YOI is a delightful Indonesian-fusion restaurant. YOI – translated to mean ‘yes!’ – serves Indonesian fusion delicacies using traditional family recipes, importing and making their own spices in-house.
What inspired you to start YOI?
DION: Since we were young, I always loved to cook and bake for friends and family. Michael and I were inspired to start the business as we wanted to share our strong affinity with Indonesian cuisine and showcase traditional but modern flavours in an upbeat dining setting.
MICHAEL: At the end of 2018, in Indonesia there was this massive hype and demand for Salted egg dishes, like the original INDOMIE Salted egg instant noodles. We wanted to try make our own sauce, as we believed it could be improved. During the summer break of 2018, Dion and I travelled around Asia on a food safari, exploring other salted egg variations.
DION: I took things I liked and disliked, creating my own special sauce. This led to the creation of our signature Salted Egg Chicken. I produced this dish for friends and family, and they were shocked at how good it tasted. This really motivated us to open a restaurant -which is now called YOI.
We wanted to open a restaurant that is both affordable and comfortable for customers to enjoy, that includes traditional flavours. Secondly, we saw that there weren’t many Indonesian restaurants here in Melbourne. We wanted to offer a unique Indonesian experience for locals and visitors to Melbourne to enjoy.
Lastly, we designed YOI to be minimalistic and modern to represent it in a way that is fresh and attractive.
Describe a typical workday for you.
DION: On the way to the restaurant, I usually stop to buy ingredients that are needed. Usually I arrive at the restaurant around 9AM to prepare for opening at 11:30 AM. This includes cooking all the different sauces and briefing everyone for the day. During peak hours I monitor the kitchen, ensuring all dishes are served correctly to the customer.
Throughout the day I usually go around the city to meet with suppliers or media partners, and if needed buy equipment or ingredients that are in shortage. On days when I have University, I pop in and out of the restaurant to go to classes and lectures.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business?
MICHAEL: One piece of advice that we recommend when starting any business is reviewing feedback from others. Listening with curiosity and always finding areas where improvement is needed. We always listen and review our negative feedback from our customers and attend to improvements quickly, so mistakes do not repeat. To us this is the most important thing as we are always looking at ways we can improve the experience at YOI.
You’re juggling University and hospitality. How do you get it all done?
DION: Juggling studies and running a business is a huge challenge that require exceptional time management and organisation skills.
We have to be very organised and regimented in allocating time for both University studies and work tasks. From the beginning we made a promise to each other to ensure we both keep each other on top of balancing work, study and family and friends time. This is important as it ensures that we don’t focus on work too much and have time for the other key things in life.
