Living with The Cart – An Update
Posted: April 15, 2012 Filed under: Food and drink, Hanoi, ho tay, nghi tam, tay ho, The Cart, Westlake, work | Tags: cafe, Hanoi, ho tay, nghi tam, tay ho, the cart, westlake, work 3 Comments »
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Back when I used to work at KOTO, they fed me most days – it was part of the deal, there never was a more spoiled VSO volunteer than me.
Most of the time that meant delivery to the old Thuy Khue training centre but occasionally I’d be at the restaurant so I’d find a table and order. I never enjoyed it. I always spent my time wondering how long it’d been since table 12 ordered, or was table 5 not enjoying their dish and that glass of wine table 3 received – I thought they’d ask for a beer etc etc.
Normally everyone was just fine and staff were far more capable of keeping tabs on it all than I was. All I added was an on-edge layer of nervousness.
Substitute KOTO in 2004 – 2007 for The Cart 2009 – now and up till recently I was still a little jumpy. It’s intensified as The Cart Nghi Tam, just two minutes from my house, sometimes feels like an overspill of my living room. After all it’s often where I go just to spend time with my hardworking wife.
But what’s great is just how the place now feels like it’s matured. Staff recruited in the wake of opening the branch are proving to be stars. None more so than Hung the former Blue Dragon kid manning the front desk and Doan our baker.
Hung (seen here modelling the KeepCup) is a star, an honest as the day is long and with deceptively good English. I wonder sometimes – did he get that? – he did. Doan, our baker, arrived having worked overseas – the fresh bread he makes has taken the place to a new level.
We’d always envisaged the cafe as a Nghi Tam community place. Too small for a hangout but maybe somewhere to meet up. We’re making new friends as a result of being open – good to see some of our customers doing the same. They too look more comfortable there and we now know a little more about each other. We’ve become part of each other’s routine.
Loan continues to work seven days a week but gratifyingly not quite as many hours. Sister Trang is an irreplaceable member of staff and, as she’s holding down two jobs, we keep trying to lure her full time but her other post is public sector and in Vietnam that’s still considered the most solid career going.
My wife has a very Vietnamese anti-marketing stance. Businesses build. Promotion is expensive. It’s actually suited us and while it may be rooted in a traditional pho-stand sensibility it goes well with modern social media thinking. We’ve tried to avoid any hyperbole on our website. We’ll say it’s fresh – you can decide if you think it’s tasty. Word of mouth has so far promoted a very sustainable growth. From the very outset there’s been a plan to flyer all the local NGOs but, ultimately, we haven’t needed to.
Staff capacity is building at pretty much the same rate as demand and that’s fantastic.
Oh and The Cart Au Trieu has had a little love too. At first the new place stole a few of its customers but now they’re both performing consistently. Although we also know that summer is coming and they’re long and hot and frequently not quite so rewarding. It’s all about spring and autumn in expat land.
Finally it was my 41st birthday yesterday (I was very moved when the flowers below arrived from colleagues) – which is always a good time to reflect. Post Tet holiday, which seems like years ago now, has been a rather stressful period – for a number of reasons I’ll go into another time. But it feels like we’re getting a grip on it all.
Investing our thought and time in The Cart will be an ongoing process – but with it settling nicely, happily it’s one less thing to worry about.
The perfect lunch
Posted: January 5, 2012 Filed under: Food and drink, football | Tags: food, football, Hanoi, newcastle united, the cart Leave a comment »
Football from here.
Food (mulligatawny soup and meat and potato pie) from The Cart (obviously).
Living with The Cart Nghi Tam
Posted: November 13, 2011 Filed under: Food and drink, ho tay, nghi tam, The Cart | Tags: the cart, work 2 Comments »
So The Cart Nghi Tam has been open a week and we’re getting used to new customers, new tastes, new opening hours and new staff.
New staff at this point are limited to taking on handyman Tuan Anh who did such a brilliant job in getting the new place ready that we talked him into joining the payroll. His main job is selling Tet trees but there are few more seasonal vocations than that, so for the time being he’s helping us out on delivery. The man is a legend. At one point when fixing the electrics they blew and he climbed up a pylon on the other side of the street to fix it – despite our protestations.
