Host (00:05)
it's kind of neat for them to hear the journey of people. ⁓

Matthew (00:08)
Yeah, yeah,

definitely. Mine is kind of a little bit weird. I was born and raised in Calgary. I lived there my entire life kind of thing. then

There's not too much going on there. It was just a regular kind of childhood. Went to the University of Calgary, as I heard you did as well on one of other podcasts. And graduated with business degree. Yes. Yeah. So I was really debating with myself after high school. I like, what should I do? What courses should I take? And like, what degree should I get kind of thing? So I was struggling between engineering and business.

Host (00:29)
did you?

so you had you were a good student. You had good marks.

Matthew (00:43)
Yeah, high school I was super motivated. I was like, it was like one of those Asian parents kind of things. The pressure to to do good in school, be, to piano lessons, do this and like a bunch of extra extracurricular stuff. So in high school, throughout elementary, junior high, high school, I was kind of like, like my options for high school were physics, chemistry and bio. my goodness. then calculus for

So I was a real go-getter when I was in high school.

Host (01:10)
Well and with all that extracurricular sounds like you just had a full schedule,

Matthew (01:15)
Yeah, but was definitely, I still enjoyed everything. was a good childhood and that kind of thing. And then I decided on business just because I like money. So I might as well just do that. And then I realized that business is really not about money. It's more about making other people money. So and counting it and making sure everything matches and that kind of thing. it's just that.

wasn't quite what I expected. But I was just also kind of following what my father had done. was a... Both my parents are lawyers. So I thought I would be business, masters, go to law school kind of thing. But as I kind of got older, got more independent, got crazier kind of thing, I decided maybe that's not the path that I wanted to do. So...

kind of diverted from that and decided to go different route. So just kind of going back to like what you had asked about like different jobs I had done as well. started pretty young. I was probably like 13 and I was doing summer jobs, that kind of thing. I remember the first terrible job I had was I worked in a vineyard. We had a summer house in Saturna Island.

Host (02:16)
Where's that?

Matthew (02:17)
It's off the coast of Vancouver. It's in between Vancouver. It's in the Gulf Islands. it's one of the larger the largest of the Gulf Islands, but the smallest population. So they had a vineyard there and I was tying up vines and it was in the sun and bright, bright sun. It was just terrible. It's like not fun. So that was.

Host (02:37)
It's long

hours.

Matthew (02:38)
It was really bad. So did that for a little bit and then I worked in their bakery. They had a bakery there. So that was a lot of fun.

Host (02:45)
Did you get to learn like you were actually baking?

Matthew (02:47)
No,

I was the bread slicer and the packer.

Host (02:51)
OK.

Well, still, all those, you know, you're young. Those are the entry level.

Matthew (02:56)
Exactly,

yeah. And then I also did, they had a small bistro. So we were there every summer for like the entire summer. instead of just playing around and doing that kind of stuff after, of course I did that thing stuff as well, but I also...

took on part-time jobs. So I was a dishwasher as well, had a little bistro there. And that was a lot of fun. It was kind of interesting to see. And that was kind of my first entry into the culinary restaurant world kind of thing. And then after high school and I went into university, I'm really an introvert. So I kind of want to force myself to get out of being like that kind of, I want to.

Host (03:19)
.

Matthew (03:33)
be more of an extrovert. So I decided I wanted to be a server. So I started serving when I was 18. And then I kind of forced myself to kind of get myself out there, kind of be more comfortable talking with people, that kind of thing. ⁓ I mean, first it was super awkward and unnatural. And then once I got used to it, I was kind of like the crazy.

Host (03:48)
How did that go?

Matthew (03:55)
crazy center of attention kind of guy. absolutely nuts. then, yeah, so it really helped a lot. But then you get tired because it's not who you naturally are kind of.

Host (04:05)
Right.

You're kind of putting on a show every sh- ⁓

Matthew (04:08)
Yeah, exactly.

It was a good experience and then it helped a lot with how for the future kind of thing like that. But yeah, so I worked in a Japanese restaurant as a server throughout university and it paid really well. Like the tips were nuts. It was enough to cover

my rent and then all my expenses in just two or three weekends. A week kind of thing. But then living that lifestyle also had its downturns. I kind of turned into that rebel without a cause kind of thing. Got kicked out of my parents' house and then...

Still went to school, still went to university, did all that stuff, but then I started doing what most people in the industry do when they're young and dumb. So was a lot of drinking, a of partying, a lot of having fun. And then that kind of helped me also break out of my shell as well, but then also...

like had its negative effects. I went from that A student to like, oh, you know, I just need to pass to get a degree kind of thing. And then it got really bad at one year where I went from being one of the, from being a good student. And then all of a sudden it was dropping down to like the B, C level kind of thing. And I was called into the, the, called into a counselor and they're like, if you don't bring your marks back.

Host (05:21)
This at university? Yeah, university. Oh wow.

Matthew (05:24)
then this is gonna be your last semester kind of thing. So I'm like, okay, fine. So I kind of got my stuff together and then went back and got my grades back up to back into the 3.0 kind of GPA. It was like, it went from like a 3.3, then it dropped down to like a 2.9, I think at its worst. That's just like, Then, yeah, after that, after I graduated university,

Host (05:42)
Yeah. ⁓ boy.

Matthew (05:50)
the same restaurant that I was working at, they started expanding a lot. it's, I'm not sure you're from Cal, or you were in Calgary. Are you familiar with Kinjo? No. It's like.

Host (06:01)
I lived in residence on campus and then was like a don in residence, which was a very interesting year, I lived the lifestyle of always walking so I stayed my footprint was very close to the to the university. Yeah, yeah Or the C-Trading line

Matthew (06:16)
It started off like a small little kaiten sushi. It's like the sushi boat style.

airboat kind of thing. Yeah, so it was like that. That was like where it started. Then they, we grew so quick and then really, really big. expanded to a big location where it was like 200 seats, 250 anything. That was the second location.

Host (06:33)
Whoa! Yeah!

Matthew (06:36)
So I moved up from server, became supervisor, and then when I graduated university, they just kept throwing money at me, like, here, just like you do this kind of stuff and like more responsibility. So I'm like, okay. And then I eventually became the manager and the general manager of the that location. And I helped them open the third location with training and everything like that. And then it's kind of like a turning point of like, I was making lot of money, I was young and dumb. And then

I like, is this really what I want to do though with the rest of my life? And then also we had conflicting personalities or I didn't agree with what he was doing a lot of the time. So it's just, I decided I was going to quit. And then after that is when I decided that I'm going to move to Japan.

