Artem Sagiryan rolls his eyes and pokes at a chopstick at a char sui bun. This doughy mass is currently causing difficulties: some customers are accidentally eating.
"We're looking at sourcing multi-coloured newspaper to put off people --it's a tricky one as to inform each and every diner to not eat the greaseproof paper could be a bit patronising," he says.
This dumpling conundrum highlights the problems of packing a market cuisine. Ping Pong has been trying to attract specialist teas and dim sum, cocktails and it hasn't been completely plain sailing.
The premium casual set submitted a 1.8m [pounds sterling] reduction in its fiscal year 2010/2011 and the subsequent year reassigned several of its central London rentals and mothballed its Currently state format near Liverpool Street Station (see The timing is (maybe not ) Currently panel). The cash was used to start a pair of websites in malls: initial a branch in Wembley London Designer and--early last month--a restaurant at Westfield Stratford.
Favorable and young Sagiryan has been engaged in the company since day one. His high-profile investment banker father, Igor, is the largest backer of Ping Pong and provided most of their capital for founder Kurt Zdesar to start the first website on the Great Marlborough Street of Soho. Best Ping Pong Robot/Table Tennis Robot And How To Choose
The concept has not changed considerably since the beginning: diners sequence of the group by ticking boxes on a long thin tally sheet in a manner. The menu is Chinese bar a few dishes and is very focused on dim sum, offering a cost point between premium and casual casual. Duos and trios and little plates of dim sum are between 3 [pounds sterling] and 5 [pounds sterling], although there are some special dishes around the 7 [pounds sterling] mark.
Zdesar decreased his funds in the business to fund projects and abandoned three decades later in 2007. Since then, the company was helmed by 2 distinct CEOs: Jean-Michel Orieux, currently chief executive of bakery chain Paul UK, and Paul Sarlas.
The latter left last year and soon afterwards Sagiryan was installed as interim CEO. He's worked throughout the Ping Pong company, first on the frontline with charms in the kitchen and on the ground though just in his early 30s, and latterly running his very own division. In between time-outs for an MBA and a short spell following in the footsteps of his dad as an investment banker at Russia, he's also held several head-office roles within the group, such as food and drink processes, IT and advertising, franchise and global marketplace support.
Sagiryan's job title may be CEO, but there are no plans to recruit above him. "It's a case of seeing how I get on. If I think I am not mature enough for the role or the business is not performing as well as it should, we will rethink," he says.
Many would agree that things are looking a little for Ping Pong, which currently operates nine London restaurants. Losses narrowed significantly year to [pounds sterling] and the group has hailed the start of a new era and declared its intention to attract dim sum after a decade of operating within the capital to a national audience.
"We've had a few bumps and bruises, but if we do not take actions we'll never learn to walk. Because they had been in the incorrect places, the sites we've disposed of were under-performing. James Horler [the former La Tasca chief executive that now works for Ping Pong as a consultant] and that I took the opinion that it'd be better to concentrate on places having a young, affluent demographic that offers solid weekday evening commerce and active days and nights at the weekend," states Sagiryan, that explains recently jettisoned sites in the City and Hampstead since the team's most obvious missteps.
Along with some locations, a challenge for the team has been the perception that it is a late night-orientated proposition. Websites are normally dark, modern and brooding events which bring to mind that the aesthetic of Blade Runner. While the rule book certainly hasn't been ripped up, the design in the two new websites is milder.
The Westfield Stratford division --our interview location--effectively compromises the edginess of the brand with feasibility. The light is nicely balanced, there are bright turquoise banquettes along with the tables are of wood instead of dark lacquer. It is not Pizza Express, but those who pass by will not mistake it for a closed nightclub in lunchtime.
Sagiryan hints that websites will be provided a similar look, however, the focus will be on new branches for the moment. An knowledge in Bristol has generated its growth strategy to be revised last year while Ping Pong announced a national rollout.
"We were invited to have a nose around Bristol from the city council - https://www.plurk.com/Pingpongstart. We thought Cabot Circus [a mixed-use improvement home to quite a few big restaurant brands] could be perfect, but after spending a Friday there we're not so convinced," says Sagiryan, who's surprisingly candid about his regional reservations.
