May 24, 2020
Located in Amata City, The Amatatian Resterland is not only known for its flavor and excellent atmosphere in Amata City, but also has an interesting story behind the happiness in its meals and that’s taking learning every aspect of the restaurant business seriously. It started with Mr. Phairat “Klong” and Mrs. Suphamat “Pik” Khongwiwatthanakun’s obsession with food.
On this occasion, we’re going to take you behind the scenes of the box of happiness and the preparation for the post-Covid-19 situation, which Mrs. Pik says will see the arrival of something new.
- Open the Box of Happiness
- Running a Good Restaurant Is Not Easy…But You Can Learn
- The Idea of Cutting Cost by Sorting Waste
- Menu of Happiness and Return After Covid-19
- Same Deliciousness with the Addition of Hygiene Maintenance Measures
Open the Box of Happiness
Mrs. Pik intended for this restaurant to be a destination for foodies and for locals to spend time with their families and relax from work.
She also recognizes the potential of this location in an expanding city as well as opportunities for restaurant businesses. In addition, most restaurants are in Mueang Chonburi or around Bang Saen and Ang Sila. If there was a restaurant here, customers wouldn’t have to get stuck in traffic or waste time commuting. This restaurant could support the guests and friends of people working in Amata City.
As for the restaurant’s concept, Mrs. Pik did her research and carefully set her target so she could manage the restaurant to meet as many of her target group’s needs as possible. Moreover, it’s a good start for a business to look for the essential needs of its target group.
“The Amatatian Resterland’s concept came from my research which told me that most of my customers were going to be men. So, I set my target group which supports executives, engineers and the higher-ranking factory employees in Amata City. That’s why the restaurant is decorated with Art Deco which shows the strength of steel and the shine of mirrors. If Art Deco is masculine, then Art Nouveau is feminine. The lines of the steel are graceful,” Mrs. Pik said of the Amatatian Resterland’s concept.
“I also researched the population of Amata City. I found out the population is about 1.8 hundred thousand. If I counted only executives who make up 20% of the population, it’d be about 36 thousand people. If you ask me who’d be our customers other than the people in Amata City, there are also some communities with enough potential customers. With this info, we can start to see the total number of our customers.”
Running a Good Restaurant Is Not Easy…But You Can Learn
After deciding to open The Amatatian Resterland, even with business experience, when switching to the restaurant business field, it seems like a new door opens with many new things to learn.
“We were new at it, so everything was hard. We used to manage another business with over 100 employees in the factory, but when we switched to the restaurant, it was a whole new world. There were, so many tiny details about managing the people and operations in the kitchen, at the front and at the back, which were different. We had to manage all those details ourselves. If you ask me, having passion alone isn’t enough. You also need knowledge.”
When he had to open a restaurant as a business, Mr. Klong increased his knowledge by taking standard cooking classes. As for Mrs. Pik, she studied restaurant management. When they started their first courses, they also started the construction of The Amatatian Resterland and immediately encountered their first test when the restaurant’s plan had to be altered on the original structure.
“We used an architect who specialized in designing houses to design our restaurant. We couldn’t continue because the functions were all wrong and it was disproportionate. So, we had to redesign everything, from what to sell to what percentage of our menu Thai food was going to make up, before we knew how to design the kitchen to suit our needs.”
“We used an architect who specialized in designing houses to design our restaurant. We couldn’t continue because the functions were all wrong and it was disproportionate. So, we had to redesign everything, from what to sell to what percentage of our menu Thai food was going to make up, before we knew how to design the kitchen to suit our needs.”
“We only realized it when we learned that a good kitchen is not a big kitchen. A good kitchen is a kitchen where one chef can just stand there and be able to do everything. The chef has to be able to turn from the stove to the counter and add everything to the pan without wasting the time and energy to walk. We only just learned that. In the end, we had to dismantle our design, but fortunately only very little had to be torn down.”
The Idea of Cutting Cost by Sorting Waste
Reducing waste is another concept Mrs. Pik learned and it helps her manage the restaurant better.
“We had to take out 10 – 12 bags of trash per day because our restaurant’s menu requires a lot of coconuts. This was tossed in along with tissue paper and fresh and dry food scraps. Everything was tossed in. So, when the bags got heavy, we couldn’t put a lot in and the bags would tear. We were shocked at why we’d run out of bags even though we’d just bought them. We sat down and calculated that in a year we would end up losing up to ten thousand in the cost of black trash bags. When we started to seriously sort the waste, we dropped down to only less than 2 bags per day. And, when we sorted the waste, we learned it could help us check the stock. Before, we tossed everything together and sauce cups, spoons and forks would be lost along with the food scraps.”
