Bringing Latin-inspired cuisine to Edmonton

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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:05] SPEAKER_01: Hello, I'm Mario Tonigusi with Edmonton's podcast on Canada's podcast network.
[00:10] SPEAKER_01: Joining me today is Hefa Malaki, who is a partner in the L Corazon Y.E.G.
[00:18] SPEAKER_01: establishment in Edmonton. Thanks for joining us today, Hefa.
[00:21] SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me.
[00:23] SPEAKER_01: Well, let me ask you, first of all, just maybe describe for me what L Corazon is.
[00:28] SPEAKER_00: L Corazon is a Latin inspired restaurant.
[00:31] SPEAKER_00: So we have a lot of Latin influence from a lot of different places.
[00:34] SPEAKER_00: We've Spanish, Mexican, Cuban, Dominican, our chefs actually Dominican.
[00:39] SPEAKER_00: And so we really wanted to bring a lot of fun and flared energy from the Latin culture.
[00:45] SPEAKER_00: And you know, bring it in a in a great and beautiful environment in Edmonton.
[00:49] SPEAKER_01: All right. And how did this come about?
[00:52] SPEAKER_01: Like I know your background, you've been involved in other kind of restaurant establishments.
[00:59] SPEAKER_01: And you've also been in the fitness industry.
[01:02] SPEAKER_01: How did you come to become an owner of a restaurant?
[01:07] SPEAKER_00: It's actually a pretty funny story.
[01:09] SPEAKER_00: So I'm in hate to go back because it's going to take everyone into the PTSD of COVID.
[01:14] SPEAKER_00: But in March 2020, everything closed down.
[01:17] SPEAKER_00: And I was working with Orange Theory and we had just closed 115 locations.
[01:22] SPEAKER_00: So you know, that was pretty traumatizing and a lot of work.
[01:24] SPEAKER_00: And one of my really good friends reaches out to me in April when everything is shut down.
[01:28] SPEAKER_00: No one knows the future looks like and goes, you know, this is really great opportunity for us to open a restaurant.
[01:34] SPEAKER_00: I literally run zoom and I'm like, you're actually a crazy person.
[01:38] SPEAKER_00: That's not happening.
[01:39] SPEAKER_00: Like no one knows that the world is going to look like, you know, he's a dreamer.
[01:42] SPEAKER_00: We'll call it first. He's a dreamer.
[01:45] SPEAKER_00: And you know, I don't think it's something that I can do right now because you know, I'm focused on a fitness and I don't know the world is going to look like, but you know, help you with the business plan.
[01:53] SPEAKER_00: I put a help put it together and I feel like he saw a little bit of a glimmer and he just held on to that till it's shine really bright.
[02:00] SPEAKER_00: So I feel like I got kind of pressured and bullied through the business plan to really leave what I was doing.
[02:06] SPEAKER_00: But the reality is that as we were building that plan and working together, there are two things that I really saw.
[02:12] SPEAKER_00: One was a really great business.
[02:15] SPEAKER_00: Really great idea.
[02:17] SPEAKER_00: Something that, you know, Edmonton doesn't really have.
[02:19] SPEAKER_00: And I mean, for myself, as in the hospitality industry for 15 plus years, part of stepping into fitness and development.
[02:26] SPEAKER_00: And I thought I would never go back and as I'm building it, it's like that my heart started to beat faster every time I would, you know, work on that project.
[02:35] SPEAKER_00: And the other part of it was, you know, I, I've always helped business owners.
[02:40] SPEAKER_00: I mean, I've been franchising for 11 years prior to stepping into this project and helped entrepreneurs really bring something to life.
[02:47] SPEAKER_00: And always wanted to do something and working with Percy on the project.
[02:51] SPEAKER_00: I thought, this is, this is my opportunity because I have someone that I really trust that really knows their stuff.
[02:57] SPEAKER_00: And so I felt like it had really good synergy for me to comfortably and confidently, even through COVID,
[03:04] SPEAKER_00: step out and work on something special.
[03:07] SPEAKER_01: So, so when did you actually open?
[03:10] SPEAKER_00: We opened April 7th of 2022.
[03:16] SPEAKER_01: 2022. Okay.
[03:17] SPEAKER_01: And obviously, you know, what we're still dealing with stuff at that time.
[03:24] SPEAKER_01: What were the major challenges of opening and starting a new business during a so-called pandemic?
[03:32] SPEAKER_00: I mean, there was a lot of challenges.
