YouSaid · the spoken record

Vivian Ku

lines on the record: 23
first: 2021-03-25
most recent: 2021-03-25
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Yeah, no, I've been so appreciative of everyone who's trusted me to make these calls along the way. You know, a lot of, I think the team just really showed up and I think it was important that I was able to make sure that they felt that I had their best interest. One takeaway is that, you know, it has to make sense for everyone. A business I think is good so long as everyone who is helping it grow benefits. You know, for me, it's making sure that we grow in a way, you know, or are on a trajectory in which we sort of live up to that. I like knew that going in, right? Like everyone knows back of house is important, front of house is important. Everyone on the team is important. I really couldn't have made it through alone. And it's a team endeavor.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We actually have not focused a ton on that during this pandemic, probably as much as we should have. I think when the pandemic happened, when we came back towards the end of May, we changed our point of sale system to make it more contactless and also just a better system overall. So that was helpful. And then we got on a lot of different delivery platforms because we're like, okay, well, let's take out and delivery now. But other than that, I think so much of it has so much of my energy has been on like what's the best thing to do next and like keeping the morale of the team going trying to make it through. It was kind of like, you know, as long as we make it through and we have most of the team intact, especially like have them, it's okay, I think if we're all a little bit physically tired, but not be also mentally drained. So, you know, trying to keep everyone spirits in.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think a lot of people have endured this pandemic, right? So there's the fact that you can make it through and don't start something kind of, you're almost more confident going into it because you've seen yourself go through something difficult. I think it'll come back. And I think maybe this is too optimistic, but people have been really creative in their homes and like, so I've spoken to several people who are starting concepts. So I'm hopeful.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I mean, my hope is that the restaurants act will help a lot of people who had lost their opportunities during this time or really struggled, especially those in fine dining. My hope is that they'll be able to come back because I think, once again, we would have had a much harder time had we been in that space. And a lot of the places that were more well managed, more loved, had better teams, maybe better food, and all those things. And so my hope is that they get to come back. Yeah, I think, you know, sometimes in the event that they don't get to come back, my hope is that there will be a new generation of restaurants that will pop up from this. I think sadly there might be a lot of inventory available on the market. So it is a good time to start a place. And I think, you know, you kind of”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And then at night the space is available. If anyone on our team wanted to do a pop-up, that would be a really good opportunity. We really wanted to pursue this because there's just so much potential. We're not really sure what it is yet, but it's like we can put our heads together and think of creative things that we can do to make things work.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I mean, there's pros and cons to having it be a pop up. I think it's definitely not profitable on running breakfast alone, so we'll have to figure out something there in the longer term. And I do think, especially during the pandemic, a lot of people have been very entrepreneurial and like cooking out of their homes and sharing pop-up kitchens. And I think those kitchens were already part of the industry before this happened. And I think we'll be a bigger part of the industry. I'm not as interested in ghost kitchens because you lose so much of the things that drew me to the hospitality industry in the first place. But it's true. We were thinking, you know, if we did breakfast in the morning.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It kind of allowed us to really keep our entire team, promote people who we had planned on promoting also there's a lot of benefits to having a bigger team at a separate location. So coverage if we needed was a little bit easier. It had a lot of value for us to try to just be in that space. And then I think once things calm down a little bit, we still have a lot of work to do there because we will have to build out the space and think about how to be there in a more sustainable manner.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So we took a break for two months, but when we came back, you know, and I was able to talk to the landlord and be like, look, can we try like a month-to-month situation? There's a lot of downsides to opening during a pandemic, but there's a lot of upsides too. You know, because no one came inside, we can kind of just, you know, we just scrub down the space, put some old and new pieces of equipment together, and got to start up rather quickly. Quicker than we normally would have been able to. And then I think people were also very understanding given it was a pop-up and a pandemic.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I think you know when you look at it, it seems like we've expanded during the pandemic. But we did sort of downscale from our original plans. February 2020 was a super exciting time for us. You know, I had finished signing a lease that I had personally guaranteed. And then we were in the middle of this lease for Chinatown that is today starts here. We're almost done. And I was looking at a different spot and we had a week where we were like, oh my goodness, this is so exciting. We'll be working on maybe as many as five projects by the end of the year. And then the pandemic hit and then, you know, immediately was like, well, let's Push all of that away, but you know, we had already started the conversation on our team. And we've already had those conversations. And who would we move to Chinatown to run this project?”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“But everyone is so tired. Everyone's running out of steam. And it's been over a year. And we haven't really, you know, you just keep going and there haven't been opportunities to recover. You know, everyone will need a really good vacation, but my hope is that we just push through. And as things open up, we don't have, we're holding off on indoor dining.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“On site every single week, and decide, you know, there was not really a lot of guidance. So every single time we would have to come together and sort of check in with everyone on the team and see where they were at and decide, you know, what was the best thing for everyone involved so the entire team. The restaurant, you know, we try to be open for the community as well. But it was a lot of coming together over and over again, being like, what is the best decision now? What is the best decision now? And then now as we're opening back up, I think everyone has a little bit of concrete hope, especially because most of our team have had their first vaccination shot.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We've had a lot of ups and downs at the beginning of the pandemic when we had closed and I had especially banked on a PPP loan that turned out like I didn't make it the first round. So I was super worried and I think it's not lost on me that had we been in fine dining or had we been a bar, our journey so far would have been many times more difficult. And I think a lot of that just comes down to luck. You know, we happen to be in a segment of the industry that's a little bit more price point friendly, a little bit more takeout friendly. So it's been a lot of ups and downs. You know, we closed for roughly two months and then we came back. And when we first came back, it was actually great. A lot of people showed up and really generous with gratuity and the team was doing well. And then we started to navigate into this period of time when we started to have a lot of cases of COVID all around us. So then we had to start getting tested.