Host (07:18)
Very cool.

Matthew (07:20)
Instead of doing

the... I wanted to learn how to cook. Like I was always interested in cooking. And then I was like, we're being in the restaurant industry just always eating good food or going out to good food. So I decided if I'm gonna learn how to cook, I want to it in Japan. So the easiest way for me to get a visa to go to Japan was the becoming an English teacher.

So I worked as an English teacher in Japan in a smaller town outside of Kyoto. So I lived in Kyoto but I worked in, it's called Seta. It's a smaller town just outside of Kyoto.

and I was teaching kindergarten. I was a preschool kindergarten teacher. And it was so much fun. I absolutely loved playing with the kids, but teaching them was just a headache. It was just terrible, but I loved everything else about it. It was just the best.

Host (08:06)
But now were

you raised bilingual? Like,

Matthew (08:08)
know.

My parents are super, super whitewashed. It's like, I'm super Canadian mind. I didn't speak any Japanese. I took it in university. But I was, again, not the best student at that time.

Host (08:11)
Okay.

Were they Canadian born?

Matthew (08:21)
I'm actually on fourth generation so great grandparents were the ones that came to

Host (08:23)
Fourth-generation

Matthew (08:27)
Yeah, so I'm pretty Canadian.

Host (08:29)
Yeah.

That's cool. That's cool. Yeah.

Matthew (08:31)
It was really interesting seeing my grandparents and my great grandparents talking because my great grandparents didn't really speak English, but they understood it. And then my grandparents didn't speak Japanese, but they kind of understood it. So they'd be talking in English, but then my grandparents or great grandparents would be responding in Japanese and this kind of... I was just sitting there confused the entire time. Didn't know what was going on. I was young. I didn't care. But yeah, so...

Host (08:42)
instead of...

Thank you. ⁓

Yeah.

Matthew (08:57)
Yeah, being fourth generation but moving to Japan, I didn't really speak the language. I met some really cool people. I lived in like a hostel for the first little while I was there. Just because it was the most affordable thing. was the only way I could really live there. Yeah. It's so expensive. But then I met the owner of the hostel, was friends with the owner of a restaurant. And then that...

That's kind how I got introduced to the restaurant owner. And then he kind of explained my situation, like I want to learn how to cook. And then it was a lot of pressure. I just kept pressuring him, like, can I work here, please? I just want to learn kind of thing. So eventually he let me work for him, and like apprentice kind of situation. So.

After I would work in the daycare, or not daycare, sorry, the preschool in the mornings from like 6 a.m. till 3, I would go to the restaurant 4 o'clock, 5 o'clock start and then work until like 10.

Host (09:52)
those are long, long days. ⁓

Matthew (09:54)
pretty rough,

then, I mean, that's what I wanted to do. And then I got to a point where it's just like, I couldn't teach the kids anymore. was just too much for me. It's just not in my world kind of thing.

Host (10:05)
Once again, you're on performance all day because you have to be an extrovert when you're a teacher.

Matthew (10:10)
Yeah,

exactly. And then it was just like, that's not naturally me. I'm like a, I swear like a sailor and then I've got tattoos that I had to cover up and then it was just terrible. It just like so much fun, but it was just, it was draining me so much. So after a while I quit that and I worked full time at the restaurant.

Host (10:31)
And when you say you worked at the restaurant, did you actually get to be in the back, like in the kitchen?

Matthew (10:35)
Yeah, I in the kitchen. didn't get to cook for the first few months. was pretty much the only job I had for the first few months was just cutting. Not even prep. Green onion. Until it was thin enough and consistent enough that he was happy. And then the rest of the time was just watching him. Wow. How he did stuff. I got to wash rice. That kind of thing. And then.

Eventually he slowly added more stuff on and more stuff on and kind of like that.

Host (11:03)
Did you have to ask to get more responsibility or do you wait for?

Matthew (11:07)
Just waiting for him to...

I remember I was just cutting green onion and he said, okay cut this. And I said okay. And I watched him enough times that I kind of knew how to do it so I would do it. And then he just kept adding more stuff. And then he's like, okay cook this one. And then okay I get to cook this. I actually get to touch a frying pan kind of thing. And then...

He just kept growing from there and then by the end of it, I was cooking his entire menu. I was helping him add stuff to the menu. I remember there's one time we both, I think we both watched the same TV show in Japan and the next day we both had the same idea to add it to the menu. So we were both like super excited, went to the grocery store together and like we're getting all the ingredients and like putting our own little twists onto it and stuff like that. like after that, like he seemed to trust me a lot more.

Yeah, was pretty, there's a couple of times that he would just get drunk and then he'd just let me cook everything close.

Those were my favorite days. It's just like I get to actually do everything kind of thing.

Host (12:04)
What was it like coming from... I've never been to Japan. Coming from living in Calgary, which is kind of... Well, it's Calgary. What was it like living in Japan all of a The culture difference.

Matthew (12:15)
Yeah exactly.

It was pretty intense, yeah, the culture shock was like really, really like you don't know what you're really doing. You don't really understand what's going on. I didn't speak the language. I had a lot of friends that had met in Calgary. Like I worked with them at the Japanese restaurant and they moved back to Japan kind of thing.

I remember the first night I actually landed in Osaka, my friend came to pick me up and then I had a hotel, really nice hotel I thought that was booked and we were gonna chill, hang out and like go for drinks, have a good night kind of thing and just go back to the hotel. And then we go to check into the hotel and he looks really really confused and he's like, are you sure this is the address? I'm like, yeah. And then he's like, okay. And then we go inside and he's like, yo bro, this is a love hotel. I'm like, what the hell's that kind of thing? I have no idea what you're talking about.

