\u201cOur boutique restaurant concept and management business had very humble beginnings, starting shortly after Kim (Minards, Managing Director) and I married in Hong Kong, in 2004. We both worked our way up the industry from waiters to General Managers and decided to step off the cliff, opening our own small wine bar \u2018Enoteca on Elgin\u2019 in the then emergent Soho district in 2005.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe worked opposite shifts with no day off for the first year and paid back our investors\u2019 HK$2.5 million loan in 11 months \u2013 fast by industry standards. Kim handled food design and menu development with a local chef while I managed the wines and beverage. The rest was handshaking, entertaining, and hours of training and nurturing staff.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Working long hours to tight margins while raising two children put immense pressure on the couple in the beginning. \u201cWe managed all facets of the business ourselves \u2013 legal matters, accounts, tax, HR, labour law, etc. \u2013 whilst working full service shifts day and night,\u201d says Cooper. \u201cWith no head office team to fall back on we learnt to be company directors as we went along.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The sacrifice paid off; Enoteca\u2019s sheer popularity forced the company\u2019s initial expansion. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t turn tables fast enough. We responded by quickly launching two other complementary styled wine bars in the area. This way we captured more market share on the escalator. Not many Mid-Levels residents could get past us without being grabbed by our waving, smiling staff!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Meeting consistent success, the company opened a number of subsequent establishments, with three more in the works. \u201cOur fifth restaurant, Iberico & Co. opened in 2012. We consider it our best project to date in terms of design and menu. We are reopening our Asian tapas restaurant Cicada and a yet to be named Asian gastropub, both in Soho. Sun Hung Kai Properties has invited us to take our Iberico & Co. concept to the new YOHO mega mall in Yuen Long, which opens its doors this September. Our first Enoteca on Elgin is still going strong, ten years on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nGoing Uphill <\/span><\/h3>\n
The Niceties <\/span><\/h3>\n
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