Meet Ziyan Lee | Co- Founder of LI Restaurant and Provisions Cafe
We had the good fortune of connecting with Ziyan Lee and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Ziyan, what is the most important factor behind your success?
One value I truly believe in and strive to practice is perseverance. To me, it is about finding and driving your own motivation to make your business work. Why is the word perseverance important? This word can be related to many parts of my business/brand. From operational standards, marketing, and building my team.
For me, the meaning of the word keeps me on my toes with how I manage the company. From hands to decisions making.
We had to preserve and make tough decisions in order to succeed. I believe in persevering (operation) with new ideas for our company. Marketing new products or simply adapting to what we do well while constantly improving. The pandemic is a clear example of this. During the past few years of lockdown, we had to change our mindset on going back to basic -relearn everything from scratch and analyse the changes in lifestyle
It is definitely challenging to keep things positive during times like this. However, being able to tide through these challenges with the support of our team has only contributed to my motivation to keep improving and being better. Being an entrepreneur is never easy, but the joy I derive from this business is something I might not be able to find anywhere else.
Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
A neighbourhood restaurant that prides itself with being ‘Malaysian born with global influences’, LI has grown organically over the years, bringing the neighbourhood and Malaysia’s food-loving society together through food that highlights local culture and ingredients.
In year 2016, Tatler Malaysia named LI the Best Value Restaurant in Malaysia, and included them in the Top 20 Restaurants in Malaysia in 2021. The desire to serve the community prompted us to open a sister bakery named Provisions in 2019, which is conveniently located just next to LI and the second outlet of Provisions at Mt Kiara (Ooak).
Coming from the behind the scene of the F&B industry, we wanted a place to express ourselves. We like to associate the way we run our business with sports spirit mentality ” team work makes the dream work”. A marathon will be a good description of the way we practice the business. We make mistake but we work well as a team, and we are always up for challenges at every phase of our growth. Over the year, we expand our business to a bakery < Provisions> next to us; and now we are running two different concepts under a same management team. The food business is a fast-changing scene and it is important to have the willingness to be open and prone towards changes.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My usual spot to introduce Malaysia is definitely Village Park Nasi Lemak for breakfast.
There are too many places to explore in Malaysia – one thing I would love to showcase to them are mainly small independent restaurant that focus a lot on handcrafted.
Places that I will usually hang out are handcrafted noodles from fifty tales, dinner at ember restaurant and also drinks and cocktails from dissolved solids. Not to forget Li & Provisions are my favourites!
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to shoutout to my business partner, family and like minded friends and not to forget our amazing team that inspired me to be who I am today.
Website: http://www.lidamansarajaya.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/provisionsmy/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lidamansarajaya/
Image Credits
Jdaric Glanned Photography
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