We recently connected with Michael Kitano and have shared our conversation below.
Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Growth is exciting, but from what we’ve seen across thousands of conversations with entrepreneurs it’s also dangerous if costs aren’t watched closely – sometimes costs can grow out of control outpacing revenue growth and putting the viability of the entire business at risk. How have you managed to keep costs under control?
Being a Chef and business owner, keeping costs under control is extremely difficult especially in these uncertain times. With supply chain issues and inflation who knows what the next day brings. Could it be helpful or could it be worse than last week? This is what a lot of people do not understand. The costs of dining out did rise a bit because of these issues.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a creative culinary professional with 15+ years experience specializing in fusing cuisines together. An expert in sauce preparation and execution winning the 2018 Los Angeles Sauce Off, winning the 2021 Orange County Fair Sauce division and winning the 2022 Los Angeles County Fair Sauce division. An avid fair competitor winning awards in the Orange County Fair (2015, 2019, 2021) and in the Los Angeles County Fair (2018, 2019, 2022). Culinary school graduate, self taught pit-master, and California Certified Food Handler and Manager. 4 Years volunteer Chef at Venice Free Methodist Church. Chef Mentor via C-Cap Los Angeles mentoring students from various high schools in Los Angeles and Ventura County.
Currently I own and operate a local pop-up/catering company which travels to different breweries serving food. I think my food is different from a lot because of my ability to fuse different cuisines together and not stick with the same cuisine for different events. I’ve been featured in other publications as well as my local newspaper.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
In doing pop=ups there’s always going to be ups and downs. You do not control those people who visit said breweries and whether they eat or not. You just have to keep trucking along and persevering. A good idea is to have pop ups close to each other to avoid food waste. The dish you had made for one might sell at the next. If not, then you do a neighborhood pop up at a discount price.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I currently work as a paralegal after leaving the food industry back in the early 2000’s. Mainly due to me being burnt out and tired of how people treated people in the industry. The “chef” is almighty and everybody below him/her are peasants? I think not. However when I was asked to help out a local church’s kitchen, I started to relight my culinary flame. Turns out the food industry nowadays isn’t how it used to be. I feel it’s more easy going versus the cutthroat days.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hapameals.com
- Instagram: @hapa_meals
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hapa-meals-los-angeles?osq=hapa+meals