Like people just come here to do Do stuff like couples would come here to do things like they can't do at home kind of thing. Yeah Oh, and then we go to the front counter and then the lady looked at us and then they were speaking Japanese I didn't know what's going on and then like she's like looking at us really Weird and then she's like my my bro just starts telling me like no, no, no, let you go. Let you go and then I asked what was going on. She's like, oh, they don't really let like

Two males together going in kind of thing and I had to explain that we're not and then he's like What's going on and then yeah, so he went home of course that night and then I Mean the hotel room was super nice big king-size bed jacuzzi But it's super super cool, but I mean things like that. It's just like you don't know what you're doing kind of thing and then You just learn as you go

Host (13:41)
I'm Canadian, I don't understand.

that's so wild. so how long were you in Japan for?

Matthew (14:03)
about two years a little bit more and then yeah so I met my wife there as well

So go back, pre-pandemic we were going back more often, more frequently. after that it's kind of like not as much kind of thing. wife is Japanese. She lived a couple of cities over and met through, it was actually a language exchange app.

And then she was actually interested about moving abroad kind of thing and just kind of asking questions and then like that kind of thing. And then we just kind of started hanging out and then brought her back to Canada.

Host (14:34)
Very cool.

Did you know you always wanted to come back to Canada? Or was there a point when you were over there where you're like, I could I could stay here.

Matthew (14:43)
It's kind of like that both it's like man, I would love to stay here but then at the same time working the restaurants there Especially with that kind of apprenticeship kind of style. It's like I was making no money It was just enough to pay my rent Yeah, just enough to barely survive like my diet there was pretty much rice and natto for breakfast every day and then that was it Whatever leftovers I got from the restaurant. Yeah,

of course I wanted to come back and I wanted to do something in Canada. Like I had this idea, actually the whole food truck idea was in my head from when I was 18. The whole concept, yakitori and everything was in there. moved back to Calgary with my, I brought my then girlfriend, my wife, and then.

Host (15:14)
get out! Really?

Matthew (15:24)
She hated it. The weather was terrible. We needed a car. was cold. She didn't really like big big cities and it was just so spread out. Yeah exactly. So we were looking for a compromise. Like I wanted to stay up in the mountains. I love hiking. And then she wanted to be close to water. So we were looking around. We were originally looking at Campbell River. And then we both loved that place but then it was just like...

Host (15:32)
It's just suburbian, everything.

Okay.

Matthew (15:50)
It's so expensive to move and so far.

Host (15:53)
Which is funny

when you say that because you live in Kelowna now.

Matthew (15:57)
And then

now then we decided why don't we check this place out? I had come here when I was a kid for vacations and stuff, summer vacations. so we decided to move here.

Host (16:07)
What year? What year around was that?

Matthew (16:09)
That was peak So not

too long ago. Yeah, so I was actually working in a restaurant. It was more of a fancy Japanese-style restaurant. And then, of course, COVID hit. They closed down. So I was bored out of my mind. My wife was an essential worker, where she was working at Superstore as the...

Click and collect so she would do the online ordering thing. Okay, so she was considered essential so we both decided like or she decided that she wanted to like upgrade and do something else in Japan she was an engineer and then going down to Click and collect and super stores just like She wanted to do something more so she wanted to go back to school and then she decided that she wanted to be a healthcare aide

Host (16:40)
Yeah.

Matthew (16:48)
So we were looking around, or she was looking around researching and she found that BC is probably better. Or that's where she wanted to be kind of thing. So that's why we decided to move. I had so much time. So I did a lot of research and like looking for apartments and condos and stuff like that. And we finally found a place and then just all in, moved. Decided to go in there.

Host (17:07)
Yeah. Wow. Good

on ya.

Matthew (17:10)
found a job here as a chef and then she got into school right away so it all worked.

Host (17:16)
So now you're in Kelowna, you're working at a restaurant. How long did you work at that restaurant for?

Matthew (17:23)
I think it was three years.

Host (17:24)
And while you're working there in the back of your mind, are you still developing the food truck? Yeah. and like business plan and.

Matthew (17:31)
Actually, is like I had this plan in my head for a long time. Pre-pandemic, I was actually working with a buddy of mine and we were kind of going to go all in, do it kind of thing. But COVID hit, he moved back to Japan. Okay. And decided not to.

Host (17:46)
Like you do have the name and the aesthetic, like your whole design of it already envisioned, because your food truck's like the wrap you have on your food truck is so...

Matthew (17:56)
So cool.

No, that came out later. But the name was... I had it written down since I was like 20. And I have like a notebook filled with like really poorly drawn logos and stuff like that. like the... all came together later on. Okay. Close to the date. then... So yeah, I had a bunch of different opportunities come up. Like I was gonna open a brick and mortar with a partner with a couple of friends. Then...

Host (18:02)
Yeah.

Matthew (18:20)
decided not to do that and then another brick and mortar with a different friend and then kind of decided not to do that as well. I see it, like I couldn't see it as a working out for two families kind of sharing income with that

Host (18:34)
It also sounds like you have worked enough in enough places that you, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you wanted something that was yours. It was like your idea where you didn't have to compromise with somebody else's.

Matthew (18:45)
Yeah, exactly.

Like that's why one of the partnerships didn't work is more like they wanted to just buy a place and then just use their menu and tweak it a little bit. but I was like, if I'm going to get a restaurant, I want to do new, my menu, my everything, like my concept. So that's why that both partnerships didn't really work out that well because of that. And then like I'm strong headed and

Host (19:04)
Yeah.

Matthew (19:07)
Of course, if they're trying to open a business, they're pretty strong headed as well. So it just ⁓ conflicts and idea. I just didn't work. Exactly. yeah, so I'm glad I didn't do a partnership. And then this was just an easy way to get into the market. felt like I was working at the restaurant and then I was like, OK, I was just getting tired of working. I've kind of felt like it was a there was a ceiling in Kelowna for how high you could get. And then.

Host (19:13)
It's good you recognized it early.

Matthew (19:31)
In Calgary, could, the food scene's much bigger. So you could easily work your way up different levels and then it's more... Exactly. then wages were better. then, so I just felt like I hit the ceiling kind of thing for where it could be for Kelowna. And then it was just not, not, I like, I loved the people there. It was great, fantastic, it fun. It was just like, I kind of had that...

Host (19:37)
Yeah. And times the size. Yeah.

Matthew (19:57)
burning, feeling like this is the time to do it kind of thing. So I just decided like, okay, I'll just try starting to see if I can even, if it's possible. Then I started doing all the interior health stuff and getting everything ready kind of stuff. I'm trying to end this just so much.