"There's a great deal of foot traffic, but the majority of the restaurants aren't that busy. We're now looking at cities that have a crowd that eats out close to where they work--such as Manchester and Birmingham. It seems Bristol city center workers are very likely to leave for the suburbs straight. We need to be cautious and take an analytical strategy --we've made enough mistakes."
Despite all these concerns over growth, Ping Pong can be expected to take its first steps towards becoming a national brand soon. The group is hoping to open yet another restaurant before its financial year ends in three at 2016-2017, April 2015, two in 2015-2016 and five in 2017-2018. In particular, Sagiryan is currently eyeing two London opportunities --a location at the O2 Arena complex in Greenwich and a site in the forthcoming Battersea Power Station development.
Cash flow will funds new branches, but there will be some small bank involvement too.
There are now two company-owned divisions in Washington DC: four Ping Pong restaurants trading internationally and franchises in Mumbai and Dubai. Last year saw the closing of two restaurants in Brazil along with expansion in India's speed has been intended.
Deals in territories are off the table for the moment Even though Sagiryan will continue to support present franchisees and think of partners in India and the UAE. "It's primarily a resource allocation issue. The attention will be for the foreseeable future on the united kingdom. Paul Sarlas believed the franchises could grow like mushrooms. I really don't think that is true with full-service restaurants because they require big investments as well as the property selection process needs to be meticulous."
The Washington DC sites are run by a separate US-based management group and do"OK", considering the financial problems the town's restaurant scene is presently facing.
Back in the UK, Sagiryan sees his primary focus, together with expanding the group, as building on his brand credentials. "We were one of the very branded groups to truly push premium cocktails and we wish to capitalise on that by incorporating much better spirits at some locations," he says. "We also need to ensure the sites continue to seem premium --we did contemplate a new look that would demand less capital cost, but determined it would be a little off-brand."
Average spend per head at the restaurants is 18 [pounds sterling] web of service and VAT, putting Ping Pong within the end of this bracket that is premium-casual. Sagiryan says his meals margins are"typical": ingredients are not particularly costly, but with all dim sum produced by hand, labor costs are high in Ping Pong's company-run-production kitchen.
A kitchen has been hard-wired from the beginning of the brand into the business model of the group. Tiny service kitchens that permit the restaurants to reevaluate trading places continue to be an important part of the Ping Pong formula today and were a part of the original blueprint of Zdesar.
New cooking programs, including a barbecue (https://ok.ru/bestpingpongtablepaddlerobot), have been introduced but the menu still revolves round fried, baked and steamed dishes, making the food easy and fast to get out with labour costs than restaurant installments.
Located inside the reaches of London, nearly all the food offered within its London estate is produced by the Ping kitchen. In contrast to the restaurants, the device is based heavily on a Chinese workforce. The choice of adding an evening change means the kitchen may quickly grow with the group since it expands up to approximately 40 locations.
It remains to be seen whether it will be held by Ping Pong product scope back from considerable growth. Dim sum may be well recognized in London, but it's far from being a mainstream group. While Sagiryan accepts a lack of consumer understanding is a barrier to expansion at present, he believes that his cause will be helped by the success of other market cuisines.
"We love to specify it as Chinese tapas, which chimes with the cocktail that offers," he states. "Dim sum is a niche, but so was sushi 10 years ago, and look how far a certain brand in that distance has come."
THE TIME IS (NOT) NOW
Ping Pong launched its brand that was state Now in 2011 at a prime location just. The format served dim sum alongside many of Chinese road food-inspired items, like soups, noodles, rice bowls and just a hamburger, in a slightly lower price point than its full size sibling.
The new was short lived and was closed late last year. "We exchanged Now for a couple of years on a trial basis and we've learnt a great deal from it," states CEO Artem Sagiryan. "The format is much more suited to food courts since that particular City place didn't generate sufficient dinner or breakfast sales--individuals are uncomfortable with Chinese food at breakfast and don't wish to eat meals with chopsticks on trains. A variety of parties are interested in the idea, including a private investor."
Sagiryan is eager to stress he has not turned his back Now, but is realistic about his chances of converting the wider UK people to the pleasures of morning dining. "We did attempt to introduce some more breakfast dishes in both Ping Pong and Now, but it's pretty much impossible to have westerners into a Chinese restaurant before midday," he says. The company will have a look at bolting on a breakfast offering if space is taken by brand in an airport or other appropriate transportation hub.