“Reducing cost is like gaining from waste reduction. You know where you shouldn’t waste. For example, pineapple baked rice. Sometimes, we have a lot of pineapple left over, so we use it make another dish. It’s another way for our restaurant to benefit and generate income.”
Reducing waste doesn’t just mean recycling, sorting or managing waste so it doesn’t become a pollution, but also how to create as little waste as possible. If your restaurant can reduce waste, it means you can also reduce the cost.
Menu of Happiness and Return after Covid-19
When asked about what changes will be made for after the Covid-19 situation is over, Mrs. Pik’s answer really impressed us because she believes the restaurant needs something new so customers can feel like they’ve come back for something more.
“Right now, we’re trying a lot of things. For example, we’ve created another brand, Madame Pik, which offers a menu with more affordable prices and dishes you can’t find in the restaurant. We’ve even prepared a whole menu for when this situation is over. When the customers come back, they’re going to see many new things here.”
Furthermore, Mrs. Pik shared how they’re going to handle the new consumer behavior after the Covid-19 situation is over.
“Our service needs to be good. We usually already pay attention to this, but after Covid-19, people will change their habits. They’ll stay home and order food deliveries more because they’re already used to it. We’re a restaurant with a storefront, which will still be our main service. We have to adapt it into a new experience that customers just can’t find at home. That means our service needs to be very impressive. When they come here to dine, they have to receive an impressive service throughout their meal. This kind of service might not be possible with a delivery. The restaurant needs to provide more.”
As for The Amatatian Resterland’s menu, the signature dish is still here as always to welcome customers. We recommend tasting the pasta-fish roe mix with marinated seaweed. You’ll find a chewy texture from three kinds of roe, shrimp, codfish and flying fish, mixed with seaweed. The noodles are slightly undercooked to give you the chewiness with a hint of spiciness from dried chili.
In addition, the Thai menu includes pineapple baked rice, saeng wa khai hong, kaeng khua bai chaphlu khanom chin, Thai steamed seafood curry in young coconut and khao maeo. Khao maeo is rice mixed with short mackerel. Butterfly pea water is used to cook the rice to give it an attractive color and fragrance.
Western cuisine includes steaks made from imported premium beef such as Saga-gyu (Kuroge Wagyu) from Japan, beef tenderloin from Australia and US Prime beef from the United States.
Same Deliciousness with the Addition of Hygiene Maintenance Measures
Of course, when we open the restaurant again our hygiene maintenance measures need to be re-organized. The Amatatian Resterland has created strict new rules and has notified our customers via our Facebook fan page to request their cooperation and tune their expectations before coming back to use our services.
– We will check the temperature of every customer before they enter.
– Before entering the restaurant, customers will be asked to sanitize their hands with alcohol provided by the restaurant at the entrance.
– The restaurant’s tables will be spaced 1.5 meters apart.
– Customers will be asked to wear masks while waiting for their food to arrive.
– Alcoholic beverages will not be offered inside the restaurant, except for buying to take home during legally permitted hours.
– After every service break, the air conditioners will be turned off and the doors will be opened to air out the restaurant and tables, chairs and surfaces will be cleaned with disinfectants and food grade disinfectants will be sprayed.
– Contacted surfaces, such as door knobs and handles and others, will be cleaned every hour.
– After every use by a customer, the restaurant will clean the table and chair with disinfectants.
– The restaurant will open at certain hours.
The coffee shop will open from 10.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.
The restaurant will open from 11.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
– Before entering the restaurant, customers will be asked to sanitize their hands with alcohol provided by the restaurant at the entrance.
– The restaurant’s tables will be spaced 1.5 meters apart.
– Customers will be asked to wear masks while waiting for their food to arrive.
– Alcoholic beverages will not be offered inside the restaurant, except for buying to take home during legally permitted hours.
– After every service break, the air conditioners will be turned off and the doors will be opened to air out the restaurant and tables, chairs and surfaces will be cleaned with disinfectants and food grade disinfectants will be sprayed.
– Contacted surfaces, such as door knobs and handles and others, will be cleaned every hour.
– After every use by a customer, the restaurant will clean the table and chair with disinfectants.
– The restaurant will open at certain hours.
The coffee shop will open from 10.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m.
The restaurant will open from 11.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
In addition, since the tables are spaced 1.5 meters apart, the seating capacity is reduced. The restaurant has asked customers to reserve tables in advance and, although The Amatatian Resterland is once again offering storefront services, delivery services are still offered.