Host (20:12)
So you

had you already bought the truck?

Matthew (20:14)
Sorry, okay the whole thing you needed to start with interior health to get the approval So that they have to approve your design And make sure that it's Meets their requirements. and then you have to make sure it meets the fire regulation. and then so I had to do all that first and then it was just loophole like there was just so many loops to jump through hoops to jump through is just like

Host (20:15)
⁓

Before you get the train.

Okay.

Matthew (20:37)
like to... Sorry, I lost my train of thought. It's okay. It was just...

Host (20:39)
Bye.

Matthew (20:40)
To get a food truck, you needed to get interior health approval. But then to get that, I needed to have a commercial kitchen. But a lot of the commercial kitchens here, they were either too expensive, like it just didn't make sense financially, or they didn't have enough space. So the time that I would need for the prep wouldn't be set in stone kind of thing. And that's what I kind of needed.

Host (20:54)
Yeah.

Matthew (21:02)
So it was just a battle trying to figure out that stuff. then so I decided like I was just going to design the truck so that it could be its own commercial kitchen. And then I had to figure out how the one condition that the Interior Health had was to it needed to be plugged in, refrigeration needed to be going overnight kind of thing.

So that's why I started looking for partners and Unleashed was one of the first ones I went to because I kind of felt like, I mean, this is cool concept. have beer, which goes great with Yakitori. Yeah. Kitchen. And they don't have a kitchen. So I thought this could work. But I was like, I'm not sure if it's going to work out because they already had food trucks, like hit or miss, like on and off kind of food trucks kind of thing. So I'm like, I'll just try.

Host (21:32)
And they don't have a...

Matthew (21:44)
And then, so during my break times when I was working at the restaurant, I'd be making phone calls trying to figure out all the different things I need to get done. And then just slowly, step by step, things started getting done. I'm like, okay, so then this might actually work. So then, okay, so now I need to start actually really thinking about if this is what I'm gonna do. And then I got approved from Interior Health to start building. So then I got the builders to start manufacturing the trailer.

Host (21:59)
No.

Oh, so you had your trailer. You didn't have to go on Kijiji or whatever. A food truck trailer. You actually got it built.

Matthew (22:22)
No, I had it custom made just because I had the grill I have on there is the only certified yakitori grill in Canada. Yeah, so it's from Japan. Yeah. But it's like, so that was one of things I wanted that and then just the layout I wanted to have my own flow kind of thing. And then I also wanted to be small enough that my tiny truck could tow it. So.

Host (22:29)
Get out.

You tow it, right?

Matthew (22:47)
I actually had the manufacturer of the trailer. I'm like, what's the smallest trailer you can make? And then they were saying it was like two feet too big for what I wanted. Like you can make it smaller. So that they ended up making it smaller. They made it the exact dimensions that I wanted kind of thing. It worked out really well.

Host (23:00)
How did you source your yakitori grill?

Matthew (23:03)
there's a great guy in Surrey. sorry, Burnaby. On the coast. Yeah, Vancouver, around that area. I did a lot of research where I could get it and then that was... He's pretty much the only guy that sells it.

Host (23:16)
Wow. and then where was it built? Like, were you able to go see it as it was being built, or did it just all of a arrive one day?

Matthew (23:27)
It was built in Surrey. And then it was delay after delay after delay. It was supposed to be done in the beginning of April 2023.

Host (23:37)
Are they still with all the COVID backlog then? can't recall.

Matthew (23:43)
But they were missing. the reason they They were delayed was because they got a big contract from the government to make a bunch of fire Prevention trailers. Okay, so they pushed me back and I wasn't a priority anymore. So then I got pushed her down and Then they ran out of aluminum they said and then other stuff like that. Yeah

I was supposed to open up for the food truck season last year, so was 2024. And then it ended up being August sometime that I was actually, they actually finished up everything and I was kind of pushing them to to finish and like, it done yet kind of thing? And I'm going to go down and check it out kind of thing. I picked it up and that was. No, oh, yeah, it was. I had another company wrap it before I.

Host (24:21)
Did you, did they deliver it? Did you go pick it up? And was it wrapped when you picked it up?

You

gotta tell me, tell me about your horror, what do you call it? Your logo and your color scheme and all that stuff. Is that you or did you hire somebody to

Matthew (24:41)
I

hired somebody, was the same as another person in your podcast said, was the 99 Design.

Host (24:46)
Casey from Big Fat Lion, get out.

Matthew (24:49)
Yeah,

so 99 design. I just happened to be in Japan at the time and then this lady, she lives in California and then also in Toronto. Like she kind of, and then, but she was just happened to be in Japan at the time as well. She's Japanese lady. And then I came up with...

Host (24:52)
Yeah.

Matthew (25:05)
an idea that I want to want it kind of thing and she gave me the design and this is the exact design pretty much. I'm like okay she gave me like six options and like this is the one I want it and then that's how it came to be. So it was pretty easy, pretty quick and she was super nice.

Host (25:19)
Yeah, that's cool. It's a great, it's a great,

Matthew (25:21)
I was really happy

when I saw it the first time. And then the wrap... I just had this idea, there's a thing called yattai. It's like the... You go to Japan, they're the street vendor kind of restaurant things that they set up. like wood, they're made out of wood, they're usually carts.

So I just wanted that kind of vibe. I had drawn out myself really bad because I'm terrible at drawing. And I just sent it to the designer and I'm like, this is what I want. And then he did it up for me and then put it into the wrap. So thank you.

Host (25:52)
Yeah, it looks so good.

And all the little, the red, not a curtain, what do

Matthew (25:58)
Yeah,

my wife made that for

Host (26:01)
That's

such a nice flavor to it.

Matthew (26:04)
I

was just in Fabricland one day looking, we were looking around for other stuff and like, this will be perfect. Can you make it for me? Yeah, yeah. Definitely. Yeah. She helps me also so much.

Host (26:12)
cool, yeah she's creative, Yeah.

that's good. Yeah. So what's so you got you finally have your trailer. When did you officially open and what was it like that first day? Must have been nervous, Excited? Yeah.

Matthew (26:28)
I think I was too excited

don't really remember. I was, yeah, it was just a lot of emotions, a lot of going through my head and just a, it was kind of a rush because I wanted to be open so much earlier. like, as soon as I got the trailer here, next day I had the interior health inspection. I had it scheduled so that when I got back, like I would drive the trailer this day, next day have interior health, next day have fire inspection. And then once those are approved and then just open.

