Foodie Canteen

Roy Chiew is the co-founder of Adelphi Collective, an F&B group based in Sabah. In this week’s podcast, he talks about bringing the food industry forward in Kota Kinabalu with experimental cuisines, closing down Adelphi & Co., the food culture in Sabah, building a team of leaders and more. “You might start a business without too much certainty, but as long your team has what it takes to fix the problem, you’re all set.” - Roy Chiew Timestamps: 00:00 - Guest introduction 03:07 - Born & raised in Tawau 05:25 - What you must eat when visiting Sabah 08:54 - “Good enough to graduate” 15:51 - Making decisions and living with it 20:02 - Managing my family business and starting F&B restaurants 21:17 - My “Enlightening Food Trip” to Australia 27:40 - Running the "people business" 32:33 - Bringing KK's food industry forward with Adelphi & Co. 43:22 - Having what it takes to improve along the way 47:10 - How do you know it’s time to close a chapter? 54:35 - Sabah’s food culture 59:22 - Entrepreneurs in Sabah 1:02:10 - My beliefs in life and business 1:05:07 - Advice for people starting their business * Watch on YouTube. [https://youtu.be/XGmK1dRTd_o] * Read our articles [https://klfoodie.com/]. * Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/foodie.canteen/] for more. * Business enquiries or collaborations - hellofoodiecanteen@gmail.com [https://hellofoodiecanteen@gmail.com/].

Laksa is one of the must-try street food in Penang, Malaysia. Christine Ooi found a gap in the market as the mother of two boys who finds it hard to enjoy a bowl of Laksa by the street. Thus the birth of Laksalicious, where she takes iconic street food, Assam Laksa and Nyonya Lemak Laksa and serves them in a comfortable restaurant setting. During the podcast, she shares her thoughts on Penang’s hawker culture and how they use a 40-year-old Laksa recipe from housewives in Perak to share this street food goodness. “We are happy with just one outlet. As a mother of two boys, I like to spend more time with my family.” - Christine Ooi Timestamps: 00:00 - Guest Introduction 00:50 - Growing up around fishing villages 02:15 - Must-try food in Penang 04:32 - Penang’s hawker culture 06:33 - Lessons I’ve learned starting Moustache House Cafe 09:06 - When do you know it’s time to close down the business? 10:46 - Starting Laksalicious 12:15 - Taking street food into a restaurant setting 13:27 - Branding Laksalicious 15:13 - Sourcing our Laksa from Perak 19:00 - Different types of laksa in Malaysia 20:00 - The most important ingredient in a bowl of laksa 20:55 - Coping with the pandemic as a small business 22:53 - Being content with one outlet after 7 years * Read our articles [https://klfoodie.com/]. * Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/foodie.canteen/] for more. * Business enquiries or collaborations - hellofoodiecanteen@gmail.com [https://hellofoodiecanteen@gmail.com/].

Born in Sitiawan, raised in Johor, Diana Chan is a Malaysian entrepreneur currently residing in Melbourne, Australia. Having worked as a senior analyst at Deloitte, her life took a turn when she won MasterChef Australia 2017 which then led to her travelling around the world for various cooking appearances. In this episode, she shares what it’s like cooking on national TV, stepping into your ‘genius zone’ and tips on becoming a highly effective communicator. “Winning MasterChef Australia is a bonus. What you do with it, how you maintain and grow from that is entirely up to you.” - Diana Chan Timestamps: 00:00 - Life post lockdown 02:04 - Who’s Diana Chan? 02:49 - Growing up in Johor, Malaysia 04:49 - My ambitions as a child 06:32 - Migrating to Melbourne, Australia 07:12- First job out of university 08:55 - How did I get into MasterChef Australia? 10:18 - It all started with peeling taugeh (beansprouts) in the kitchen 11:30 - How I picked up my cooking skills 12:42 - The pressure to perform on national TV 15:51 - Quitting my job at Deloitte and travelling the world 17:11 - Opportunities that came with the new title 18:28 - Accounting to entrepreneurship 19:27 - Stepping into your zone of genius 23:14 - Maintaining longevity and branding yourself 24:08 - Dinner party hacks 26:39 - How to communicate in a way that people gravitate towards you * Watch on YouTube. [https://youtu.be/VshM9Sz7LLU] * Read our articles [https://klfoodie.com/]. * Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/foodie.canteen/] for more. * Business enquiries or collaborations - hellofoodiecanteen@gmail.com [https://hellofoodiecanteen@gmail.com/].

