Justin Cho, Head Chef at Noodle Box
On designing efficiency, finding solutions and delivering food quality.
QSR Media: What makes you excited about your position?
Justin Cho: I am the Head Chef and trainer at Noodle Box. I became Head Chef here just over a year ago and I’ve been part of the Noodle Box network for three years. What makes me the most excited about my position is the training of new chefs through the network. No two days are ever the same, and my challenges change from day to day. One of the biggest challenges is the training of franchise partners, particularly working with those franchise partners who both own their own Noodle Box restaurant as well as cook in it. We need to ensure our franchise partners cook to our Noodle Box standard, and it is my role to ensure that their skills match with ours. It’s immensely rewarding to see franchise partners improve through training, and watch them go on to become successful.
My role is all about designing efficiency but always ensuring we maintain our high quality. With our new promotions consistently rolling out there is always something new to think about, and new ways to improve the ways we do things.
QSR Media: What 3 goals are you focused on?
Cho: My first goal is delivering the vision of Noodle Box - to be the first choice in noodle based restaurants. This to me means delivering high quality product for our guests. I get involved in the menu selection, and discuss with the teams the best way to deliver the high end product we want to see on our menus. I come with new ideas, and sometimes the suppliers can also make great suggestions, about the type of food we should be putting on our menus. Because we are national it can be difficult to make sure we can get the same standard across the country. My focus is working with teams within and outside the business to find the best solutions.
My second goal is maintaining strong working relationships with our suppliers. Our suppliers become partners to the business and work with us test and create new meals. We try to build the relationships with our existing suppliers because we get the benefits of the purchasing power.
My third goal is delivering value. I am consistently focused on collaborating with our franchise partners. I make a point of visiting their restaurants to ensure we have consistency across our offering. We need to make sure that every time a customer goes into a Noodle Box they receive the same high quality, wok-tossed flavours they have come to expect. I am responsible for checking all of the restaurants across Australia, and working closely with the support managers to maintain our quality.
QSR Media: What long-term changes are you planning on?
Cho: The changes that are planned are already underway. Noodle Box has recently opened in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as well as having presence in Mauritius. We are going through big international expansion. But there are different taste profiles in these countries. We cannot use pork in KSA and so have to use alternative items. In addition, the KSA is an alcohol-free region and some of our sauce recipes include alcohol. We needed to find alternatives that replicate the rich and fresh flavours we’re known for, without using alcohol. We have to adapt our product to suit the environment. So we test products thousands of times to ensure the profiles are perfect.
QSR Media: What are your key business philosophies?
Cho: There are three factors to my business philosophy. First is delivering food quality. We are in the food industry; it is our business and should always be our number one priority.
My second pillar is about efficiency. It must be simple to replicate a high quality product that works operationally and has a great flavour profile. This is a never-ending challenge - creating great tasting meals that can be replicated with ease by our chefs and their teams.
My third pillar is guest service. In many noodle restaurants the chef can be the star of the show, and customers report that they do have their favourite chef and like to watch them cook for them. But it’s important to realise that the chef is serving a customer, and we encourage our chefs to put a priority on service and build a reputation with their guests. Being the star of the show can be a good thing, because then a chef puts extra care into their preparation of their dishes for their guests.
QSR Media: What previous positions prepared you for this one and how?
Cho: Fortunately, I have had a lot of experience at hospitality. My career started as a Food and Beverage attendant at Crown Plaza Hotel. I worked my way up and became a supervisor, and then later I completed an apprenticeship at an Italian restaurant. I have worked in fine dining restaurants all over the country.
It was a chance encounter with a teacher who had taught me through my apprenticeship who put me on the path I’m on now. He was working in a Noodle Box restaurant at the time and encouraged me to join the business. He hired me and I stayed on as a chef manager until I was promoted into the role I’m in now.
My experience both at back-of-house and front-of-house has given me a lot of appreciation of the conflicts that can exist. That’s why I like working at Noodle Box, we work together as teams to solve any problems. I like the brand and the working environment. We’re all about freshness and quick service. Everyone is casual and friendly, but hard working. It feels like a family thing.
