What do you do and how did you get into the industry?
Trincy was working in the banking sector whilst Robbie was a designer. We ventured into the F&B industry when we were introduced to specialty coffee by a close friend. Once we had a taste, we were totally hooked to it and decide to attend a course on it. We felt (as I believe many others cafe-owners do) that this is a business we can share passion together as a couple. Till today we think it’s a pretty good thing we started Milligram as we can iron out our differences diplomatically, the understanding and chemistry is really good.
Share with us an interesting story from behind the scenes.
We wanted to start a coffee house just selling coffees and a small selection of food. Ultimately, Malaysians are foodies at heart though so we expanded our menu. When we launched an array of comfort food, the response was good, so much so that there was this instance whereby we ran out of food and the front-of-house was still taking orders. We refunded and lost quite a few customers from that experience. Maybe this is what they call, “The more you sweat in preparation, the less you bleed in battle”.
What’s the best/ worst part of your job?
The worst part of the job is the accounts side, this is something that puts off a lot of creative work as it drags a fair amount of time. I suppose the positive side would be that you learn how to run a cafe in the process. The other is definitely HR; hiring the RIGHT staff is a tedious process, as we hope the staff share similar sentiments as we do. Many come and go but it’s also part of a process. At the end we also hope we can provide a platform for staff to grow and have a better career for themselves.
The best part of the job is to be able to serve and gain positive feedbacks from our patrons. Seeing them return because of good food and good service is really encouraging. With our current economy climate every returning customer is gold. Maybe through The Yum List platform we can also thank the patrons and friends that supported us during our down time. Love them!
What’s your favourite meal/ drink in Milligram?
The majority of the meals are our favourite as this is what we created from our home before. For both of us it would be the “Mother-porker Burger”. The sautéed caramelised onions is really the piece-de-resistance. We like our burger to have a pleasant munching experience throughout, hence, there are non-crunchy ingredients in it. Trincy’s favourite drinks are Houjicha Zero and Strawberry-banana Smoothie. Robbie’s are the Pop-black and flat-white. Yums!
What’s one of the wildest/ craziest/ scariest/ funniest/ most outrageous (choose an adjective or pick you own) things you’ve seen behind the scenes?
Haha! wildest/ craziest/ scariest/ funniest/ most outrageous would be working for a whole month (or two) in the cafe JUST THE TWO OF US WITH A COOK! Mission impossible on ground zero, a really crazy situation where we weren’t able to hire sufficient staff. A lot of customers saw that and it didn’t give them a very good impression but nonetheless that time has passed. Phew!
The perfect day off would be…
A good massage should suffice!
A day in the life of a entrepreneur is…
Sourcing, prepping, cooking, calibrating, setting, training, cleaning, washing, thinking of creatives, taking photos for Instagram…. a lot more, basically A to Z. You really have to love F&B to be in it; what we do, we expect the staff to do it. We don’t just sit at home and chill, we will be at the shop conducting checks!
What do you do for fun?
Funtime is scarce. Funtime would be bringing our the team for a cafe hopping session or badminton and a movie. Getting to know our staff and crew, build unity amongst them and us.
What’s something you’d like guests to know about Milligram?
That we are a venue serving an array of comfort food and specialty coffee. We care a lot about our food and drink; every dish and cup is served with care and made from scratch. We don’t cut corners. There seems to be a perception that cafe food is not good, doesn’t taste good or its made from the microwave. We have to change this perception when patrons walked into Milligram – a tough education course.
What’s your view on the food scene in the Klang Valley?
Malaysians are naturally foodies. The foresight will be great. We just hope the Ministries would pay more attention to tourism and F&B industry as there are so many opportunities and progress to be made. We also hope Malaysians would stop falling for gimmicks and trends; things like these will give you very negative vibes about food.
What’s in store for you in the upcoming months?
MORE GREAT COMFORT FOOD AND COFFEE!
They look like a great team!
Love Coffee, and cramilzed onion usual adds a good touch.
Coffee is on
Straight from the heart – I like their love and passion for what they do.
They seem like a very sweet couple.
Very nicely done! And they both look like wonderful people!
Great interview!
What a lovely couple.