Cover Char siew ramen, a staff meal at Table & Apron (Photo: Table & Apron)
Char siew ramen, a staff meal at Table & Apron (Photo: Table & Apron)
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We speak to the respective restaurant teams about the importance of a good staff meal
Staff meals are an important cornerstone of restaurant culture. Other than providing the energy needed for a busy service, prioritising sitting down and sharing a family meal boost morale and motivation. After all, what better way to build a cohesive team than by breaking bread?
To get a better insight, the teams behind Dewakan, Akar Dining, Mano, and Table and Apron share what a typical staff meal looks like at the respective establishments, as well as some of their most memorable ones. Some even have Instagram accounts dedicated solely to staff meals!
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Dewakan
What does a typical staff meal look like?
Family meal at Dewakan is about bringing home into the kitchen. We come from diverse cultures and backgrounds, so everyone tries to bring something nostalgic or comforting to the table.
We get different versions of the same dish, as some of our team members might come from different regions of Malaysia. When we have interns from other countries that cook food or prepare drinks from their hometowns, we get to exchange cultures.
We keep things fresh by cooking things we haven’t tasted before, or trying new cuisines. Every year for our birthdays, we receive a cookbook from chef Darren Teoh, so we cook a recipe from the book when we get a chance. Essentially, our priority is that the food must be tasty!
Who is in charge of staff meals?
Everyone is in charge of staff meals.
Tell us about one of the best staff meals the team has shared.
Everyone has their favourites but the best is when everyone gets involved, which is quite often. A good memory was when we made yakitori, and everyone was standing around the grill helping, impatiently waiting, and eating!
Table & Apron
Above Tonkotsu Gyokai Tsukemen (Photo: Table & Apron)
Above Laksam (Photo: Table & Apron)
Tonkotsu Gyokai Tsukemen (Photo: Table & Apron)
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What does a typical staff meal look like?
Most days, staff meals consist of rice, a choice of vegetable, meat options, and a soup. It's like your favourite chap fan (mixed rice) place except with a lot more thought put into it. It's usually familiar and comforting food that isn't difficult to cook and still fills the tummy and heart.
Sometimes what we make depends on what we have on the day from leftover trimmings, as we try to salvage ingredients before they go bad. Other times we get a little fancy and adventurous. We've had memorable staff meals that we still like to bring back once in a while, such as Japanese ramen, nasi ulam, laksam, biryani, tacos, and even full-on Chinese banquet style dishes that left us in a food coma for the rest of the day!
Who is in charge of staff meals?
The kitchen team takes turns to cook for the team. On some weekends, our sister bakery next door, Universal Bakehouse, also makes us breakfast.
We dedicate every second Sunday of the month to a special staff meal feature that allows the assigned team member to go all out. The chef can work with other team members as a group to make this meal happen. It's a good way to train and test each other, while playing up the dynamics within the team.
Tell us about one of the best staff meals the team has shared.
The most recent would be our rendition of Tonkotsu Gyokai Tsukemen, a special staff meal feature in February. The team went all out with handmade ramen noodles and offered us the options of chicken or pork broth, char siew slices, leeks, seaweed, and pickled eggs to complete the dish. It took the group three days of preparation and we still drool about it today.
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Mano
What does a typical staff meal look like?
At Mano, everything for staff meals has to be done from scratch. For example, if we’re making ramen, we have to make our own noodles and broth. If we’re making burgers, we have to make our own burger buns.
Eating our staff meal is like eating out at different restaurants. We don't repeat ingredients in the same week. For example, if someone makes rice, no one else makes rice for the rest of the week. We also don’t repeat main dishes in the same month, so if someone makes curry chicken, there will be no curry chicken until the next month. We also have a minimum quota of three vegetarian dishes each week.
Chef Sergio Meza was the one who brought up staff meal rules and how it should be done at Mano. Rocky Chai, our co-founder, started documenting the staff meals, and thought it would be a great idea to start an Instagram account to feature all the dishes, giving credit to the team.
Who is in charge of staff meals?
Everyone in the restaurant needs to cook for the staff meal.
Tell us about one of the best staff meals the team has shared.
This is a hard one as every meal cooked by the kitchen and floor staff have been good. Highlights include beef pho, Nepalese dumplings, fish tacos, hand-pulled pan mee, and ochazuke.
Akar Dining
Above The team at Akar (Photo: @akar.dining/Instagram)
The team at Akar (Photo: @akar.dining/Instagram)
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What does a typical staff meal look like?
We have fixed themes for family meals at Akar. Members responsible will put their own spin on the daily themes such as chicken rice on Tuesdays, stews on Wednesdays, cuisines from other nations on Thursdays, noodles on Fridays, vegetarian dishes on Saturdays, and fried rice on Sundays.
Who is in charge of staff meals?
All kitchen staff are in charge of staff meals. We work on a schedule basis in teams of two.
Tell us about one of the best staff meals the team has shared.
One that stands out was a vegetarian tan tan noodle made by Jason Woon, our kitchen commis. It was delicious with really hearty flavours.
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About
Katelyn is the dining and travel editor of Malaysia and Indonesia. Based in Kuala Lumpur, she offers readers an inside look at the movers and shakers in Asia’s growing food and beverage industry.