I once saw my father in law do that when the lights blew at Tet – after several shots of whisky.
We’ve also added a local young student who studies morning and helps out in the afternoon and she’s slowly learning the ropes making drinks and cooking. The harder task is finding someone comfortable enough with customers so Loan can leave her front desk spot.
We worked round the clock to get the place open and now she’s working 12 hours a day seven days a week. I’ve got into the habit of getting up with her at six during the week and having my breakfast in the Cart. Then I’m at work well before eight. It means I can reasonably finish by five without any guilt and then I check she’s still standing on my way home before I get in and put the dinner on.
I spent this weekend feeling guilty as she is working while I’m off. She won’t let me work in The Cart so I’ve made myself busy fixing the website and taking photos for the Facebook page. I’ve also got some new shots ready for framing to decorate the place a little. Tonight I had a stirfry ready to go when she got in. Two hours later she’s asleep and I’m typing this. I should also mention sisters-in-law Trang and Huong. Trang regularly works nights elsewhere and days at The Cart. Huong has a very good job in the media but isn’t above helping out in the kitchens.
An incredible family.
But despite a little fatigue we’re delighted with the way the place has been received. There’s been a steady stream of customers and they’re learning about The Cart. In the first couple of days we have to send all the pies to the Au Trieu branch because nobody in Nghi Tam was buying them. Now they’re starting to sell quickly as people return day after day for pies for lunches and takeaway dinners.
Meanwhile my hunch that there was a decent bacon sandwich gap in the market has turned out to be accurate. Lots of Punto Italia coffee being sold too.
In the brief two hours I had with Loan tonight it was hard to switch off. More food options for veggies was discussed and a curried vegetable pie recipe was sought and found. Skyping my parents, my Dad suggested samosas. Great idea.
In one month we’ll be back in the UK for Christmas. We’re going to have to take some hard decisions about running the two outlets then. Right now it seems that staffing problems will mean we’ll close Au Trieu briefly and do all the delivery from Nghi Tam. Most of our customers will be overseas by then. We will lose the walk-ins but continue to keep up the office delivery.
But despite the stresses and strains Loan is smiling. Lots of compliments for her and hew new cafe and she can see that the masterplan is working. We’ve a bottle of champagne in the fridge we haven’t cracked yet. Sometime soon there’ll be a cafe lock-in for the family.
Thanks to all those who have come to eat or who just said hi and good luck. It’s nice to see some faces coming back for a second and third time. We really really appreciate it. Oh and if your local is Au Trieu not Nghi Tam then we do have plans to give the original location some love. Probably in the new year.
Thanks again. Life is tiring but it’s good.
The New Cart Nghi Tam is open (needs staff urgently)
Posted: November 7, 2011 Filed under: Food and drink, Hanoi, ho tay, News, nghi tam, tay ho, The Cart, Westlake | Tags: breakfast, cafe, coffee, nghi tam, staff, the cart 1 Comment »
Back at my desk doing my proper job following the excitement of the weekend. But yes, our big news is that The Cart Nghi Tam is now open.
Doubly brilliant for me is that we live round the corner so I picked up an already bagged up latte and muesli on the way to work this morning and had something of a luxurious breakfast while I waited for my computer to boot (it takes a while here).
Anyway this is just a quick in-my-lunch-hour post to say how chuffed/knackered we are in equal measures. The place actually looks better than we ever could have hoped and everyone is telling us what a great location it is and yet it’s also off the Xuan Dieu beaten track.
Chatting with Puku’s co-owner Daragh yesterday we mused on how incredible it is that you can open a cafe in Vietnam in under a month and on a fairly limited budget. Back home the paperwork would probably take twice and the cost would be prohibitive. However don’t ever think it is easy. On Friday night alone signs turned up in the wrong colour, menus turned up full of spelling mistakes suggesting our designs had been retyped in instead of just being printed. On Sunday when we were working towards opening we had three power outages lasting 20 minutes a time.
Right now, still trying to sort out our coffee cup conundrum I’m simoultaneously making enquiries about importing reuseable eco cups while also sounding out other coffee shops owners on the possibility of a collective that could order together in a bulk large enough to make decent paper cup manufacture worthwhile.
