In 2015, Reynold Poernomo was touted as the ‘Dessert King’ when competing in Season 7 of MasterChef Australia.
He was also the only contestant in the history of the reality TV series to receive a perfect score during an immunity round with his now-infamous Passionfruit Sphere and Coconut Granita with Pineapple dessert.
Within five months post-MasterChef, he wasted no time with the launch of KOI Dessert Bar, Sydney’s first dessert bar, with his mother and two brothers.
In this article, he shares the values he upholds as a chef and how he built Sydney’s first and most popular dessert bar from the ground up.
How did the concept of KOI come about?
KOI is a family-run business and an abbreviation for Kids of Ike. Back in 2012, my mother, Ike Malada started a business right out of our garage supplying French macarons to cafes in Sydney.
In 2015, five months after my participation in MasterChef Australia Season 7, we launched KOI as a family.
What did you have in mind when you selected the location and vision for KOI?
Kensington Street is a newly developing area with great restaurants, art, and culture all housed within an old precinct.
My mum loves heritage sites so when she found this place, and the developer offered it to us, we had to jump on it. Plus it feels a lot like London.
Our vision for KOI is that ‘food is fashion’. What we wanted for KOI’s interior was a combination of elegance featuring elements of copper, black marble, and wood.
The interior’s purpose is to be welcoming, and for the colourful desserts to be the highlight. We also wanted this place to feel like home so my mother inserted her personal touch with flowers around the outlet.
What is KOI’s marketing strategy?
The exposure of MasterChef Australia is a key contributor. That is why we opened KOI within five months. There wasn’t any paid marketing when we started.
What is your advice on raising restaurant awareness, especially to those who do not have the benefits of TV exposure?
Use social media to tell your story; your journey from creating it and building it, to the concept behind it.
Your product must be your primary focus. If you believe that your product is good, you do not need to hard-sell it. The most popular places are sometimes the most discreet, or at least that’s true in Australia. A good example of this is Lune Croissanterie.
Word of mouth is the most definitive form of marketing — ever! Always start with in-house marketing. You cannot always come up with something new and gimmicky in F&B. You need your regulars.
It can be slow at the start, but once the momentum builds, it will have a snowball effect.
What did you learn when setting up your own business?
- When you are at the peak of your business, fix whatever you need to fix —such as maintenance works like repainting, kitchenware, tables, interior fixtures. When you are no longer at the peak, you will not have the finances to fix the imperfections.
- Let your product be your voice. Use social media to tell your story; your journey from creating it and building it, to the concept behind it. Let people know your story. People like stories.
- It is all about products and keeping the quality up – when an establishment’s interiors and menu are wearing down, the staff morality and the integrity of the business will also follow suit.
- The five-year lifespan – If you want to maintain a restaurant as it is without too much bleeding, five years is a healthy lifespan. If you keep going and do not evolve, there is a high chance that the business is going to start losing money.
What advice would you give those who want to open a dessert bar?
Get the concept right and make sure it is something that you are confident in. Rushing to open KOI was my biggest mistake.
We rushed the opening after MasterChef because we wanted to ride on the waves while it was still fresh.
The first two years were quite challenging because my food was not mature enough. But now it’s a lot better. Everything I’ve learned was self-taught. My food and concept have evolved, and I am happy where I am now.
As with any business, it’s gambling, basically – you are not sure whether people will like it or not. Test it out on friends and family first before opening.
Do not get hurt by criticism. Once you get hurt, you are going to change everything. Just stay strong and believe in your concept.
What are the biggest challenges of being in the F&B industry?
Staying afloat. At the outset, it might look pretty and rosy, but not all the time. You will have dark days. You do not know what the struggles behind the kitchen are.
We are not only chefs, we worry as a business every single day too. If it is a quiet day, we worry about the operational costs and whether there is enough to pay our staff while we, as owners, get what’s left at the end of the day.
You have to keep positive, target the right market, and continue creating, changing and evolving as a business.
This article first appeared on Set the Tables.
Set the Tables is positioned to inspire and educate those already in the industry as much as the aspiring reader who dreams of a future in the food business, and maybe even the merely curious tantalised by the vast and irresistible universe of food and drink.
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