It was as though a bomb went off in the shop when we inspected it on Tuesday. The partitions walls were gone, along with the wall and floor tiles. All done in one day!
Now we can fit proper floor traps for water drainage. I think we need 11 in total.
The photo on the right that you see is what used to be the toilet. Nothing was spared the hammer. The throne room gets a total revamping. It too will get a nice and cosy ambience, similar to the rest of the izakaya. We hope you guys appreciated our thoughtfulness. We will pick the khazi and wash basin on Thursday with the ID.
By Tenza Izakaya
on
Saturday, March 27, 2010
1:44 AM
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bowls
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The hunt for bowls and plates continue. It's expanding to tea cups and glassware. There are a lot of nice things on the market but it's not always possible to find ones suitable for a business or where the supplier has sufficient quantities for us. For example, we need 150 side plates, 100 tea cups and 80 tall tumbler glasses.
Finally got the HDB approval to start renovation works today so hacking of the walls and floor begins first thing on monday! Stay tuned for the 3D renderings of the shop on Thursday.
In the mean time, the clearing out of the cabinetry has begun. The previous tenant did a really shoddy job in the kitchen. There are no floor traps for the water on the floor to drain away, cooking where there is no exhaust hood and electrical wires over open flames. Leaves us puzzled how they washed the kitchen or avoided setting the whole place on fire.
We spent the whole morning cleaning out the storage area and rubbish bins. The bins were filled to the brim with leftover food and garbage, that remained strangely uncleared in the bins. The refuse collector claims that he is new to the area and didn't know that we would like to have the bins emptied. Makes us wonder what the bin is for. Anyway, it was heaving with maggots and the stench was amazing! There were wriggling maggots on the floor, under the bins and on the walls. Wonderful way to start the day. Sparing you the details, our dear restaurant manager became part time pest control and sent them all the kingdom come. The mynahs were having a field day picking the guys off.
On another note, we need to purchase an accounting software for the business. I guess it will MYOB. It's eye-wateringly expensive at >$1500 for the package with payroll. Maybe we never bought such expensive software before. The training sessions aren't free too. Expect to fork out >$500 for a session. Thankfully the generous government has an
Accounting Software Assistance Scheme which subsidises 50% of the cost of software. One of the catch is that we must be GST registered. That's where we are headed!
Ever feel intrigued or even intimidated by the mystique of a tradition sushi-ya (sushi restaurant)? Do you know how to behave without seeming rude or acting like an ignorant and disrespectful foreigner? How about blending in with the other japanese customers or regulars at the sushi counter? What is that bowl of salt at the entrance? Who do you place an order with?
Fret no more! Watch the embedded YouTube video produced by the Rahmens and be enlightended.
PS: Specially for your Mondays. Enjoy!
This is the first of the many writeups on food items that we will roll out whenever we have something in season or good to recommend to you.
Have you ever noticed that most of the fragrance of a citrus fruit is concentrated in the rind or skin of the fruit? Ironically, with the exception of the yuzu, when we have a fresh citrus fruit, it is the rind/peel that we commonly discard and only eat/use the sweeter or juicier flesh inside. Then there is the hassle of having the peel the skin to get to the edible bits. When you look into the details of the skin, the citrus oils are contained in the zest (thin, outer, coloured part) and the inner, white pith is almost always unpleasantly bitter. Wouldn't it be great to have a citrus where you can eat the entire fruit, like a pear or apple, thus savouring all the flavours?
Enter the Kinkan (金柑) or Japanese kumquat! A calamansi sized relative of the orange. It comes into season early in the year. We might be more familiar with the ornamental varieties that sprout out of nowhere during Chinese New Year. In this case, it is the fresh, farmed-for-eating, Kyushu Kinkan that I have in the picture. The entire fruit is edible but you may prefer to spit out the seeds. Yes, you can bite into the fruit, skin and all, if you want to experience the whole Kinkan. The fruit is packed full of flavour. Interestingly, the skin is the best part of the fruit!
