4. Describe/outline your typical day?
Chef Orathai: At a normal typical day, both of us would have similar tasks. We have to do some planning on the kitchen operations, a bit of paperwork, checking the food items and monitoring the supplies.

Chef Susila: We spend most of our day in the kitchen, and making sure that everything is in order.

5. What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
Chef Orathai: Previously, I owned a restaurant in Hartamas. I had to hands on in costing, staffing, marketing, maintenance, purchasing, and cooking! However, I could not sustain the business due to my lacking of knowledge and experience in running a restaurant. Sad to say, I had to close it down. Learning from this painful experience, I strongly believed that in order to pursue something, we should equipped ourselves with the relevant knowledge and be brave.

Chef Susila: Communicating is one of my greatest problems. Being a Thai, I find it difficult to communicate with my other colleagues from India and Myanmar due to my weak proficiency in the English language. I hope that I can improve and have a better understanding in this language so that I will not face any communication barrier in the future. As you see, a good communication in the kitchen is important to prevent confusion and a bad reputation in the name of the food.

6. What three pieces of advice would you give to the BestFoodJunction.com readers who want to become chefs?
Chef Orathai: First, you will have to be tough when dealing with criticisms and comments. Second, you should have an
open mind to ideas. Third, study and practise on new recipes and cooking techniques for self –improvement.

Chef Susila: First, you should develop the love and passion for cooking from the bottom of your heart. Second, you should
provide support and care to your colleagues and your staffs. And finally, concentrate on the food and care for your customers.

7. Is there any pattern to be a successful chef?
Chef Orathai: Make sure that you have a strong knowledge base.

Chef Susila: And appreciate your customers!

8. Who has been your greatest inspiration?
Chef Orathai: I am thankful to my sifus for their guidance, support and equipped me with the knowledge to master cooking techniques.

Chef Susila: Customers are my greatest inspiration, and also my sifu. They have guided me to become a better chef through their comments and criticism.

Pn. Zainab’ started her first “The Zee’s- Special Steak” in Subang Jaya back in 1996 which was officiated by the then Minister of Enterpreneur Development, Dato Mustapa Mohamad. Eventually, her long entrepreneurial road gave birth to Kelantan Delights at KLCC. Today, Pn. Zainab prides herself with her two signature dishes; Nasi Kerabu Ayam Percik and Nasi Dagang in her very own friendly Belanga at Gardens, Mid Valley City!

1. What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture or to make significant changes in an existing business? How did the idea for your business come about? My flare in cooking, creativity and passion for food are my main driver for me to be in this food business. I started to venture in the food business during my late 20s, with The Zee’s Special Steaks in Taipan as a statement of proof to the skeptics that I am able to do it. When I saw an opportunity in KLCC, I felt that there was a huge potential market for authentic Kelantanese culinary. From there, the concept of Kelantan Delights was born as a normal food court outlet and in a short period of time, it transformed into a full running restaurant occupying quite a good space in KLCC. Moving on from there, my passion for authentic Malay food triggered me to start Belanga.

2. What were the biggest challenges when you were starting as new entrepreneur?
Being a new entrepreneur, the competition was the main issue. To deal with it, I direct my full focus to the quality of the food, my secret recipe, the innovation of food concept, and the presentation. Besides that, customers were very important to me. I have to study them in order to meet their long listed needs.

3. What is the best part of being an entrepreneur?
I am very fortunate to be able to do something I enjoy; innovating new dining concepts, bringing in new and westernised Malay cuisine, understanding the customers, nurturing my Belanga to grow further. There was one time when a mat salleh took a video and snapshots of my restaurant and showered me with some encouraging compliments, and I felt very happy to be able to capture not only the Malaysian, but the foreigners as well. Right now, I am in the midst of conducting planning to expand my business via franchising as well as building a central kitchen. I would like to see myself to be person to help other new budding restaurant entrepreneur and guiding them to grow.

4. Describe your typical day?
Most important, I have to make sure that the team is functioning to my expectations every day. Besides, my typical day is all about conducting training, purchasing supplies, and making sure that the food is cooked according to the recipe. During certain time of the day, I conduct research and some paperwork to prepare for my expansion.

5. What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
During my earlier days at The Zee’s Special Steaks, I faced problems as I was lacking in knowledge in dealing with the Western culinary. Coupled with some funding problems, The Zee’s Special Steaks was brought to a halt. Besides, I was also unable to sustain the business for Kelantan Delights. Again, it had to close as well. These lousy experiences wrecked and shattered my courage to move on. However, being a strong person, I learnt to fight for my own rights and improving my knowledge through networking with people, openness for ideas, and persistence.

6. What three pieces of advice would you give the BestFoodJunction.com readers who want to become entrepreneurs?
• In business self-confidence is important. You should not be discouraged by listening to disheartening criticisms. Beat the criticisms by showing that, you are indeed the best!
• You have to improve on your past mistakes. And take your own pace to upgrade yourself.
• Be eager and humble to seek new knowledge, ideas and innovations in this fast paced in this modern world.

7. Is there any pattern to be a successful entrepreneur?
There’re no shortcuts to become a successful entrepreneur. Life is not a horizontal line… my life is filled with
many zany and valuable experiences. Hence, I always believed in hard work and persistence during the climates of obstacles and trials.

8. Who has been your greatest inspiration?
My children; they‘re always so inspiring and provide me continuous support throughout the events of my life. I am indeed very proud of them!

As quoted by The Sun Magazine on March 17th 1996 as “the best pastry girl in town and a flaming pastry queen”- only discovered her culinary ambitions and love for art later in life which she picked up as a hobby. She honed her cooking skills through trial and error and spends at least five hours a day in the kitchen both supervising and cooking. After four and a half year stint as a pastry chef at the famous Bon Ton restaurant, her fiery leonine influences began to stir. Confident of her skills, she quit her pastry chef post in the famous restaurant and did catering for a while to the US Embassy before she stumbled onto a lot like the old suburb of Sydney in a quiet Petaling Jaya suburb that shadowed by wise, old matured trees. The birth of beautiful suchan® deli took place in mid-April 1995.

1. What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture or to make significant changes in an existing business? How did the idea for your business come about?
A stagnant life has sparked in me to start a new business venture. I needed some changes to break the stagnancy and on top of that, my flare and innovativeness in pastry have motivated me to start on my own. Prior to that, I had developed and sharpened my skills at Bon Ton Restaurant for four and a half years.

2. What were the biggest challenges when you were starting as new entrepreneur?
During the starting point of being an entrepreneur, my biggest challenge was the need to multitask as well as being
an all rounded star. Coupled with sweat, blood and tears, that moment was the most difficult.

3. What is the best part of being an entrepreneur and also a master at your own flair?
The best part of being an entrepreneur is the fact that, I own a team of loyal true hearted staffs, and loyal clients. Apart from that, I am also glad that I could be a mentor to young and talented entrepreneurs especially the single mothers.

4. Describe your typical day?
My typical day starts at 5.00am every day. Being an early bird in the morning, I am able to use the time to browse the
internet for cooking resources and also to plan on recipes and other daily routines and fieldworks. And by 7 a.m., I will have
to send my kids to school. And the real thing begins, as I step into my outlets, overseeing the operations.

5. What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
I have encountered quite a number of failures throughout the years. To exemplify, a few of my outlets back in year 2001 have
been closed due to the economical setback (the outlets were in KLCC and in Subang Parade). Back then, I was struggling with
finance, the capital as well as the stalling economic condition around the globe. It was indeed a very difficult moment for me,
and yet, I moved on!

6. What three pieces of advice would you give the BestFoodJunction.com readers who want to become entrepreneurs?
For those out there who are interested and keen to become an entrepreneur like me, the three pieces of advises are;
firstly, you’ll have to develop patience, interest and passion in the industry. Secondly, you ought to have an openness
to listen to others, and thirdly, you should master the skill of easy to forgive in you.

7. Is there any pattern to be a successful entrepreneur?
I always believed in hard work in every aspect of life, and not neglecting the solid groundwork and the understanding of
the surrounding environment. I would also say that, one should be a wise risk taker and demonstrate willingness to learn at all times.

8. Who has been your greatest inspiration?
No one had really inspired me throughout my journey. I think that I have possessed a great deal of immunity to difficulties throughout my learning years and of course, in my life. My joy of fulfilling my social responsibility by helping the misfortunate families had continuously encouraged me to persist onto my life and work.