Host (26:40)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Matthew (26:55)
So I think it ended up being mid, late August that I actually opened up first day. And it was just, it was crazy how busy it was. Like it was the end of summer, I think there's a lot of hype. It's just like nonstop selling out every day. I'm like, my God, I can't do this kind of thing. It's just like every day, just constantly skewering, getting things ready.

Host (27:14)
What's your

menu smaller when you

Matthew (27:16)
Yeah, definitely a lot smaller and then a lot less stuff. was like, it was just really basic things like just the skewers pretty much and then karage. Okay. And the bentos. But then the bentos were even easier back then as well as just I didn't have the side dishes. was just edamame rice and the meat kind of thing. And then things started to calm down once the like fall.

Host (27:32)
Yeah. Okay.

Matthew (27:38)
fall, winter started coming around. So that's when I started like being able to explore more, experiment more and get more out there kind of thing. Like I had posted that it was a soft opening and I never had a grand opening just because like it was just too busy. Yeah.

Host (27:53)
you first opened, were you still working at the other restaurant? Like, did you go on the weekends?

Matthew (27:57)
I quit like, April or May, so I was jobless for a while because I had expected it to be done. I expected to be up and running. yeah, I was bored out of my mind, so was doing like door dash and that kind of thing for a little bit.

Host (28:10)
You're

hustling.

Matthew (28:11)
Yeah,

but luckily like my wife, she was working as a the healthcare aide like after she graduated. I mean, financially, we got to a point where she could support us kind of thing. The reason that I could actually open us just because she was in that position now that we were comfortable enough that we wouldn't be homeless if it didn't work kind of thing.

Host (28:21)
And that's the...

That's pretty cool. Like this lifelong dream you've had and all of a sudden you've made it happen. And how old's your kid? Like through all this you had a kid too.

Matthew (28:38)
Yeah, I have two

kids. you have two? I only had two? He's two months. sorry, two years. He was my son. almost three. He turns three in September. And then I have a six-month-old daughter. Wow.

Host (28:41)
you.

Congratulations. Thank you so much. my goodness, that's so exciting. So what did you bring?

Matthew (28:56)
So

this one, it's just kind of shows like, it was a project from, I think grade seven, it's like you do the Japanese curriculum, right? Okay. And it's just like, I don't know why I made a Japanese menu.

Host (29:07)
Can I

see? Yeah, of course. So Matthew's brought in a school project from grade seven.

Matthew (29:13)
think it was just ingrained in my brain since I was... ⁓

Host (29:15)
You've kept it.

It's in good shape. It's not even wrinkled.

Matthew (29:19)
Yeah, kind of a... I've got a ton of books and stuff, hoarded and stuff. My wife wants to get rid of them and then I just hold on to them for some reason.

Host (29:27)
This is cool. your project was to make a day menu?

Matthew (29:31)
I think

your project was more of just trying to explain like life in Japan after World War II kind of thing. And I wanted to introduce Japanese culture through food when I was, I thought it would be a cool idea. And remember in grade seven I also did a project was I taught how to make sushi, that kind of thing. So I was always interested in food.

Host (29:53)
And it sounds like your culture too, even though you're fourth generation Canadian. parents still did a good job in like holding on to your food roots?

Matthew (29:56)
Yeah.

Maybe,

I think it was more just something in my brain that wanted to learn more. I didn't realize I was Asian until I was probably grade six. I was the only Asian kid in my class for the first, throughout elementary school. And then we get to grade seven, you start learning about other parts of world, other cultures.

Host (30:22)
This is me.

Matthew (30:23)
This

is where I came from and I started learning about it more. Asking grandparents about it a little bit and then like that kind of thing.

Host (30:30)
So cool.

Did you, I gotta ask, did you have, so I always wonder, I haven't been back to, I don't know why you call it the homeland, the motherland of my forefathers or foregrandparents. And we're such a little mix of, like my last name stems from my Danish ancestry and then we're Scottish, Italian, English. But I always wondered,

if I were to go back to that country, did you feel a connection to the place even though you've never seen it before or been there before?

Matthew (31:02)
Yeah,

it was kind of weird like when I landed in the airport, I kind of looked around like Everybody looks like me Everybody's the same height. It's kind of nice. It's kind of different Yeah, so weird to and then everything's lower in Japan like everything's just slightly a couple inches lower countertops everything

Host (31:17)
interesting.

That's really

Matthew (31:20)
This country was built for me.

Host (31:21)
I consider myself short, but actually I'm above average for female and my husband's tall, but everybody in our family is like tall tall. Tall tall tall. And so then there's certain family members like when I go to their house, when I go use the restroom, like my legs dangle. yeah. the toilets are too high.

Matthew (31:37)
I probably wouldn't be able to use it.

Host (31:39)
And I'm like, when we went to our toilet, bit the dust. I was like, I insisted. I'm like, we need a short, we need one toilet in our house to be short so that my legs don't dangle. And it's just short people problems. Yeah. And the trend now is to have the countertops all high.

Matthew (31:51)
Yeah, definitely. I understand.

Oh yeah, hi.

Yeah, that was one weird thing for me, it was like I learned how to cook in Japan and the countertops were nice comfortable level and then I come back here and they're all a little bit higher so my arms were Yeah, they were kind of a little bit more like different muscles were being used. Yeah, it's getting sore

Host (32:03)
Yeah.

Your shoulders are hunched.

Elbows up. Yeah. Although and then the other same if you're tall though, then You're having the same issue because everything's too short for you. Yeah. Yeah, it's all you know what it's all what it is, but Anything else you want to talk about here?

Matthew (32:27)
is definitely going well. It's going better than I expected.

Host (32:31)
What

are on the menu that are like the biggest hit?

Matthew (32:34)
for the snacks definitely the karage everybody seems to like that a lot i highly recommend that for snacks and then the the skewer bento is the most popular for the bento yeah

Host (32:36)
Yeah. Yes.

yeah?

My favorite is the tofu, your tofu skin. I can't get enough of it. I don't know what you spread on that, but it's a trade secret. So good. And then the way you roast, not roast, what's it called? Grill? Yeah. It's like the edges all get crunchy. yeah. So when you bite into it, ⁓ is it crunchy? It's...

