Pinterest for the restaurant

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Howard

I’m back from a week in New Zealand and unsurprisingly the jet lag is wreaking havoc with my sleeping patterns. I’ve been seeing a lot of updates from Pinterest recently so I figured insomnia is the perfect reason to go explore another one of these social media internet 9.0 communication enhancer people connector type of tools. And I must say, it’s kind of fun!

Basically you create a board (imagine a corkboard) and when you find an interesting photo you “pin” it to your board along with a comment. It’s an easy way of sharing. When you see other people’s pins you can “re-pin” their pin to your own board. It’s like re-tweeting someone’s message except this time it’s a picture.

It will be interesting to see how businesses utilize Pinterest. Still too early to determine whether there will be staying power or if it will just be another fad. The way I’m planning on using it for Standing Sushi Bar is to showcase restaurant information (food, promotions, etc.) as well as have people learn what our “spirit” is based on the things that I pin.

Valentine’s Day Set Dinner

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Howard

February 14 is just around the corner and that means love is in the air. Cue romantic music and visions of roses, rings, and magical red hearts. Not surprising that all of our reservations on Valentine’s night are for groups of 2. With that in mind, we are offering a special Valentine’s Day meal at Standing Sushi Bar 8 Queen Street and another set menu at Standing Sushi Bar Marina Bay Link Mall.

Book a table by calling +65 6333 1335 (8 Queen Street), +65 6634 7068 (Marina Bay) or mail eat@standingsushibar.com

8 Queen Street – VALENTINE’S DAY “COUPLE’S SET” – $88 per couple

Appetizer

Three types of Japanese appetizers for each of you

Sashimi

Marbled, colorful raw fish… assorted slices of yellowtail, tuna and salmon sashimi along with creamy uni

Main Course

Gindara Ohba Yaki – two servings of grilled cod seasoned with Japanese ohba leaf, adding a lively mint flavor

Robatayaki

Two sticks of skewered beef with enoki mushrooms
Two sticks of grilled chicken wings

Soup

Dobin Mushi – Japanese teapot seafood soup for two

Sushi

Six pieces of sushi including shiro maguro, ikura gunkan, and akagai

Dessert

Three kinds of ice cream served with waffle

Marina Bay Link Mall – Valentine’s Menu (98 SGD per couple)

Mix Salad

Appetizers
2 kinds of Japanese appetizers to get the appetite working!

Sashimi
Assorted sashimi (4 kinds, 8 pieces)

Maki
Special Valentine’s Day sushi roll

Main Course
Wagyu Beef Steak
Salmon Butteryaki

Chawan Mushi
2 chawan mushi

Kake Udon
2 udon noodle soup to cleanse the palate

Dessert
2 kinds of ice cream

Smartphones in a restaurant

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Howard

The LA Times ran an article titled “When diners’ eyes feast on their cellphones” It’s true how people now have their smartphone as an additional companion at the dining table – maintaining conversations with friends not at the restaurant, checking Twitter and Facebook updates, and taking pictures of all the food.

Excerpt:
“Ding. Bzzzt. Bap. Beep. That’s the sound of conversation in restaurants these days. Where cellphones once posed a nuisance as people chatted loudly into them during meals, they now present a whole new set of etiquette issues as entire tables disappear into the Internet via small glowing screens.

Like an analog world-munching Pac-Man, the modern cellphone has morphed into instant messenger, mailbox, camera, flashlight, computer, map, dictionary, newspaper, personal assistant and social media portal. And as such its use at the table has become so prevalent that “restaurants are now forced to incorporate how to deal with them into the sequence of service and table maintenance,” says Eric Rosenfeld, the general manager of the lush trattoria Il Covo, in Mid-City L.A., which has begun offering diners small plates to hold their phones in order to shield them from potential spills and dinner debris.”

Back from Jakarta

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Howard

Hello dear reader! (If there are any…) Hope you’re having a fine time easing into the weekend and getting ready for Chinese New Year. I recently came back from Jakarta and wanted to share some experiences from the opening of the first international branch of Standing Sushi Bar. It’s located in Jakarta at La Piazza Kelapa Gading.

The restaurant was scheduled to open on January 15, so I flew to Jakarta on January 13. I wanted to familiarize myself with the area and see if there was anything I could help with prior to the opening.