John Lim is one of the few executive chefs in Sarawak that goes foraging in the forest for native ingredients and experiments with them in Roots, a casual-dining restaurant in Kuching, known for their creative and remarkable dishes. In this episode, Chef John teaches us how to make the perfect paella and shares the story of how his bond with the Bidayuh and Iban tribes through his foraging trips inspired his cooking. “I do not want to cook just for the sake of cooking, but I want to cook because I want to understand [the culture] a little bit more.” - John Lim Timestamps: 00:00 - Guest Introduction 01:08 - Life in Sarawak 02:37 - Local foods you should try in Sarawak 04:44 - Experiences & lessons in big cities 07:28 - Being an executive chef for Food Journal 08:13 - Foraging trips to the forest 11:45 - Never-before-seen ingredients from foraging trips 13:49 - Exploring native ingredients & throwing backyard dinner parties with the Bidayuh and Iban groups 16:28 - Using humble ingredients and the tri-flavours cooking method at Roots 20:07 - Eggplant is UH-MAZING 22:46 - How to make the perfect paella 27:35 - His cooking philosophy 27:51 - Sustainability in cooking: Check your rubbish bin 31:40 - Is a chef’s life glamorous? 34:55 - Challenges as an executive chef managing 5 restaurants 36:09 - The growing market for fine dining in Sarawak 37:50 - Most important skill for a chef: journaling 40:10 - Our Saturday night creativity project * Watch on YouTube. [https://youtu.be/CjKQOeN_y-o] * Read our articles [https://klfoodie.com/]. * Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/foodie.canteen/] for more. * Business enquiries or collaborations - hellofoodiecanteen@gmail.com [https://hellofoodiecanteen@gmail.com/].

Vuitton Pang is widely known as the 3rd generation successor of Mamee Double-Decker snack empire - the addictive barbecue snack with a blue furry monster most Malaysians grew up with. In this episode, Vuitton brought us back to the early days when he’d go knocking on doors as the “Mamee Boy” in Australia, opens up about handling family expectations and shares a thing or two about the local convenience store scene and what is it really like bringing a huge franchise like emart24 into Malaysia. “A lot of people think we are so lucky to have this safety net. But along with the privilege comes great expectations.” - Vuitton Pang Timestamps: 00:00 - Guest Introduction 01:18 - Growing up in Melaka and attending public schools 04:00 - “Gems will not stay hidden for too long in Melaka.” 05:18 - My first exposure to business 06:23 - On handling family expectations 08:55 - Melaka to Melbourne 09:36 - “Mamee Boy” knocking on doors in Victoria to working for OSK Investment Bank 11:00 - Bringing emart24 to the Malaysians 12:12 - Transitioning from Food Manufacturing to Retail 13:40 - How to find the perfect location for your business 14:55 - Creating loyalty among Millennials & Gen Zs 17:38 - A day in the life of Vuitton Pang 19:02 - Local convenience store scene in Malaysia 20:51 - Changing Malaysians’ shopping habits at conveniences store with innovation 22:28 - Gone were the Apollo chocolate wafer days? 24:10 - Values I’ve learned from the Mamee days 26:00 - Bringing a franchise into Malaysia 27:13 - emart24 to launch 300 stores in 5 years - What are the challenges? 28:36 - Advice for listeners who are looking to bring in brands from other countries * Watch on YouTube. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt-WTLe4IX8] * Read our articles [https://klfoodie.com/]. * Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/foodie.canteen/] for more. * Business enquiries or collaborations - hellofoodiecanteen@gmail.com [https://hellofoodiecanteen@gmail.com/].