How to Take Over Your Parent's Restaurant in Five Easy Steps

Ah, I'll walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on the past. I'm so fortunate to be here. Anajak Thai is 43 years old. I'm 38 years old. How does that make sense? My restaurant is older than me. It's like having a house that's older than you or an older sibling, you know? Just by show of hands, anyone, I know some, have taken over their parents' business, bakery, restaurant? Huh? Anyone? Yes? Give it up for this person right here. Woo! I don't envy you. But I feel you. And I empathize with all of you that have done that. I often wonder why it doesn't happen in America more often. I actually, I just think about that. I'm driving. I'm like, why don't people do this more often? And then I look at myself and I'm like, that's why. You know? Like, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's kind of challenging. But perhaps we believe that we can become independent or independently wealthy within one generation. And so we kind of leave the past behind because we're like, this is my life. I got this thing. I'm going to do it and forget what mom and dad did. I always kind of like that myself. Um, it's the restaurant. Um, it's the restaurant. And this is, this is me and dad. Dad had a stroke five years ago, six years ago now. Uh, and, um, he's a really, really good cook. I mean, I'll never cook on the walk as good as he can. It's just his movements and everything. And all he wants to do is do that again. And he can't. Um, you know, but it stays in my mind and my memory and hopefully my muscle memory, his muscle memory is kind of like mine, hopefully, or the other way around. Okay. So this is the talk. How to take over your parents' restaurant in five easy steps. Let's do it. It's so simple. It's only five steps. Oh, wait. Easy redacted. Okay. Okay. No, my father achieved the American dream. Um, I, I'm proof that he achieved, I'm the product of the American dream. He came here when he was a young man. And, uh, they never asked me if I wanted to take over the restaurant. Never. But I sat there and I watched them do it for all these years. And, um, and something kind of sparked in me, you know, this unexplainable something, you know? Um, but I had my own thing, right? I wanted, the independence thing that I was talking about. Um, I became an artist, kind of born a painter. Um, you know, I became an art director, uh, conceptual artist for, for Disney. You can look it up. Anyways. I was gonna, I was gonna, I was gonna, it's great, great place. Um, and I learned a lot there. Um, but when I came back to the restaurant, I had so much to learn. Dad had his stroke in May, and the next day, I basically left my job, and I was cooking on the walk the next day, trying to remember, how would he do this? What's the, you know, I was looking at his recipe cards. I should have put it up. Um, there was one, it's for tamarind sauce, and it says, 25 scoops of sugar. What is a scoop? So I called Dad. Dad, what the hell is a scoop? You know? We converted all the recipes, don't worry. It's all them grams now. Um, and, I had to earn the trust of the team. They'd been working for Dad for like 20 years. And they're, um, so talented. But they didn't really trust me. So I thought that I would, um, try to earn their love the old school way, which is tacos. I was like, okay, I, I, I got this. You know, look up all this books and stuff. And, uh, anyways, I made carnitas. I made a fee of the pork in this broken oven. And then I cut some nice tortillas. And, and the guys were like, hey, this is pretty good. You know, maybe this, maybe this dude knows what he's doing. Um, and that's kind of how, uh, Taco Tuesday was born. Thai Taco Tuesday. TTT. Oh, this is Dad, by the way, when he was standing. I know. He's making a crab in this picture. There's celebrities on the wall. If anyone can name any one of these. Huh? Can anyone name any? Oh, the Fonz! Oh, my God, yeah. He's here twice, by the way. I just love him. I love him, you know? Um, yeah. So, I did Thai Taco Tuesday. And then my mom goes, what are we, Mexican restaurant now? I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no. And then we did a 26-course omakase. Insane. Just off of whim, we were doing this every month. And then she goes, omakase? Now we're a Japanese restaurant? I'm like, no, no, no, mom. Like, don't worry, you know? And she's like, okay, okay. And then now there's 600 skews of wine in this tiny little place. And she goes, oh, we're a wine bar now? I was like, no, no, no. I guess we, are we, I don't know. You know? So, it's kind of this multiple personality disorder type place. You know? You can feel it. It's like Picasso. It's like you're looking at two things in three different views. We changed the culture, too. This kind of chef culture at the same time. And a lot of people ask me, how did I do it? You know? How did it become such a sensation? And actually, one of the speakers in the back, she was like, you have to tell me how you did it because I want my, I want my son to take over for me. And I was like, I don't know. Because I watched them, you know? I watched them as a kid. I watched them through the recession, 2007, 2008. Then they opened on Mondays. There were seven days a week. It was just the two of them. And I looked at them. And they're older, you know? My parents are older. My dad's 75 now. I felt the mortality of them. I felt like I had to do something. And, but you know what I believe? I believe that because I came from this different industry, so I kind of feel like an outsider and an insider at the same time. I feel that creativity is, it's kind of like money. It's fungible. You move it from one place to another place, and you can just transfer that energy. You know? However you want. If you're really smart about it. Oh shit, there's nine minutes left. Okay, I didn't tell this story to René, if you're listening. But René, when you were