But by far the biggest problem is staffing. If I hadn’t heard the same problems voiced elsewhere then I’d be worried that it was us. Typical of our experience was a new recruit who turned up on his first day and then left after 15 minutes never to return again – not answering his phone when we’ve called him. No experience required – there has to be someone out there. If you know someone – get them to ring Loan.
We went out for dinner Thursday night after a quick stroll around our corner of the lake. It was doubley enjoyable because we have little time for each other recently. We both work long hours on our day jobs then spend the evenings on menu design, updating websites and generally working our way through a lengthy to-do list.
Either way it’s been worth it – the new place is great. The coffee is wonderful and we’re so glad we imported a decent machine. The food and drink is the same fresh mix of sandwiches, pies, pasties, cakes and juices – plus a new beefed up breakfast menu.
It’s phenomenally exciting and seeing the cafe open gives you a real sense of pride. I should also remind you that this is not my Cafe, it’s my wife’s. I just help out when I can but Loan’s hospitality experience stretches back well over a decade before we even met.
Our next break is Christmas (staff recruitment allowing) but until then it’s hard to imagine a break from a seven day a week , 12 hours a day cycle.
Luckily I know a great place to stock up on caffeine.
A New Cart: We’re building something here. All the pieces matter.
Posted: September 27, 2011 Filed under: Food and drink, ho tay, nghi tam, tay ho, The Cart, work | Tags: coffee, food, ho tay, nghi tam, tay ho, the cart, westlake 9 Comments »
We’ve long been looking for a site for a second Cart in the Westlake area.
Yesterday, having handed over a cheque for three months rent (ouch), we were able to announce our plans to open in Nghi Tam, the small corner of the Tay Ho area where we live.
The property was so right for us that we had no time to waste. Financially it probably would have been better to leave it six months but we should just about be okay to get this place up and running.
Why so right? Well Nghi Tam has a real identity and sense of community and yet doesn’t really have its own cafe. We had looked at places on Xuan Dieu that were wedged in alongside competing businesses and we would have had to pay for that privilege.
We’d also looked at a couple of empty lobbies in newly built apartments. Surely a coffee shop would add a little value for the residents. Better than just leaving it empty, no? But we were always quoted thousands and on two separate occasions we heard “I’m hoping my daughter might like to open a cafe here”.
We’ve asked ourselves what defines The Cart and what we’re really trying to provide is a more homely and wholesome version of fastfood. It’s never going to be a place where you spend the afternoon with your laptop. In fact in fitting out the new place we’re asking ourselves whether providing WIFI is a good idea at all.
If online reviews of other outlets are anything to go by then customers elsewhere seem to be put off by tables dominated by laptops and long drunk drinks.
If we could get the balance right then The Cart would be a place better for reading than working. More of a meeting and eating joint than a hang out. We’d be happy with that.
World domination is not in our plans but it would be remiss of us to open without trying to ensure some kind of consistency. Not so much with what has gone before – more with what could be in the future. There’s also a possibility that the original Cart in Au Trieu will one day be remodelled accordingly. But to answer the question that many have already asked us – no there are absolutely no plans to close the original.
In many ways, in taking over the premises from Nghi Tam’s very popular corner shop, the dynamic is already there. Reliable and friendly service on your doorstep. A coffee and a bacon sandwich on the way to work. A lunchtime bowl of soup. Mid afternoon tea and cake to boost flagging energy levels. A takeaway pie for a quick snack before going out in the evening.
If everything goes to plan we can open inside a month. However current issues we are wrestling with include: the heartbreaking price of espresso machines, sourcing quality takeaway coffee cups, finding a decent juicer that could live up to the awesome one we carried back from the UK, finding staff who can learn quickly enough to hit the ground running (any advice or assistance on any of these would be very welcome).
As ever, the most fun job is making the music playlist. We get a lot of compliments for our choons (a different playlist everyday – you won’t hear the same track twice in one week).
Oh and while we might fit some tables outside – inside will be entirely no smoking.
All in all – these are very exciting times.
