Welcome to the fifth interview on our CiHK blog – where we get up close and personal with movers and shakers in Hong Kong who are proud to call themselves Canadian. There are two groups of Canadians in Hong Kong – one group is familiar with Big Bite the Canadian-themed restaurant, and the other has not heard of it – but is about to. Here to shed more light on this Canuck F&B establishment – we speak with Joseph Chan!
L: Hi Joseph! Can you tell us a little bit about how Big Bite got started?
J: Back in university, I part-timed as a grill master at a burger restaurant called Lick’s. I remember cooking some of the best-tasting burgers during my time there. I guess that experience stuck with me. When I moved back to Hong Kong in 1995, I told my friends and family that I have not tasted a burger that came close to matching the ingredients, cooking technique, and unique BBQ flavour that I had produced back at Licks. In 2008, I spoke with some friends that had a similar urge for an excellent burger taste. I told them I could create that taste. And that’s how The Big Bite happened.
L: How about yourself? Let us know about your background and how long you have been in Canada/HK?
J: I was born and raised in Hong Kong. I did secondary school in the UK and my entire family moved to Canada in 1989. For my undergraduate degree, I attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Since then, I have been spending my time both in Hong Kong and Toronto.
During my time in Canada, I part-timed a fair bit in restaurants, pizza shops and pubs. I grilled at Lick’s to sponsor my gas money for the most part. My interest in cooking as well as the F&B industry started when I used to watch my grandma cook as a kid. When I went to boarding school in the UK, the food was so bad that I ended up cooking for my friends in my own room. The repetitive act of cooking during my school days created a passion. Once I got to Queen’s, I saw the opportunity to join the business and make some money. After coming back to Hong Kong, I trained and qualified as a French fine dining chef by The Institute of Disciples of Escoffier.
L: Tell us about Big Bite’s $3 wing night!
J: During my university days in Kingston, Ontario – there was a 50 cent buffalo wing night once a week at a popular pub for students. My friends and I were there almost every week and we consumed enormous amounts of wings and beers. Everyone had a good time. After coming back to Hong Kong, I noticed there were no authentic buffalo wings (Duff’s), so we began our quest to source proper buffalo wings sauce. By Canadian standards- this should be Frank’s hot sauce. We figure the best way to let people know about authentic buffalo wings is to do a promotion. We knew the 50 cent wings night was a good idea, so we did the currency conversion to come up with $3 wings night. It wasn’t all smooth sailing though. In the beginning, we receive lots of complaints about our buffalo wings being salty and sour. We patiently explained to our customers about the authenticity of our flavor and eventually it became well received.
L: You guys serve poutine?
J: We are a Canadian restaurant – of course we serve poutine!
L: What keeps you passionate about the restaurant industry?
J: Definitely compliments from customers saying we do the best burgers in town. This surely keeps me going. Also – the freedom to develop new products and services and the appreciation for oneself after having done that. For example, one of our successful products – is our Pho. A lot of people don’t understand why Pho is on the menu at The Big Bite. But I am sure Canadians know why.
What else? The joy of servicing repeat customers. Service-wise from a small burger shop, we started doing catering and off-site BBQs. Since we have the capability to grill our foods on site, we have repeated customers of over the last decade – serving over 500 guests at times.
L: How do you maintain a work-life balance while managing a demanding business?
J: LOL! There is no work-life balance. I spend all my time in my restaurants. Whenever I need a break, I just invite my friends to see me at my restaurants. I say “restaurants” because I operate a fine dining restaurant right beside Big Bite. This way, I have private space for my friends when I need it.
L: Share a funny/interesting story from running your restaurant!
J: It has to be the “Homicide Wings Challenge”. You see customers taking on the challenge not knowing what they are getting into. There was one customer who was in so much agony that he took his shoes off and ran out of the restaurant yelling and cursing. I felt sorry for him. It was funny though.
L: What surprises might people not know about running a restaurant?
J: Nuances around handling staff. Sometimes things get broken or equipment breaks down so staff needs to be properly trained for any surprises and to also have a backup plan.
L: What is a typical day like for you as a restaurant owner?
Recover from my hangover, go in, talk to staff to see what’s needed, check what’s being prepped, food tastings, help staff improve on their cooking techniques, etc. Sit down and plan next steps, upcoming events, promotions. Talk to staff more, keep going in the kitchen to see what is going on. Basically, trying to maintain the standard of food products and service level. The list goes on.
L: Thanks for chatting us with Joseph! See you soon at a $3 wing night! You can find more details about Big Bite on their Instagram.