doing that work in progress book, and you came for a tour to LA, he came to this little bookstore on my birthday. And I took it as a sign. This is 2013, that I should do something. I should go meet him. I hadn't worked at the restaurant yet. But I felt that his inspiration was so wide-reaching. So I made this little magazine. And it was photos that I had taken of my chef friends. And it began and it ended with my parents. And it asked, the book is very short little paragraphs. And it just asked a very simple question, which is what's going to happen when they're gone? What's going to happen to the recipes? What's going to happen to the stories, the smells, the muscle memory, you know? And I gave him that book. And I don't know where that book is. But inside of it was like a little, my CV. And I was like, I'd love to, you know, do something here in Copenhagen with you one day. I don't think he knows that. It's in there, though. But now we're this kind of like symbol of legacy in LA. And I guess that there's some pressure involved in that. So I feel like when you go into the space, you see this tension between what feels like an old neighborhood tie spot and a very new spot. It's very loud. We play a very interesting and curated playlist that Kelsey makes for us. And we serve very interesting, compelling wines that really reflect who we are as well. And the people are really vibrant at the same time. I think the number one rule or step in taking over your parents' restaurant is probably to argue with them. Yes, really. Because you can't let them walk over you. You got to let your voice be known. And they got to let their voice be known. Because it's about moving forward. You got to walk backwards, but walk backwards together with them, right? But if the first rule is to argue with them, then the second rule is in some ways to seek advice from them. Because actually, they're kind of right much of the time. And I'm going through this moment right now in the renovation of Anajak. You know, it's like a 70-year-old building. Everything is breaking. You know, and I talk to my friends in London, you know. And they're like, our building is 500 years old. You can't move any of the bricks. What are you complaining about? But I'm kind of sentimental about, like, where the walk is, you know. They're like, contractors, like, would you like to move the walk a little bit? I'm like, no, don't move the walk. It has to stay exactly right there. The feng shui is totally correct right there. Don't move it, you know. So I know we're all about innovation and the future and all this change and stuff here. But I'll be honest with you. I'm like, I'm kind of scared of that change. Just a little bit. I would be lying if I said, at Anajak, it's change, change, change, change, change all the way. But there's been some good things with that change, you know. Here's a picture of TTT. It's kind of wild. You guys should come. I brought home the beard medal from my mom. You know, she's on the mango sticky rice station. That's all she does now. She just cuts mangoes. She's, like, really good at cutting mangoes, you know. She's like, you only treat me as the mango lady. I'm like, because you're the mango lady, mom. So I put the medal on her. And literally within two minutes, there's just smears of mango. everywhere on the medal. I'm like, it's okay. You know, it's yours. Hold me. I'm just going to blast through some of these images. I think they're kind of fun. This is the kitchen, by the way. It's tight. It's a three-hole walk. Chef Peter right there. He's been with us 23 years. 23 years. Pretty great. He's really good. And that's mom in the mango room. She's so cute. She's so cute. She said, say hi to Renee for me. He's my buddy. So, you know what's funny? I realized this. I was just counting. My dad started the restaurant when he was 33. And I took over when I was 33. It's crazy. Yeah, right? Symbols? You know, maybe. And so, my question to you guys is, what do I need in order to take it? You know, Anna Jack turns 44 in July. So, what do I need in order to take it to the next 44 years? Right? They were saying, 50 years. Let's do another 50. 50 years. I'm like, whew. But I'm thinking about the same thing. These questions. And you know, like, the big... Oh, yeah. There's a stump right here. This is like the giving tree, by the way. You know the story. It's very much similar to this whole thing. And I think about that. I hate that book. That book sucks. Because it's so true. It's so honest about how they've... How my parents have thought about the restaurant. You know? My dad's like, it's the only thing I ever care about is the restaurant and my 280ZX Datsun. And these two things are yours. But after that, like, you know, you got it. But I really do feel this way that they've given me the tools, you know, to take it to the next 44 years. And I'm just so thankful for that. And I'm so thankful. Oh, yeah. This is Auntie. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Auntie, it's weird. Because she used to play hide and seek with me at the restaurant. I'd be, like, underneath these tables. And she'd, like, be like, all right, Justin, where are you? And now she's carrying caviar with mango sticky rice in an alley somewhere in Sherman Oaks. And now I'm her boss, which is really funny. But she's seen it. Employee number one. She's seen it through every single change. And she's stuck with me the entire time. You know? And I look at her and her hair is getting whiter every year. And I'm starting to get scared. Like, oh, God, oh, God, what's going to happen when Auntie isn't going to work anymore and she's going to retire? Like, you know? I don't have an answer. You know? Maybe you guys can help me out. Oh, this is the team, by the way. There she is. There's mom and dad. Anyways. So I'm so fortunate that they've given me the tools and that I get to share the story here with you guys today. Thank you so much. Thank you.