Matthew (32:54)
Exactly.

But

kind

of caramelized.

Host (33:07)
Yes! Yeah, so when you bite into it, it's that perfect texture, melt feel. It's divine. Yeah, well you nail it. And it's consistent. It's, it's every time it's quite the same, which I would imagine is hard to do.

Matthew (33:12)
Yeah, that's what I was going for.

Yeah, I try my best, I mean, sometimes being one man show it is a little bit get away from me. but I definitely try and everything. Everything I do by weight for the like to try and make everything as consistent as possible.

Host (33:34)
Yeah, yeah, I never thought of that. I guess that's important. And then same number of chicken balls and all that. Yeah, exactly. that you know, you don't feel slighted if you're short the next day. Have you put anything on the menu that hasn't been a hit and you had to take it off?

Matthew (33:48)
No, everything that I've put on has been had to take some stuff off. Like had a winter special, the Oden, which is like braised fish cakes and daikon and that kind of stuff. It was just hard for me to source it issues kind of thing. And then also it's more of a winter item.

And then I was also doing sweet potato chips, homemade sweet potato chips, Japanese sweet potatoes. And I took that off just because it was a little bit difficult to, cause they were selling out and then I just had to keep it. It took so much time for the fryer and then I had to do different temperatures and it was just too much work for, for what I

Host (34:26)
Yeah, yeah, I'd be smart about all that and then you do We do do what do you call it like boot truck shows and stuff like that do you?

Matthew (34:34)
I do

move around but not that often. I was at the Okanagan College for that semester, last semester. I'll be going back hopefully for next semester. I've got private events, that kind of thing. Yeah, so I went to some people's house, like a house party kind of thing. And then I've got a couple of those coming up in June.

Host (34:46)
like people can hire you for... maybe?

Matthew (34:55)
doing the Father's Day, there's the auto show here in Kelowna, we're gonna be doing that as well. Oh yeah. I try to Unleashed as much as I can kind of thing, it's much easier. Home base. Home base kind of thing, more relaxed, more chill. Yeah. Not as stressful.

Host (35:02)
Very cool.

base.

That's true. I also was thinking about I was gonna ask you. so when you were crafting your menu...

Although as I go to ask this, you've had so much experience working in Japanese kitchens that you already know kind of the flavor palette of the Western mouth. Because when you went and apprenticed in Japan, I'd imagine the flavor profiles are very different there than like how you're cooking here.

Matthew (35:37)
But a lot of the stuff I actually do is more the... I guess traditional way? The way I would do... they would did in Japan. More... yeah. So it's a little bit more expensive. A little bit like... no... not as like a shortcut. I don't take as many shortcuts for like the sauces and things like that. Not as much filler kind of thing.

Host (35:44)
more authentic.

How do you take a shortcut creating sauce, if you don't mind me asking?

Matthew (35:59)
Like

a lot of places for their teriyaki sauce they it's just a broth pretty much so it's a lot mostly water and then you add soy sauce and blah blah blah sugar and then cornstarch Mine is more just Japanese ingredients sake, mirin, sugar, soy sauce and then reduce that so that it's thick enough

Host (36:20)
kind of thing.

Matthew (36:21)
and then of course other ingredients like chicken bones and that kind of thing but it's not there's no water added no cornstarch no anything like that kind of thing

Host (36:30)
So more labor intensive, but that's your flavor profile is much more complicated in doing it that way. Yeah.

Matthew (36:36)
It's a lot depthier. Deeper

flavor kind of thing and then it's not watered down, I feel, kind of thing and then it's not as sweet, I think.

Host (36:46)
Yeah, I like it. It's delicious. Unique too, because there's a subtle... there's a subtleness about it when you bite in that you're like, oh, and I don't know what that is. Probably like unami or something. don't know. Do you have any new items coming out soon?

Matthew (37:02)
Yeah, I do actually I'm probably gonna it's gonna come out probably next week or yeah It's gonna be a surprise

Host (37:07)
That's it gonna be it. Oh,

it's gonna a surprise. Well, this podcast will air after it's out.

Matthew (37:14)
Okay, well then it's gonna be a chicken katsu slider.

Host (37:17)
making katsu slider.

Matthew (37:18)
It's like a play on the katsu sandal like the chicken katsu or the pork cutlet sandwich you see in Japan it's so famous for but ⁓ I made it for the I was doing omakase Which is a omakase it's like a chef's choice I was doing that I do that now. It's set meal kind of thing we do 15 courses by reservation and

break down a whole chicken, use all the parts and then get organs and that kind of thing and so it's like 15 little bites, skewers, and then doing that at Unleashed as well. Yeah, I've actually done three now. Tomorrow is my fourth.

Host (37:49)
that's gonna be so cool.

So you have to, how do you reserve? Okay.

Matthew (37:56)
through Instagram. I'm

keep it, like, kinda low key.

It's alright. I didn't want too many people because I wasn't sure how many people I could handle for this kind of thing. And I've got a summer menu ready

Host (38:11)
Yeah, yeah.

When you reserve, because I'm interested in it, how many people does it feed?

Matthew (38:18)
Uh, it's like you can do it's one person is $80 and then pretty much essentially get half a chicken

Host (38:28)
So for you is it best to do like reserve in pairs so that you're using up the whole chicken and using up everything? ⁓

Matthew (38:35)
Yeah, but for me it's also just fun. And

then if they have leftovers, I get to eat it. And then my wife gets to eat it, so...

Host (38:41)
Okay, it's not a waste during okay, so then you get 15 skewers and do Yeah, and then how they Do you eat it as you're making it so like first course or do they all come at once?

Matthew (38:47)
of course this is not

As I make it kind of thing. So if you they have it in Japan a lot and then it's getting more popular in like Vancouver Calgary kind of thing It's like they do it for sushi as well where they just make one piece of sushi. They put in front of you you eat it So it's that kind of concept But it's really different because I'm on the trailer. Yeah, I have to run back and forth kind of thing. Yeah

Host (39:16)
So

so if you're sitting so you could go to unleash have a couple beer and then you you would just have or we would walk up and just get our ⁓ you would actually yeah, well we could come to you too to To ⁓ because we know you you know to save you from running back and forth. that's cool And then how long of a experience does that last? It's about

Matthew (39:24)
No, I actually have to. ⁓

Yeah.

