• 
• 

Published on March 3, 2008

"My younger brother and I will introduce Lee Cafe as a modern Chinese restaurant from Thailand in overseas markets," Nutchaya Lee, public-relations manager, said last week.

Her family is working with partners in Japan and Singapore to open a few branches in the two countries in the second half.

Franchising might be the way to go its instead of joint ventures because it is easier to manage as well as to control material costs, said Nutchaya, the 29-year-old daughter of owner Chaithep "Mr Lee" Pattarapornpaisarn.

Lee Cafe is the brainchild of Lee Kitchen, the high-end Cantonese restaurant that has served politicians and the rich for 19 years.

Mr Lee, who has been cooking for more than 30 years, created and developed every recipe in the Lee Kitchen's three branches in Bangkok.

But he had the vision of opening a trendy Chinese eatery to cater to the lifestyles of urbanites. Then four years ago his friend asked him to open up a new-look Chinese restaurant in the renovated Erawan Bangkok building.

"This was our dream. My father wanted to adapt his Chinese restaurant to a new look for a long time. So when the chance came to us, we didn't hesitate to take it. My father with his three children, including me, brainstormed on how to design a new restaurant," Nutchaya said.

The first Lee Cafe was started on capital of Bt3 million. Mr Lee oversaw every aspect of the new restaurant from design and decoration and kitchen layout to the cartoon character of himself as the logo of Lee Kitchen and Lee Cafe.

He let his children manage the new restaurant, while he focused on Lee Kitchen.

Nutchaya said her father had not been sure how well Lee Cafe would do. He only thought that Lee Kitchen had regular customers and its brand was strong enough to draw them to try the new-style restaurant.

After the first Lee Cafe had been up and running for one year, the second and third branches were opened in the Siam Centre shopping mall and Ploenchit Centre office building. Now Lee Cafe has six branches in Bangkok including CentralWorld, Esplanade shopping mall and Suvarnabhumi Airport. The airport outlet generates the highest sales because it is open 24 hours.

"I think Lee Cafe restaurants expanded rapidly. We have six branches in only four years. We may open two more this year and finally we expect to have 10 branches in Thailand," she said.

Her father did not want Lee Cafe to grow too fast because he wanted to control quality.

Although Lee Cafe is an extension of an already well-known restaurant, it is not easy for it to survive amid fierce competition. There are many pubs and restaurants for Bangkok foodies to choose from, but she believes that Lee Cafe is unique due to its concept as a modern Chinese restaurant, good taste and the strong brand of Lee Kitchen.

"I can say that Lee Cafe as a modern Chinese restaurant is successful. My father's dream came true, and this proves that we can adapt the general Chinese restaurant to the modern look to serve city customers. Most of our clients come with their families," she said.

Nalin Viboonchart

The Nation