When I arrived, the restaurant looked like this…

Let’s say my first reaction was to ask, “So… are we really opening 2 days from now? I notice there is no furniture…”

Shortly after that one of the air conditioning units malfunctioned and dumped water all over the floor. That was exciting.

Well, there’s nothing a 24 hour construction cycle can’t accomplish and thankfully on opening day we had chairs, tables, and functioning air conditioners. For a bit I thought we were going to have to revert to the original Standing Sushi Bar concept with no chairs!

I’m sure any restaurant owner has the same opening day worry – what if no one shows up? I was doubly worried since we had done very little advertising of the restaurant in Jakarta. The main things were the Facebook page, a tie-in with one retail shop, and a banner along the main street.

I guess when the main street is full of Jakarta traffic, that leads to a lot of eyeballs.

Which thankfully brought in a lot of people on opening day!

The mall where we’re in is like an open air shopping plaza; though there are very few retail shops (you can find a ton in the adjoining mall called Mal Kelapa Gading) and instead it’s full of restaurants and cafes. There is also a movie theater on the top floor. One cool thing is that almost every night they have a live band playing on the outdoor stage. From Standing Sushi Bar’s balcony seating area we get a good view.

Here’s a daytime view of La Piazza:

Plenty of places to get a caffeine fix – Starbucks, J. Co, and Black Canyon Coffee come to mind. Since there was no internet access in the restaurant yet I was constantly buying coffee so I could use these cafes’ wireless internet.

I’m trying to learn more about the Jakarta sushi scene. If anyone has any pointers or comments about Japanese restaurants there, let me know!

Until next time!

(Oh, and Standing Sushi Bar Singapore sent a little greeting to the folks in Jakarta)

Standing Sushi Bar Jakarta

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Howard

A little background about myself – I grew up in the US, fell in love with computers (and sushi) at a young age, and spent years working for one of the best software companies in the world. 9 years ago I came to Singapore to further my career and since then have encountered many random and great opportunities, of which 2 years ago led me to start Standing Sushi Bar.

Tonight I’m sitting in Jakarta, Indonesia (one of those countries which most Americans are scared of), feeling too excited to sleep. Six hours from now I’ll get dressed and head to La Piazza to witness the opening of Standing Sushi Bar’s newest branch.

I was thinking about how SSB now employs over 60 people. When you consider how big a part of someone’s life their job is, and that they’re choosing to spend that time with this restaurant, it’s kind of cool.

Earlier I was at the site; everyone was rushing around to get everything set for the opening tomorrow. Maybe it was the stress or the unfamiliarity of the environment but I was feeling tired and low-key. My girlfriend and I sat on the balcony which overlooks the main plaza where a band was playing. I think they were performing an Oasis song.

She said to me, “We’re in Jakarta because of the restaurant you created.”

—

Let’s eat some sushi, Indonesia! I’m so happy to be here!

Yusheng for Chinese New Year

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Howard

Straight out of the winter holiday season we’re directly heading into Chinese New Year. The time for us to all get together and toss raw fish, salad, and other ingredients as high as we can. Lo Hei!

This year we will be offering yusheng with your choice of salmon, tuna, or yellowtail (or a combination of the three).

Regular Size (9 slices) – 26.80 SGD
Large Size (18 slices) – 33.80 SGD
Additional sashimi (9 slices) – 10 SGD

To order please e-mail eat@standingsushibar.com or call the branch you would like to pickup your yusheng from.

8 Queen Street: 6333 1335
Marina Bay Link Mall: 6634 7068

Available from January 1 to February 6 with the exception of January 21 – 26 when we will be closed for Chinese New Year.

Happy new year!

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Howard

From all of us at Standing Sushi Bar, happy new year and may 2012 bring you prosperity, good times, and a lot of sushi!

2011 at a glance

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Howard

Channel News Asia did a series of interviews with various business folks about how their 2011 went and what lessons they learned. Loh Lik Peng, Tracy Philips, and others are featured.

