Cantina Pasta e Vino, Italian restaurant with recent pasta in KL

Cantina Pasta e Vino may be a brand new participant within the native pasta scene, however look nearer and also you’ll see the legacy behind the enterprise. 

The top chef behind it, Chuan, has had a number of expertise within the business, having been the “pasta boy” at institutions together with Staple Dough and Bella Pasta and Wine. 

Chatting with Vulcan Submit, the 34-year-old chef shared that he has a Bachelor’s Diploma in culinary arts and meals service administration, alongside a 10-year expertise doing gross sales within the high quality meals buying and selling business.

“Via my working expertise, I’ve realised quite a lot of eating places deal with the perfect protein like beef, lamb, fish, lobster, and many others. We felt like good high quality recent pasta is an artwork to be appreciated, and that that is missing within the F&B market.” 

Therefore, Chuan and his staff launched into Staple Dough, that includes 100% recent handmade pasta. Situated in Taman Megah, it has grown to be a pleasant neighbourhood spot with comparatively inexpensive pricing on the subject of recent handmade pasta.

From there although, the staff determined to develop into different neighbourhoods, with Cantina being their newest institution, bringing recent pasta to the Taman Desa area. 

A legacy of pasta 

Staple Dough had began two years prior in December 2022. The founder, Tan Zhen Yi (often known as ZY), was already an entrepreneur with expertise operating Flakes in The Hub SS2. 

“In the course of the MCO, he was making pasta at dwelling and promoting it on-line,” Chuan defined. “The response was wonderful. Therefore after MCO, we met up and determined to open up a restaurant specializing in freshly handmade pasta.” 

All through the 2 years of operating Staple Dough, the staff continuously obtained enquiries from the general public to create a pork-free model of their recent handmade pasta dishes. Seeing this demand, they created Bella Pasta & Wine.

“These three are sister eating places, underneath the identical administration however totally different groups,” Chuan clarified. “We have now plans to open extra manufacturers and in addition increase into different forms of delicacies and eating as effectively.” 

Juggling three eating places hardly appears simple, although. Chuan assured that each one three obtain the staff’s full consideration, bolstered by the delegating work to the correct skills. 

“As co-founders and group government cooks, we have to continuously construct skills, make certain they perceive the missions and visions of the corporate, and provides them full assist and options when they’re going through difficulties,” the chef decided. 

Preserving recent 

Opened in November 2024, Cantina displays the staff’s strategy to making a healthful menu. 

Chuan shared that it’s all about figuring out basic dishes which might be additionally consolation meals. As soon as these are recognized, the staff works to present a “distinctive fashionable twist” to raise the eating expertise.

In fact, the menu additionally contains totally different non-classical dishes too. 

You may be questioning, although, what does Cantina do this’s totally different from its sister manufacturers?

“Whereas all three manufacturers serve handmade pasta, every provides a distinctly totally different eating expertise,” Chuan asserted. 

Staple Dough is fashionable, sharp, and unapologetically centered on pasta, he shared. In the meantime, Bella delivers a extra intimate and heat ambiance, complemented by a soulful number of Italian dishes. 

And as for Cantina, it caters to the native crowd with heartier protein choices and a broader wine choice.

However exterior of its sister manufacturers, there are additionally loads of different pasta eating places lately vying for consideration and clients. 

“It’s true that Malaysia’s pasta scene has grown considerably, however what units our manufacturers aside is intentionality, consistency, and id,” Chaun shared. 

“Every of our ideas is deeply rooted in a transparent imaginative and prescient, not only a development. It’s not simply luck and branding. It’s about figuring out precisely who we’re serving, and delivering that have persistently from the primary chew to the final impression.” 

What does it take?

As somebody who’s been on the founding staff of three eating places, Chuan is aware of a factor or two about what it takes to construct up an F&B institution. 

“To begin up a restaurant these days, it could price round RM600,000 to RM1.5 million relying on the renovation that you simply wish to obtain,” he shared.

For the Cantina staff, they had been in a position to leverage the earnings from their sister institutions in addition to increase funds by way of different means. 

Greater than cash, although, it may be the expertise facet of issues that’s difficult. Like many F&B house owners, Chuan believes that constructing and sustaining a robust and dependable staff is essential. 

“It’s a really high-pressure and people-driven business, and it’s not nearly hiring expertise, it’s about nurturing a tradition of possession, accountability, and development,” he reasoned. “We’ve needed to be taught the arduous approach that a terrific idea means nothing with out a nice staff behind it.”

One other problem is consistency when scaling, Chuan revealed. He mentioned that because the enterprise grows, it turns into more durable to make sure that each plate of pasta, each visitor interplay, and each outlet lives as much as the model promise. 

To do that, it’s actually all about doubling down on clear SOPs, investing in coaching, and empowering staff leaders to take satisfaction within the particulars.

“There’s additionally the fixed stress of rising prices and altering buyer expectations,” Chuan added. “The market is fast-paced these days as in comparison with a few years again. What labored six months in the past won’t work in the present day.” 

Staying adaptable has thus turn out to be significantly vital, in addition to innovating whereas maintaining operations lean.

Cultivating the tradition 

With Cantina discovering its footing, the staff is now seeking to tighten up operations whereas investing extra in staff improvement and fine-tuning based mostly on buyer suggestions. 

That mentioned, the loftier intention remains to be to open up extra F&B manufacturers which might be recent, new, and vigorous. 

“However provided that there’s a clear story to inform and if we discover that there’s a market want that we consider we are able to serve in a novel approach,” Chuan clarified. “We don’t wish to open manufacturers for the sake of it. We wish to construct lasting, differentiated experiences that clients kind emotional connections with.”

“Finally, the mission is to turn out to be some of the revered unbiased F&B teams within the area, not only for good meals, however for nice tradition, robust execution, and significant brand-building,” he concluded. 

• Be taught extra about Cantina Pasta e Vino right here.
• Learn different articles we’ve written about F&B companies right here.

Featured Picture Credit score: Cantina Pasta e Vino