CHENNAI, 27 MARCH, 2011: For a former Malaysian air stewardess, the sky's the limit, even when she ventures into the food business in a totally alien and competitive place like South India.Chong Bee Bee, from Sungai Petani, Kedah, has to thank her grandma for the invaluable cooking tips.Like the Singapore Airlines aircraft she had served for decades, the enterprising woman's 'Bee's Kopitiam' outlet is also soaring in its business. It is located in the spartan Express Avenue Mall in Chennai.
'Aunty Bee', as she is popularly known among her customers, has even proved management gurus wrong that a university degree or plenty of funds was needed to build lofty dreams."It's a dream come true. I was planning for the last 10 years. I wanted to start a simple concept of one-dish meal and I chose Chennai because most people speak English and the people are friendly, too," the 39-year-old self-made entreprneur told Bernama in a recent interview.
After serving the airlines, she quit her job, set up a family and later moved to Chennai, with her French husband, an IT consultant, where she did some home catering before braving into the food business.Last June, she finally broke into the competitive food industry, opening an outlet selling Malaysian cuisines in Chennai, a hotbed for spicy south Indian dishes.
At her cosy Kopitiam located in the food court, inside the mall, Bee serves an array of Malaysian flavours to local Indians, foreigners and Malaysians living in the bustling Chennai, where there is a growing taste for exotic delicacies.Customers are spoilt for choice. They could pick any mouth-watering dish from her menu -- 'char kuey teow', chicken rice, rending, roti canai and mee goreng -- all freshly-cooked and served hot in a traditional Malaysian style.
"I have about 16 main course recipes on the menu. I don't Indianise the food, I try to maintain the originality. Indians are getting accustomed to Malaysian food," she noted.Backed by a nine-staff team, all locals, Bee operates her Kopitiam for 12 gruelling hours daily, competing with sumptuous local Indians dishes, Thai and western foods, all sold in the food court.
"My rendang sells like hot cakes and my satay is also a best selling product. On Thursdays and Fridays, I serve Singapore chilli crabs."My idea is to cater to people who appreciate my food. Now, I have my regular customers and I don't face competition here," she added.With her hospitality industry skills, Bee's next ambitious aim is to open a French-Oriental restaurant in India, her "old age plan" as the mother of two teenage daughters puts it.
Source - Bernama
'Aunty Bee', as she is popularly known among her customers, has even proved management gurus wrong that a university degree or plenty of funds was needed to build lofty dreams."It's a dream come true. I was planning for the last 10 years. I wanted to start a simple concept of one-dish meal and I chose Chennai because most people speak English and the people are friendly, too," the 39-year-old self-made entreprneur told Bernama in a recent interview.
After serving the airlines, she quit her job, set up a family and later moved to Chennai, with her French husband, an IT consultant, where she did some home catering before braving into the food business.Last June, she finally broke into the competitive food industry, opening an outlet selling Malaysian cuisines in Chennai, a hotbed for spicy south Indian dishes.
At her cosy Kopitiam located in the food court, inside the mall, Bee serves an array of Malaysian flavours to local Indians, foreigners and Malaysians living in the bustling Chennai, where there is a growing taste for exotic delicacies.Customers are spoilt for choice. They could pick any mouth-watering dish from her menu -- 'char kuey teow', chicken rice, rending, roti canai and mee goreng -- all freshly-cooked and served hot in a traditional Malaysian style.
"I have about 16 main course recipes on the menu. I don't Indianise the food, I try to maintain the originality. Indians are getting accustomed to Malaysian food," she noted.Backed by a nine-staff team, all locals, Bee operates her Kopitiam for 12 gruelling hours daily, competing with sumptuous local Indians dishes, Thai and western foods, all sold in the food court.
"My rendang sells like hot cakes and my satay is also a best selling product. On Thursdays and Fridays, I serve Singapore chilli crabs."My idea is to cater to people who appreciate my food. Now, I have my regular customers and I don't face competition here," she added.With her hospitality industry skills, Bee's next ambitious aim is to open a French-Oriental restaurant in India, her "old age plan" as the mother of two teenage daughters puts it.
Source - Bernama
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