I was also interviewed about the year:

What have I learned this year?
2011 was a turbulent yet overall successful year for Standing Sushi Bar. We went through a lot of hard times – closing the original branch after evaluating the future potential of the location, feeling the impact from the Japanese tsunami that made diners fearful of eating Japanese food, and removing staff that were detrimental to the business. Thankfully the latter half of 2011 had many more positives. Existing staff stepped up into expanded roles, customers returned (with positive feedback), and a franchisee is helping us expand to Jakarta, Indonesia.
With all this change, there was a lot of time spent planning and thinking about how to increase the business. One of the biggest lessons was that planning and thinking is great but ultimately you need to take action. Think about what your end goal with a project is, and once you have enough of an idea to move towards the goal, just take action. Frequently we get stuck trying to make sure everything is perfect and instead of doing anything we become paralyzed with analysis or the fear that the execution won’t go well. In a big company you have the luxury of time and money to do analysis. In a small business, it’s all about action.

Who contributed to my successes?
I think with any company, big or small, it’s going to be your staff that are the main contributors to success. For Standing Sushi Bar it was having the crew take initiative to get us through the difficult period after the Japan tragedy and the departure of our original head chef. Aside from the staff, I found it supportive to talk with other restaurant owners. I was able to tell them issues I was facing, learn about what problems they had, and then we brainstormed different solutions together. I think having a network of people that are undergoing similar experiences helps you stay focused and persevere.

What mistakes did I make, and what did I learn from them?
A small business takes a lot of energy and willpower, and to be honest sometimes I just feel tired. I end up not responding to an e-mail that may have led to a big private booking, ignore a PR request, or more commonly take a step back from getting involved in the day-to-day operations. I think it’s impossible to be “always on” but you do have to be cognizant that when you’re not there (mentally or physically) then your business isn’t moving forward.

So how is that Monday promotion working out?

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Howard

We have run the 2 SGD Monday promotion for 2 weeks now, and for those of you who come to this blog to see a little “behind the scenes” action, I figured I would let you know how the promotion is going and why I decided to hold it.

It’s no secret in the food and beverage industry that the first half of the week is notoriously slow. At 8 Queen Street our Monday lunches tend to be popular but dinner is quiet. I’ve been thinking about how to convince people to come to the restaurant on a Monday night, increase the awareness of Standing Sushi Bar, and spur some of the alcohol sales.

For awhile I was fixated on the idea of 1 SGD oysters. Personally I love raw oysters and I’ve been to a couple restaurants (notably Cocotte and Seafood Paradise at the Flyer) that were running 1 SGD oyster promotions to draw in a crowd.

Alas I wasn’t able to find an oyster supplier that made it feasible to offer 1 SGD oysters. Now I realize why these other restaurants had strict rules and only a limited time for the promotion. At a buck an oyster the loss per oyster is pretty high.

Oh, in case you’re not sure why a restaurant would have such a promotion it’s to get people in the door and then make up for the loss on the promotional item by encouraging the customers to order other non-promotion items.

I shouldn’t have fixated so much on oysters and it was an obvious face-slap moment when I realized that instead of looking for oysters why not just use one of our existing items for the promotion? I thought about which item; admittedly I was a little worried about using salmon sashimi since it’s one of our most popular items, why offer it at such a promotional price?

I decided that instead of being tentative, we should dive in and really aim for giving the customer what they would want. I tried to put myself in the customer mindset – would 2 dollar salmon sashimi and 1 dollar sake be something I would make a trip for? Yes! (Sidenote – I think it’s getting harder and harder to view things through the lens of the customer versus that of a restaurant owner).

To the results! Definitely exceeded my expectations… of course we’ve only had two Mondays with the promotion so far so we’ll see how it evolves, but currently it’s boosted the sales by 55% compared to the average of previous Mondays. Guest feedback has been positive, so all in all I think this has worked out well.

Now to brainstorm what we should offer on Tuesdays…

2 Dollar Mondays: Super Promotion!

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Howard

One of the fun things as a restaurant owner is that you get to do what you want to do. And what I feel like doing right now at 2 in the morning is creating a mega super amazing unbeatable best Japanese food promotion for the most dreaded day of the week. Monday.

Salmon Sashimi (5 slices) – 2 SGD
Glass of Wine, Plum Wine, Hot Sake, or Asahi Beer – 5 SGD
Glass of Sake – 1 SGD

So come celebrate $2 Mondays with us every Monday night from 6 PM – 10 PM at Standing Sushi Bar 8 Queen Street. Reserve a spot by e-mailing eat@standingsushibar.com or calling +65 6333 1335!

Not valid with other promotions, vouchers, or discounts