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And then I think it's regret minimization. I was literally thinking about it and I said, I think I would cringe slightly every single time I step foot inside a restaurant. And then she was like, okay, well, then you have to do it. So for me, it's kind of, you know, and then once you sign the lease, you know, sometimes it's just like that one thing to get through. And it's too late to back out. And then you just pretty much have to focus on, okay, well, how am I going to make it successful? So it's sometimes just that little push.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Fear of failure was huge. You know, I convinced my parents to let me go to culinary school. I'm so grateful to them, but, you know, they actually said, you know, we will support you in this endeavor. And, you know, I had borrowed money from my parents, my aunts, my boyfriend at the time who's now my husband. And, you know, I borrowed this money and I was ready to go. And, you know, it was about time to sign the lease. And at that time, I was like, not sleeping well. I had lost some weight and just was very shaky. And my mom was pretty much just like, okay, well, what happens if you don't do this?”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I would get first place, and then I was like the best, and his eyes still. But I think he was someone who thought like you didn't need to be first place in life to be someone admirable and that there's like so much more to a person than just getting first place.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I think that message was really powerful to me at a young age because I think, you know, it sort of gave me the first hint where it's like, you know, the things society value are sometimes not necessarily correct. And that if I were stuck in a situation, it's my response to it that truly mattered. I remember a time when I don't know, got second place in a math competition or something and, you know, was a little bit grumpy. And, you know, my grandfather was like, okay, what's going on? And I was like, oh, I got second place. I thought I would have gotten first. And his response was like, oh, first place is for losers anyways. And like. It's not a very grandfatherly response, I think, and not what you would expect.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“A little bit sure, you know, I originally went into the industry because some of the very basic reasons like everyone else, like I loved food, I loved going out to eat. I loved creating something. I loved how people are generally very happy when you feed them. And I was like, that's a good way to make a living. I didn't get as much of that, I think, as a lot of think Asian American kids especially got. My grandfather was one of my favorite humans ever. He was just had so much oomph and was a very principled person. And I remember from a very early age, you know, he would say something like along the lines of, you know, there are no inferior jobs, only inferior people. It doesn't matter what you do. It's how you do it.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We actually moved to Bakersfield for that reason. So when I was around five or six, my dad decided to buy a farm and we all moved over. And the earlier is, especially when he was growing all sorts of stuff, that was when I was a lot younger. So a lot of memories are planting seeds and like harvesting and playing with plants and things like that was really nice. But then, you know, school started. And then I became probably less and less involved over time, but I also started to sort of, I think, grow up and kind of see like, oh, this is a really hard industry. And like my parents would have to try and there were, you know, definitely rough years in there. I think ultimately, you know, they ran a small business. A lot of people in my family own small businesses, not necessarily in food. And I did like how, you know, even in a moment of difficulty, they ultimately got to decide what was the best response. But yeah, I grew up in Bakersfield.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Like for Micelli made from rice instead of noodles made from wheat. Taiwanese food just has a lot of different influences because you have the Aborigines, you have migrations from China in earlier years. You have the Japanese occupation for 50 years where they thought they would have the island forever. And then you have two million people from all over China, such a large landmass kind of gather together onto this island and all become neighbors with one another. So I think it makes for a very interesting culinary melting pot.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Heinen Crane, you know, it has a very heavy northern Chinese influence on the menu because you have my maternal side, they went from mainland China to Taiwan in 1949 when there was a civil war. And they came from this region where they ate a lot of wheat because wheat was the main agricultural product. So a lot of like dumpling buns, pot stickers, and my grandmother would always joke about how they would move over to Taiwan and then all of a sudden they were neighbors with native Taiwanese and how all the neighbors would kind of want to come over and learn like how to make these things because it was more of a rice-based diet.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I knew I wanted to open a restaurant and it didn't have to be necessarily Taiwanese food. I just really liked the idea of creating a place and having people come together. I like the energy of a restaurant and I like the idea of running a restaurant. But Taiwanese food made a lot of sense because, you know, ultimately it's the food that I hold most near and dear my heart. And then also I felt like it was very underrepresented at the time, but had so much to offer. You know, I always like to say that Taiwanese food is organically designed to appeal to the masses because of the way, you know, history and migration with all food kind of like shaped its culinary history and where it's going. It just made a lot of sense to me to share something that I'm from. And then also it was something that, you know, could be shared with more people.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We've come so far. And then yesterday was like, that is completely the opposite. And it's just a few bad actors that make the whole thing seem extra, extra bad. I do believe that humans are good and that that's not representative of the whole entire picture. And I think hopefully we'll be better allies for one another. I know during the summer when BLM was going on, you know, I think a lot of kids my generation had to explain to our parents and aunts and uncles what it was all about. And I think this will all band all of us together and hopefully also realize that, you know, we all have a role to play here. And whether it's more people feeling like they need to enter into their local politics or be involved, I think, you know, but it's really hard to make sense of it.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I always, when I hit something I don't understand, try to process it in a way where there's a silver lining and I really had a hard time yesterday. I was like, there is no silver lining here. You know, I couldn't really make sense of it. It felt like in a lot of ways we were going backwards, like worse than when I was growing up. And part of the reason why I wanted to share Taiwanese food because it's part of my culture. you know, having it shared with a wider audience, I think it's really there's something I really enjoy out of having people kind of be more open-minded or learn something about someone's culture just because they wanted a great bite to eat. I think it's such a human thing. And that's been a lot of the joy of running the restaurant. I remember seeing this like white nine-year-old boy come in to order would your mushroom salad to bring to his classroom. And it was his birthday. And I was like, I was trying to bring in cupcakes to fit in.”
2021-03-25 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · How I Built Resilience: Vivian Ku, Restaurateur · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT