Before it was a popular eatery serving up cheesecakes and pasta, Syarikat Cafe in George Town, Penang had been an office. An abandoned one, at that.
“We still recall the day when it all begun,” founders and couple William and Jolene recounted.
“We were telling our friends and family about our plan of converting this abandoned office into a cafe, a place of art, a habitat for plants, and most importantly a place for everyone. Their first reaction was the normal ‘can meh?’ face.”
Well, as it turns out, yes. Can.
William and Jolene were able to achieve this despite having zero culinary experience.
The two actually have a background in the creative industry, with William running an international wedding photography business (in the aforementioned office), while Jolene was the managing director of an event company.
That said, the two shared a common interest in starting an F&B business, sparked by their observations of the bubble milk tea craze. If people were willing to wait one to two hours to get a drink, surely there was an opportunity in the market for them to tap into, they thought.
As a start, they ventured into F&B with a small stall in a night market. Although this night market business didn’t perform as well as they’d hoped, it provided a valuable learning experience to the couple.
“There were times when we had to rush to set up our stall immediately after office meetings, which required us to quickly shift gears between two very different mindsets,” they shared.
At one point, they decided to scale up into a proper brick-and-mortar store. While searching for the perfect location to open their cafe, the idea struck them: why not turn this abandoned office into the cafe?
From abandoned building to bustling café
Having a unique selling point is crucial in running a business, especially in a saturated market. George Town is already home to many well-known cafes, so it’s no wonder why Jolene and William wanted to have a unique edge.
That’s why Syarikat leverages the fact that they transformed office space, which they abandoned after moving their operations to Kuala Lumpur, into a café in Penang.
You might think that the name of the business is a reference to its origins, and you’d be somewhat correct. But that’s not the only reason.
Beyond that, the couple also believes that because syarikat means company in Malay, the name would help represent how their space was designed for everyone, much like an office.
To transform the abandoned space into the trendy café it is today, the couple worked with a friend who provided significant help along the way.
“Zunwei shared a wealth of knowledge about coffee and beverages, and he also created the beverage menu for Syarikat, which we continue to use today as a way to honor and show respect to our friend,” they shared.
With his help, they began piecing everything together, doing much of the interior work themselves.
This includes designing a photo spot where the walls are covered with Chinese calendars. There’s also a wall featuring old typewriters collected from various locations in Malaysia.
After six months of hard work, the café was officially opened in 2019.
From cheesecakes to pasta
At first, Syarikat primarily sold nasi lemak with fried chicken, which was popular among customers. However, just when things were going well, the pandemic struck, forcing them to close the shop in March 2020, just three months after they had opened.
During the pandemic, they experienced a cycle of closing and reopening, leading to instability.
Instead of feeling down about it, they decided to shift their focus and conduct research on Basque burnt cheesecake.
Jolene was inspired by one of her favorite restaurants, named Tokyo Restaurant, renowned for its Basque burnt cheesecake. She was amazed at how a single slice of cake could contribute to such a successful business.
So, when they reopened in 2021, the couple shifted their focus to Western-style cuisine and introduced a variety of flavors of Basque burnt cheesecake. Lo and behold, they sold more than 20,000 pieces of their signature cheesecake in one year.
The cheesecake even brought in various celebrities, like the queen of Terengganu who visited them to enjoy it.
Continually striving to grow and maintain relevance, Syarikat began focusing on handmade pasta in 2022. While there were many Western food cafes, they noticed it was still challenging to find fresh pasta in Penang.
Most recently, they’ve launched their own tiramisu, to which the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
Since they stay open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, they hope to attract more late-night visitors, becoming a new go-to spot for those craving desserts in the nighttime.
Expanding the syarikat
Around five years into their business now, Syarikat has no plans of slowing down.
Jolene and William actually have bold ambitions for the business, including opening up a baking studio for visits and takeaways. This would be housed in a separate venue, though, which is rather exciting.
As for the existing Syarikat Cafe, the couple aims to venture into casual dining, where they plan to offer more creative dishes beyond just pasta.
Although there were many bumps in the road, like any syarikat worth its salt, the duo has been able to overcome them, and grow more resilient because of them.
Featured Image Credit: Syarikat Cafe
