It’s safe to say that we experienced an hour of revelations when we sat down to chat with Min Chan, owner-operator of Club Street Social and Pistola. Min has a good dose of no-nonsense to her, but she also isn’t afraid to have a good time – all while rolling up her sleeves and working as hard as her staff. From serendipitous beginnings to quick wit, a knack for business, and a whole lotta gems of advice (trust us, it’s good), Min spills the beans on what makes her do what she does.
We know you weren’t always in this line, so tell us how you got started in the F&B industry.
My first job out of college was with Raffles Hotel as a management trainee. That was a great two years – that job taught me everything I needed to know about running a business. I did everything from waitressing to manning the reception desk at the spa, and I guess that’s where I first started to realize that I enjoyed working in the F&B industry. I would finish a day shift at the spa and take a short break before waitressing at night – I didn’t have to, but I really wanted to.
After the then executive chef left for a stint in Macau, about half the team followed suit, which is how I found myself working in Macau in the hospitality industry. While I was there, Aun Koh approached me and asked if I wanted to head up their F&B Development team at Ate Consulting - and of course I jumped at the opportunity! So I returned to Singapore and got to work; the team slowly morphed into an events team as we realized the demand for luxury F&B driven events. I only really dived into the F&B industry when I decided to take my first real break from work.
And that’s how Club Street Social and Pistola came about?
At any one time, I have about six or seven concepts in my head, but everything is location-based – menu, license restrictions, crowd etc. Club Street Social happened very serendipitously. While on my 8 months off my job at Ate Consultancy, I spent a lot of time thinking about stuff and what was missing in my life. I also spent a lot of time hanging out in cafes doing all of that thinking, and I realized what I wanted was somewhere where I didn’t have to pay top dollar for an everyday coffee. So I spent 6 months putting Social together with friends, and that’s how it all started.
Pistola was, quite simply, an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. The space came up and it was one of those things that I knew I had to do. There were a lot of restrictions we had to work with – we’re not allowed to cook in there, for instance. So we had to come up with a concept that would work for the space, and that’s how everything came together.
What are your guiding philosophies of running a business?
I believe in simplicity. I’m not a fine dining person and I think that’s reflected in Social’s menu – we’re about soups, sandwiches, eggs, breakfasts. With that said, I also believe in exceeding expectations, so I like to think we’re taking simple things like soup and sandwiches and making them really frickin’ delicious.
Of course in Singapore you’re always constrained by price points, but I aim to demonstrate the value in simple food by elevating everyday food into something awesome, like doing scrambled eggs with fontina and chives or lobster sandwiches. I like that we do amazing food without the typical caviar truffle foie gras blah blah, as well as on the flip side, use great product like boston lobster and make it accessible.
We’ve heard a lot about your work ethic. What’s it really like owning a restaurant?
I think Singapore’s food scene has changed tremendously over the last few years. You used to have investors giving money to other people to run their restaurants, so you’d get establishments that didn’t seem to have a lot of pride in what they were doing. These days there are more owner-operators around, which is great because an owner-operator doesn’t jump pump funds into a business, they also get their hands dirty in the day-to-day tasks.
I always believe that if you’re not willing to do everything yourself, you shouldn’t expect your staff to do it. I’m very hands-on during service and I’ve even cleaned the toilet after someone’s been sick in it. That’s just what you have to do.
So what are your greatest takeaways as a boss? Any golden advice to give to all the bosses out there?
I share a really close relationship with my team and I think that’s really important; I never wanted to be the one person just sitting at the top.
As a boss I think it’s also essential to keep your staff happy – and often that means you need to respect their time and give them their time off work. I cannot emphasize how important it is to be flexible! My bartender is taking two weeks to head to New Orleans to hone her skills and tend bar there, and I think that’s great for her! I was more than happy to let her go.
You also need to take an interest in your business, whether it’s service or staff or your product. I love my team and at the end of the day not a single person is expendable, but if they were to up and leave tomorrow I could still run Social because I know everything inside out, from how the storeroom is organized to how every dish is made.
Let’s talk about some issues pertinent to the F&B industry. People talk about the differences between the food industry here and there (e.g. New York, Melbourne, Hong Kong etc.). What do you think some of these differences are?
I think the main difference is everyone’s attitude to working in this industry. Few people see it as a viable career choice here; working in this industry is something you do to earn a little cash on the side. But in New York a head waiter can earn over 100k in tips alone!
What seems to be really lacking here is a certain hunger to learn – and that’s because of how people view their “careers” in the industry. They’re not interested in learning and challenging themselves because they don’t see potential development down this route, so what you have is a very flat structure of people working the job.
The other hot topic right now is sustainability. So many new places are popping up in Singapore at the moment, but the real test is what comes after that wave of initial popularity and ‘new kid’ excitement. How is Social (who’s 1.5 years old) tackling this?
A big part of sustainability is adaptation. You might start your business out with a certain business model in mind, but a year down the road, that business model is no longer viable because it’s not realistic. We realized that 60-70% of our customers are actually locals, so we’re updating the menu to better cater to their palates. For instance, our cocktails used to be American classics – very masculine, plenty of liquor – but we’ve changed our menu to offer more fun, fruit-driven, easy to drink cocktails now.
And adaptation is more than just menu changes. It comes down to the little things like menu wording and price points. Instead of being a rigid programme that appeals to a specific set of people, we’re taking Social in a different direction.
What’s the hardest part of your job?
Definitely letting go and not being a control freak. I did so much for Social – the design, the menu, I even hand carried all these lamps! I have an amazing team but it was so hard for me to let go because everything in here is a reflection of me and what I believe in – the service style, the quality of food and drinks etc. It took me six months to take a day off.
Six months?! Tell us there’s an upside to this.
Well, I’ve forged great relationships in this place. Some of the closest friends I have now are people I would have never met if I didn’t set up Social. It’s a hard life and sometimes you do get overworked and burnt out, which is why it’s so crucial to have friends in the industry who really understand the problems of owning a restaurant or having a small business, and can offer you constructive help and the support you need.
Is there anything you would have done differently?
Ha! So this sounds terrible… but a very small part of me often wishes that I had milked my Ivy League college degree to make more money in my early career so I would be able to do more and own a larger share of Social now. I love my partners, but I wish I had known that funding would be this important to where I am right now!
Thanks for having us, Min!
All images taken by Dorottya Ács, a freelance photographer who specializes in event coverage and travel photography. For more info about her work, visit her website at www.seventeenphoto.com.
Club Street Social, 5 Gemmill Lane, Singapore 069261, p. 6225 5043.
Pistola, 93 Club Street, Singapore 069461, p. 6438 2185.
