Heirs to three Hong Kong heritage restaurants talk about taking over the family business and attracting younger customers
- Growing up in families operating restaurants – Yung Kee and Ser Wong Fun in Central, Yue Kee in Sham Tseng – none of these owners planned to join the business
- They talk about answering their family’s call, upholding tradition and introducing new dishes and concepts for a new generation of diners
When she was a young girl, Yvonne Kam Kiu-yan would visit Yung Kee, a Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong’s Central district famous for its roast goose, on special occasions. Although her family owned the restaurant, it was always a treat for her to dine there.
“Before dinner, while the adults played mahjong, we would play on the staircase with our cousins and other customers’ kids,” Kam reminisces.
Now Kam spends much of her time in the restaurant or the offices upstairs. Officially, she is the chief financial officer, but as a third-generation co-owner of this Hong Kong icon, she has become its public face.
Her grandfather Kam Shui-fai founded Yung Kee in 1936, originally as a dai pai dong, or food stall. The business grew steadily: it was officially incorporated in 1942, and in 1964, moved to its current location – a gold-mosaic-tiled, 10-storey landmark – on Wellington Street, a building the business owns and which wealthy patrons and celebrities continue to visit for its famous charcoal-roasted goose and classic Cantonese fare.
It wasn’t a given that Yvonne Kam would enter the family business. A chartered accountant, she was asked by her father, Kam Kwan-lai, to join Yung Kee part-time as financial controller in 2005.
“Whoever looks after the numbers has a lot of power,” Kam says. “Dad wanted someone trustworthy and reliable to oversee the restaurant operation.” Her role grew because, “in order to understand finances, I need to understand the whole operation, not just money”.