So

it ranged depending how many people were there. There was one where it was like an hour and a half and then there was one where it's kind of a little bit more complicated. There was I think 15 people but I was only expecting 13. So that turned out to be about almost three hours. Wow. Just because I had to cut down a whole another...

Host (40:00)
chicken because

when you know the number you have everything pre-pre- and are you allowed to have cd note by your trailer or is that an s some sort of like fire into your health i don't know

Matthew (40:04)
Pre-prepped, right? exactly.

Probably

not. I also, just more because I'm partnered up with Unleashed, I'd rather people go into Unleashed and enjoy and have a beer.

Host (40:20)
Yeah, I was just thinking for that experience. for that experience, You a little like date night table. Yeah, So then you can sit there and then you wouldn't have to run around because you could just be like, hey, next, next, whatever.

Matthew (40:31)
I think that would be

a problem for beer because you can't have beer outside.

Host (40:35)
my goodness, there's so many rules. Yes, you're right.

Matthew (40:38)
So and then it is more of a collaboration kind of with Unleashed. They got a new sake beer. That's really good.

Host (40:44)
do they? Yeah. We'll

have to try it. Yeah. That's a really cool experience.

Matthew (40:48)
Yeah, it's the first one in Kelowna.

They've got some in Vancouver now. And then there's a lot in America and Japan, of course, has a lot as well.

Host (40:56)
Yeah. So thinking about your business plan here, you're in a unique situation because it's just a one-man show and your trailer can only hold one person, I'd imagine. Could you hire a second person?

Matthew (41:07)
Yeah, I built it so I can probably do three. I have room to grow. It would be more like a two person inside, one person outside kind of thing. I have the POS I have set up so that there's a handheld that does the exact same thing. So they can just go around in the lineup and take orders and that kind of thing.

Host (41:10)
Can you really? So you do have room to grow.

Yeah, that's

really convenient, eh? Yeah. That's definitely that whole online ability to order. I'll be like, oh I feel like a skewer of tofu and I'll just go online and order it. Oh yeah. And then it dings. I just walk down and pick it up. So convenient.

Matthew (41:42)
Yeah,

that was actually... I didn't even really know about it until I started talking to POS Systems and they toast when I went with they told me like, you know, there's this feature. like, that'll make it so much easier for like wintertime and things like that without having to go through DoorDash or one of those delivery services.

Host (42:01)
Yeah,

or you can be inside unleashed like we were last night and you can have a beer and you don't have to worry. You don't you know, it just dings when it's ready. Yeah, walk out and get it fresh and then bring it back in. So yeah, I think it's a nice little setup you got going there.

Matthew (42:16)
Yeah,

and was something that I was looking for, something like that, for when I was being that one man show, was just like, I needed to try and make it as easy as possible. So instead of like yelling people's names for... Yeah, exactly. When I'm also trying to grill stuff, it's just like, it helps a lot.

Host (42:26)
Especially as an introvert.

when you were finding or you had said enlish was one of the first person or people that you had gone to to ask like are there that many places in Kelowna suitable for the kind of setup that you have

Matthew (42:45)
I think there's a few. I know that there's a couple people that do the same thing. Like there's the rail side. Exactly. And then up in the Three Lake Rooing, they've got Jay's Cafe, or Jay's Street Food.

Host (42:49)
Yeah. Yeah, Chef Jeffrey at Ramp. ⁓

and then over by they have the taco stand by one board shop

Matthew (43:02)
Yeah, and then there's

the Barnau. Where's that? By the lake. They have a lot of really cool food trucks going. They've got the Little Tokyo Ramen. It's one of my favorite. And then the one place I want to try is the Mystic Pizza. I want to check them out.

Host (43:13)
Ramen. Yeah.

Okay.

it Mystic Pizza, like based on Julia Roberts first big movie hit Mystic Pizza. I wonder if that's why they named it that.

Matthew (43:27)
I have no idea, but I just like eats this one.

It looks good, so I'm just trying to find time. They're there on Monday and Tuesday or so. A barn owl?

Host (43:33)
And where are they located?

Where's the- how come I don't know where Barn Owl is?

Matthew (43:38)
Down by the lake

Host (43:39)
They don't tell.

Matthew (43:40)
No, it's like more the mission area.

Host (43:43)
by the roundabout over where Sunshine Market is. that's why. I don't go in those parts very often. Yeah that's a cool little setup they have. That little corner is coming alive. I used to, I grew up in that area, in that neighborhood, and it used to just be like Sunshine Market was the only thing out in the mission.

Matthew (43:46)
Exactly.

really?

Host (44:00)
It

was like you had save on foods, you know where Timmy's is? On Richter there. And then Sunshine Market was the next thing. that's it. That's it. And so we used to skateboard down and get our little candy bags as kids or whatever. And they always had fresh food there too.

Matthew (44:09)
That's it.

Yeah,

that's where we started off. We moved here was in that area. The Pandozzi area.

Host (44:23)
Yeah.

Matthew (44:27)
closer to the same one like across ⁓

Host (44:30)
Yeah,

that's a great little urban center there.

Matthew (44:33)
Yeah,

was right behind the Okanagan College is where we were standing.

Host (44:36)
that's

perfect. besides, you have the stink of the water treatment center? Not too bad, yeah. No, that's a great little area. Because you can walk everything you need. Everything you could need, you have the choice to walk to.

Matthew (44:40)
Sometimes, but it was not too bad.

Yeah, exactly. But then, like, it was just starting to develop a lot too. So we moved out because of some circumstances happened, but we moved out and it was kind of good timing because there's just so much construction and it just getting too busy. And it was just so...

Host (45:01)
Yeah. Yeah,

it's hard to believe like when I was young, KLO was kind of like the edge of mission started at the KLO Road. my parents moved out way by OKM. But back in the day, Gordon was like this little like one lane road and

There was no, like that whole H2O sports fields development wasn't there. It was just like swamp land. And it felt like you lived in the boonies, like the absolute boonies.

Matthew (45:31)
Yeah,

because I remember this, like the roads look swamp road and stuff.

Host (45:34)
It actually was a swamp.

