Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandy Chen.
Sandy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Growing up in the Provence Zhe Jiang city Wen Zhou of Southern China, in a small village just south of Shanghai, I began my culinary journey as a child by helping prepare meals for my rather large family. Living with four siblings and 16 first cousins all under one roof, I was about ten years old when I learned the art behind cooking traditional Chinese cuisine. However, with limited ingredients and portions sized to feed the entire family presented challenges in delivering consistently delicious meals. My culinary inspiration stemmed from my father, who moved the family to the United States in 1984. It was here that my father taught me how to work with a mixture of Eastern and Western ingredients to generate the base of what is Koi’s menu today.
I have been dedicated to a lifelong learning process. To keep leading is to keep learning. My mission in life is to continuously learn and improve my leadership skills as well as the skills of the people that I employ. Over the course of my two decades in the restaurant business, I have mentored numerous individuals and watched them grow into leaders. Watching them grow helps to fulfill me as an entrepreneur. I will continue my abilities, utilizing my skills, training and personal character to thrive in my leadership role.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It’s hard to start a restaurant with little to no experience. For me, one of the first jobs I had was being a server in another Chinese restaurant when I was in high school and through college. With little expertise, it took years and years of hard work to find the correct recipe of creating delicious food and warm hospitality that made a successful restaurant like how Koi is today. Trusting that I had the strength and the mindset was essential throughout this process, knowing that I had what it took to make a great restaurant made it a whole lot easier. To stay in this business is to make continuous improvements and to stay ahead of your competition.
Koi Fine Asian Cuisine & Lounge – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Koi was established in Evanston in 2004 to bring fine Asian dining to the North Shore. The concept itself was to bring bold flavors and authentic Chinese cuisine from all eight regions of China as well as fresh sushi to the fine dining experience. I have brought vision and love for the traditional Chinese cuisine to life in addition to cultivating customer favorites our regulars have grown to love.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Watching my associates grow into leaders fulfills me as an entrepreneur. I will continue to utilize my skills to train and grow my persona; character. Defining success is not about the money you make. Success is determined by your impact in the community as well as giving back to the community.
Contact Info:
- Address: 624 Davis Street, Evanston, IL 60201
- Website: www.koievanston.com
- Phone: 847-866-6969
- Email: sandy@koievanston.com
- Instagram: Koievanston
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoiEvanston/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KoiEvanston
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/koi-fine-asian-cuisine-and-lounge-evanston
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