Original Oriental
Raymond Wong, managing director of Maxi's Restaurants, has a description of his fellow countrymen that could come straight from a fortune cookie. "They are like a small fox inside a deep well," he says. "When they look up they can see only a small piece of a big sky."
This ambition that Wong believes is lacking most Chinese restaurant owners is a character-trait that he, on the other hand, has in abundance. Maxi's number four opened on 28 October last year - a significant date for reasons that will become apparent - making it the largest group of Chinese restaurants in the North of England with more to come.
The newest restaurant is a purpose-built 250-seat building just outside York and has, Wong says, already exceeded expectations. "Look at it this way," he says. "Our bank manager is already asking us when our next one is going to open."
The development cost £1.5m and serves more than 1,000 dishes to 300 people a day with average spends of £18-£20. The Cantonese and Pekingese menu is prepared byOriental chefs who make Maxi's, according to the owners, about as authentic as it gets.
The first opened in 1989 on, that's right, 28 October in Leeds. It was also purpose built, at a cost of £900,000. The latest York site was constructed virtually from the same plans. The second site, in Ripponden, opened in 1997 although not purpose built; and the Leeds building was expanded to include Maxi's Palace Take Away in 1998. Both restaurants were, of course, opened on28 October, a date that has gained a superstitious significance for Wong that he believes is worth sticking to.
The décor in all three sites is also authentic traditional Oriental, with Wong shipping over all the decorations from Hong Kong, China and other Asian countries. Inside the York and Leeds sites there is a classic Chinese colour scheme of green, red and gold and at the centre a pagoda surrounding a dance floor. This is topped with huge pagoda entrances flanked by golden dragons which mean passers-by are left in no doubt what's going on inside those buildings.
But decorations aside, the real "theme" of Maxi's is the food and Wong talks enthusiastically about it at any opportunity. "It's our hobby," he says. "This is our interest and it drives our policies."
One of those policies is bringing over Oriental chefs to prepare the menus, but the problems this can cause explain why there was a gap of nearly eight years before Maxi's began to expand beyond one restaurant.
"Almost two years after the first Maxi's opened I was already thinking about thesecond one," says Wong. "But there were always objections from the government: we couldn't employ or apply to bring over too many Chinese. These trained chefs were being classed as semi-skilled workers by the immigration service."
He eventually found a way round this by employing chefs from Macao, where residents hold Portuguese passports. This discovery has lead to the Ripponden and York openings.
"My ambition was to try to create and maintain good Chinese cuisine," explains Wong. "If you don't have the basic background that these chefs have then it won't be the same.
"For us, we need those people to come here with their experience and, in return, we can show them how the outside world works," he continues. "We don't expect staff to work for us for a lifetime. If it's three or four years then I'm very happy because they can then take what they have learnt here back to China."
Wong's passion for Chinese food is apparent in a menu of more than 200 dishes. These range from dim sum such as pork and crab dumpling for £2.10 and beef cheung fun for £2.30 to main dishes such as shredded fillet steak Cantonese style for £10.30 or fried scallop and fillet of chicken in bird's nest for £10.10.
All the ingredients are fresh and when local suppliers can't provide what's needed then Wong or other staff bring it back from regular trips to Hong Kong - along with the latest recipes and menu ideas.
The promotion of Chinese cuisine in general is also one of Wong's interests. He is planning a nationwide chef's competition and is also looking into the possibility of a Maxi's recipe book. There is also a strong marketing drive behind the restaurants - one of the things Wong says most Chinese restaurateurs ignore. A comprehensive Web site, newsletters, celebrity openings and other events all combine in an effort to make Maxi's a destination venue that customers will, it is hoped, come back to again and again.
"It's all to make more people realise how Chinese food is cooked," he says. "In the past five years or more all the talk in this country has been about Indian curry. This is because Indian people are very good with English, make good contacts and have good publicity."
Chinese people, Wong says, are like his proverbial fox in the well: too insular and closed off. "If they have a small family business such as a take-away - then that's as far as they think. They don't have any desire to expand or create a bigger business. The majority don't have the confidence.
"We need to form associations or organisations that can work for us. You need that internal force to encourage everybody to do things and work together."
The next Maxi's developments are likely to be in Hull and Nottingham over the next two years. Edinburgh could also be a possible future location. And there are no prizes for guessing on what date new outlets will open.
But Wong has no desire for more than10 Maxi's in total. "I want to maintain that standard," he explains. "I don't want 50 for instance. Five to 10 sounds like the right number to me, I don't want Maxi's to be like McDonald's.
"I like to build up relatively gradually, I'm not just in it for the money. I need to put some money back into the business for the long term, I like building a good reputation with good food first."
Wong sums up his philosophy with another intriguing analogy.
"I always think that a catering businessis like a table," he says. "It's got four legsand if one of those legs is missing it doesn't stand up.
"First of all it's the right manager, secondly it's the chef and the kitchen, the third is the buyer getting the right ingredients and the fourth is location. With those things together it will be a success."
FACTS:
Maxi's Restaurant
6 Bingley Street, Leeds, LS3 1LX
Tel: 0113 244 0552 46-50
Oldham Road, Ripponden,Sowerby Bridge, HX6 4DN
Tel: 01422 825 880
Ings Lane, Nether Poppleton, York YO26 6RA
(latest opening)
Cost: £1.5m
Seats: 250
Covers: 300 a day
Average spend: £18-£20