And it to be so fun to drive on because the land was so unstable, the road would constantly develop these massive whoops in them. really? And there wasn't much of a shoulder and the bull rushes would be growing over the road so you couldn't have your hand out the window. They had to be careful on the motorcycle because you'd get whacked by the... And the road would constantly be dips and bounds and all this stuff.

no light at all at night time. No street. I don't think there are street lights right now, but at least there's a shoulder. And yeah, was a wild little road to drive on.

Matthew (46:09)
Crazy. Like even for me, like I've only been here for what five years and it's I feel that's grown quite a bit so I can't imagine how well it's grown in the last like 20-30 years or

Host (46:19)
Like

that whole like Home Depot and Walmart like that used to be our one of the golf courses we used to always golf at. Oh really? hole in one there. Just a lot more, you know, a lot more land. There was nothing like Kettle Valley came in when I was kind of older and that was a big thing. Like going up the hill to get to Kettle Valley. There was nothing and there was Crawford. So Crawford and then they built Kettle Valley and that was it.

Matthew (46:46)
Wow.

Host (46:47)
And now that it's like an entire film almost feels like a second city up there. It just keeps going and going and going.

Matthew (46:53)
Yes.

But that's

one of the reasons we got attracted here is just because it was big enough that we had everything we wanted, but not so big that we were overwhelmed by all the people kind of thing.

Host (47:02)
Yeah.

Especially coming from Japan. yeah. Yeah, and then you don't have I know people complain about the traffic here, but it's nothing

Matthew (47:13)
Nuts like I had a friend visit from Calgary. He was coming down. He was we were looking at locations for a potential Brick-and-mortar. Yeah, and he was camping out further away. I'm like, oh where you guys staying kind of things. Oh, it's like it's only a 40-minute drive I'm like 40 minutes. Wow, you guys are so far and then he's like, oh you've been here for too long, you know, And I'm thinking about it. Yeah, I used to live in the southwest and then have to drive to the northwest

During

rush hour would be like an hour, two hour drive.

Host (47:43)
And when they were

doing the construction on, what was that main road that took you from the southwest up to the university there? Kensington? No. Cross, yeah, Crows Trail. When they were construction on that, it took them like years to do. my gosh. But yeah, 40 minutes from here gets you to a different city entirely.

Matthew (47:52)
program.

Yeah, that's

the great thing we love about here is that you drive 20 minutes and you can go for a hike.

Host (48:09)
Yeah, no, it's such a cool city. It's such a good city.

Matthew (48:13)
It's

getting even better with the food scene, so.

Host (48:15)
The options now are, it's fun. It's so fun. Like 20 years ago, there wasn't a lot. There wasn't a lot. You know, there really wasn't that much.

Matthew (48:23)
Yeah.

we first moved here, there's not, I mean, still lacking, but I keep joking with my wife that Kelowna is five to 10 years behind Vancouver in the food scene.

Host (48:35)
Do you think we're only five to ten years behind? I think so. Because Vancouver's got such an epic food scene.

Matthew (48:41)
They do, but then I always say that Vancouver's probably five to 10 years behind America. If you go to those other big cities like New York or Seattle or California, those kind of places.

Host (48:52)
Well comes with population though, right? Like you need the density, you need the population so that you can support all these places. The one thing I've always been amazed about in Kelowna is how many pizza places it can support. there is an extraordinary number of pizza places. Like when you actually stop and think about it...

Matthew (49:05)
yeah.

Yeah.

Host (49:13)
There's almost like are there more pizza places than coffee shops? It almost feels that way. There probably isn't but there are a ridiculous number and I guess we love our pizza.

Matthew (49:23)
Yeah,

but I recently... Pizza was ruined for me from Jackknife. I them once and like, I can't eat pizza anywhere else anymore. Just like...

Host (49:32)
Their

bread isn't extraordinary. Which one did you try to remember?

Matthew (49:38)
I've had the cheese pizza. I can't remember what they have those cool names but I don't remember what they are. I had the mushroom one and then I had the pepperoni with the hot mustard, the jalapeno and the hot mustard.

Host (49:50)
That's the problem with like finding good food too and when when everybody's upping their game is that when your games up so much compared to everything else is then you're You're like ruined it forever. Yeah, right is now they set a new bar. Yeah Which is a good thing, which is a good thing

Matthew (50:07)
I think it's good for the city too because then you got people, competitive people, like, I gotta do better. Most people don't want to come down so they...

Host (50:11)
Yeah, that's true.

Yeah,

and then it kind of reminds me of the pizza scene reminds me of Taylor and Aaron with their coffee were that jackknife is Probably like Kraft pizza kind of like your craft coffee where it's almost an entirely different entity to Your dominoes and your chain. yeah, then like people are gonna like that and that's fine But the whole Kraft pizza world is its own entity

Matthew (50:40)
Yeah,

exactly.

Host (50:42)
It's almost like they're incomparable. In another both pizza, they're two totally different things. Well, now I'm craving Jack Knight's pizza.

Matthew (50:45)
Very, very different answers.

Yeah, the

crazy thing is like my wife really doesn't eat pizza. She's like one of the last things she would order kind of thing. But then we we tried Jackknife pizza and she's like, oh, this is so good. Usually she'll only have like one or two slices. Yeah. She ate half of both pizzas. And then for Mother's Day, I'm like, oh, what do you want for Mother's Day? I'm going to end early. I'll cook you something nice. And she's like, I kind of want Jackknife. OK, I'll go over and try and pick you up a pizza.

Host (51:06)
Wow.

Get out!

Yeah,

what do they have is pizza much of a scene in Japan like as it has it infiltrated You mean and pizza kind of like their potato chips, they're yeah

Matthew (51:22)
Yeah, but they got weird pizza over there. It's like shrimp tempura or...

kind

of kind of and then they're I don't know it's just it doesn't seem like pizza to me they definitely have really really other like legit pizza as well but it's just like if you go to Pizza Hut or Domino's there's just filled with weird mayonnaise covered pizza it's just very

Host (51:48)
Wow, ⁓

Like, QP- like QP-mails, I think? I see. Yeah. Wow. Well, should we wrap her up? Unless there's anything else you want to touch up?

Matthew (51:55)
Very good.

I don't think so, I can't think of anything.

Host (52:01)
I think

we should go get some jackknife pizza now. Thank you for coming on.

Matthew (52:05)
So thanks for having me, it kind of fun.