A restaurant can be a satisfying and profitable business.

It’s satisfying when you see happy customers enjoying your food and spreading the word.

But it’s depressing when your expenses exceed your sales—which happened in my restaurant in Vancouver. I believed I was serving good food, but I guess its location caused its failure.

I was the marketer, cashier, waiter, bus boy and server, and I still lost money. On weekends I did well, but on weekdays, where I could rely on takeout, I was dead.

I realized later that my restaurant was out of the way. Plus, I knew God was teaching me something. It was a humbling experience.

I sought ways to save money and lessen expenses. In this business, it’s crucial to save wherever you can without sacrificing the quality of your food.

I have also learned the importance of location.

Recently, a Korean company showed me a product that could save money for restaurants. It’s a frying machine with oil and water mixed in the same container. Of course, oil and water don’t mix, so the oil is on top while the water is below. The hot oil stays at the temperature you set it in (for instance, 175°C) and the water stays at around 26°C.

Oil deterioration

I was floored. The demonstration guy fried crispy pata, squid, daing, french fries and chicken side by side. I tasted each one and there was no contamination of aroma and flavors.

The french fries tasted like real french fries, the fried chicken like real fried chicken, and so on.

What causes oil deterioration (like color and burn) are the particles that fall off the items you’re frying. In this case, the particles fall into the water, therefore, there is hardly any deterioration in the oil.

At the end of the day, you drain the water and add new water and start all over again.

I was told you can fry as many as 3,000 pieces of chicken before you need to change the oil. Not true. But I use it in my restaurant and, instead of changing the oil every day like I used to, I do it every four days. The oil shows no sign of deterioration at all.

I used 30 cans a month. Now it’s only seven to eight cans. Talk about savings!

You have to see it to believe it.

Happy eating!

Check out my new dishes at Casa Daza in UP Town Center, Katipunan, Quezon City.

I have a Lavender Hokkaido food tour on July 5-10. E-mail [email protected]