TUXEDO HOSPITALITY

Paul: I was actually born and raised in Scotland. I spent the first three years of my career working in the fine dining field for some of the best chefs in the world. And then just naturally as a chef who wants to broaden their horizons across the world, I was like “Okay, where can I go that is incredibly far away, where I can be exposed to ingredients that I've never seen before?”. I'm going to go to Sydney. Not a day goes by where I don't pinch myself to say that was one of two, most important decisions in my life. There I was exposed to these super talented, authentic chefs from Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific. And for me, it was just pretty much a nosedive right in. So I worked in restaurants from Japanese, Chinese, Southeast Asian, Thai. Spent time in Bangkok. Then to take a jump back over the pond to New York when Eddy and Jeff reached out - that was the second of the most important decisions I ever made.

Eddy: And Andrew, with his background in corporate finance keeps the train on the track. It's all well and good for us to have big ideas… but to make that into a business is a different story.

Andrew: Everyone brings their own life experiences and perspectives to the table. My father, Jeff, raised me and we share a lot of similar values, but I've taken a different path in life focusing on financial management. And now I've come back and bought my unique experiences and skills. I think everyone has that to contribute and I think that's what makes everyone special. That's a very important part of why our team works so well together.

Jeff: With Tyger, we were 5 months into build when the shutdown happened. We didn’t know what the world would look like. COVID rules kept changing day by day. But we knew everybody's suffering. People are home... going crazy. We got to do something. Let's open it up. Let's do the best we can. Let's build the best outdoor space, spend the money. Everybody will come back to the city. Let's show them something. Show some hope.

Eddy: Actually, it’s a funny story. Initially our outdoor dining setup was more rudimentary than we know it to be today. That being said, if we wanted this space to be compelling, we had to treat it like a dining room. So we wanted to open the best pods. And this was September 2020, so it was a brand new thing. With opening any restaurant, it's a mad rush right up to the end. It's 10:30pm before launch and Andrew and I, last two, just finished installing canvas roofing on the pods. And it starts raining. Biblical rain. There must have been a thousand gallons of water, like a swimming pool.

Andrew: I'm on the phone with my Dad, and then the next thing you know, we started hearing cracking and Eddy's like, "Mate, get out there." And we run out and just watch the crash….

Jeff: I say, "Guys, sit tight. I'll be right there." Eddy was soaking wet. Andrew was soaking wet. In pouring rain we took apart the pods and re-assembled. We just laughed at the situation. "Eddy, you know what?" I said, "You see more waters coming down mountains." Because in Chinese tradition, water represents the flowing of money. I say, "It means so much money coming, we can't even handle it."

Andrew: And the next day we opened to 80 people. It was ridiculous it was our first ever service and it was all outside. We could have seen that as a disaster… but we adapted and overcame. And had some fun while doing it.