The best way to eat it is to cut it into quarters lengthwise so that you can see and avoid the seeds. It is optional to remove the fleshy part but it is the skin that you eat. You must be wondering what it tastes like. It kind of taste like a cross between an orange and lime in aroma, with muscat like sweetness in the pith, whereas the flesh is sour and has a stringy texture. Eating a Kinkan leaves a citrusy, savoury and creamy after taste. Some people might feel a little tingling on their tongue, similar to after eating fresh yuzu zest. If consumed in excess, there is a risk of mouth ulcers. The flesh can be extremely acidic so persons suffering from gastritis should avoid that portion. Another way to eat it is to cut it lengthwise, get rid of the seeds, then freeze it so you get a Kinkan sorbet.
It's coming to the about the end of the season soon. I hope it is still available when we open so that we can serve it to you. In the mean time, Kinkan is available at good supermarkets that have a selection of Japanese fruits. Get some and try. If you like oranges, you will love the Kinkan!
We have survived through half a dozen Point of Sales (POS) equipment sales pitch this month and frankly find them all rather similar with regards to capabilities, user-friendliness and hardware. It really boils down to the details, like graphics, colour, support and of course, price. The quotations vary quite a bit from $7500 to $12000 for pretty much the same things. We can't decide. Maybe go with price. At least that is immediately and rationally most apparent. What do you think?
Picture from ACT-POS for illustration purposes. Not representative of our chosen model.
You wouldn't think that we will stop there, did you? We dropped by Takashimaya today to have a look and left quite satisfied but we have to be back again to pick up more stuff that will only be in stock tomorrow.
You might be wondering that we are being extravagant to be purchasing shop items from Takashimaya. We are doing this only because YOU, are worth it. Also, some of the items there are conveniently cheaper and more aesthetically pleasing than what one can get from the suppliers. Among the plates and bowls we got today, we are quite partial to a particular set.
It comes in a few colours and it's decorated with Sakura motives. Since the Izakaya is opening in spring, it does seem quite appropriate. When you next pick a morsel off our plates, know that we spared no expense to ensure you have complete dining experience.
For the past two days, we have been shopping and getting quotations for plates and bowls plus some kitchen equipment. The usual suspects, like Landex, Sia Huat & LCS, were thoroughly scoured by us. It's a very mundane but tedious and time consuming task. It's really much more difficult to purchase these things for a restaurant than home because of the large quantity required and having to meet the expectations of customers.
However, there's a fun bit to this. Unlike a typical chinese or western restaurant where everything is coordinated and homogenous in design, the informal nature of an izakaya allows us to look for interesting and unique pieces to be incorporated into the inventory. These plates and bowls will be for serving cooked food and also sashimi/sushi but they do not have to match. As you will agree, presentation is just as important as actual taste. Most of the time we appreciate food visually before tasting it (assuming you are normal sighted). So having a nice setting for the food really helps with the overall experience.
The boring stuff...
Only one such plate in the restaurant.
Pretty bowl.
For posterity, we thought it will be a good idea to post some pictures of the shop before renovation starts, so that people can be shocked by the transformation.
The kitchen (what's left).
Floor grime.
When these shutters open again, there will be a whole lot of difference!
By Tenza Izakaya
6:17 PM
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This blog is created to document the startup of a Japanese restaurant in the small island of Singapore from scratch. Eventually, it will also serve as a place to provide updates on latest happenings, reviews and recipes. We hope it will inspire any budding Japanese cuisine restauranteur or actually put them off. We have no prior experience in F&B, so this is entirely driven by our passion for good food and good sake (nihon shu). Of course, we are fortunate enough to have received the assistance of great people who are in the know. As of now, the restaurant is slated to open late April 2010. Even as we type/blog/speak, the interior designer is drawing up the plans for the renovation works.
The restaurant address can be found in the profile. Do become a Tenza Izakaya fan on Facebook.