[03:34] SPEAKER_00: One was our open date kept getting pushed, our construction date kept getting pushed.
[03:39] SPEAKER_00: The procurement of any goods that were custom like mill work and even trying to get a cooler.
[03:43] SPEAKER_00: Just trying to procure anything and purchase anything and even just we had a significant delay just getting something as simple as a cooler.
[03:50] SPEAKER_00: Right. So it's just as soon as things started opening up, I feel like a lot of a lot of other entrepreneurs were jumping at the opportunity.
[03:57] SPEAKER_00: They're just wasn't enough goods because manufacturing stopped for a lot of industry.
[04:01] SPEAKER_00: So that really caused a lot of delays.
[04:04] SPEAKER_01: Now, when you mentioned the concept that you know, Latin flavored and Latin inspired.
[04:11] SPEAKER_01: Are you Latin?
[04:12] SPEAKER_00: I'm not Latin. I'm Iranian.
[04:15] SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay. So the big begs the question, right?
[04:19] SPEAKER_01: Why the line of food?
[04:21] SPEAKER_00: Well, Latin. Well, there's a few things.
[04:24] SPEAKER_00: Percy actually owned with a part owner of a nightclub and lounge in Tulum for a few years.
[04:30] SPEAKER_00: So he has a little bit of experience, you know, exposure.
[04:33] SPEAKER_00: She brought with the Mexican market.
[04:35] SPEAKER_00: Okay. And for myself, I was really lucky.
[04:39] SPEAKER_00: You know, orange theories had off as in Florida.
[04:41] SPEAKER_00: And so I had the benefit of going there a lot and one thing that's so I feel attractive and vibrant about Florida.
[04:47] SPEAKER_00: Other than the weather is there is such an incredible Latin influence everywhere.
[04:51] SPEAKER_00: There are Mexican restaurants, improving restaurants. And even if you go to just a regular restaurant, you know, all American.
[04:57] SPEAKER_00: You still see that that Latin influence.
[04:59] SPEAKER_00: It's also really energetic.
[05:00] SPEAKER_00: The flavors are amazing.
[05:02] SPEAKER_00: You work a lot more with fresh ingredients.
[05:05] SPEAKER_00: And for us, we're, you know, we're really, we try to eat really healthy.
[05:10] SPEAKER_00: And I mean, you don't always have time and business to go home and make a dinner.
[05:14] SPEAKER_00: So we wanted to open something that also had the ability through the use of ingredients to really offer something fresh and kind of guilt-free.
[05:24] SPEAKER_00: In a sense, and we felt that with Latin food, we could really do that.
[05:27] SPEAKER_00: And it's very diverse.
[05:29] SPEAKER_00: Rather than just opening a Mexican restaurant, being able to open Latin and bring influences and flavors and dishes from all over,
[05:36] SPEAKER_00: like all these other Latin places really gave us a bit more range.
[05:41] SPEAKER_01: Oh, interesting.
[05:43] SPEAKER_01: And just out of curiosity, where are you located in Edmonton?
[05:47] SPEAKER_00: We're at Alchurazon's located in the Westblock building. It's on a 141st street and Stony Plain Road.
[05:55] SPEAKER_01: Okay. And what kind of neighborhood is that?
[05:59] SPEAKER_00: It's one of my favorite neighborhoods because I grew up in it.
[06:02] SPEAKER_00: So it's actually in the Glenora neighborhood.
[06:03] SPEAKER_00: It's very close to Creswood and Grove Nure and Westmount area.
[06:07] SPEAKER_00: So we're actually right in the in the Glenora area.
[06:10] SPEAKER_00: I actually lived in Glenora.
[06:12] SPEAKER_00: My mom lives in Glenora. I lived in Grove Nure. My sister lives in Creswood.
[06:16] SPEAKER_00: So very familiar with that area.
[06:19] SPEAKER_01: Oh, wonderful.
[06:21] SPEAKER_01: Any thoughts of looking at even expanding the concept?
[06:28] SPEAKER_00: Absolutely. I mean, part of the reason we decided to do this is we're actually looking to open 10 restaurants throughout Edmonton.
[06:36] SPEAKER_00: Originally, we were going to do 10 across Western Canada, but we really love Edmonton.
[06:41] SPEAKER_00: Right? And we're watching what a lot of other groups are doing in North America.
[06:45] SPEAKER_00: And when you when you can really invest your time and effort and passion into your home city, there's a number one, a lot of opportunity.
[06:54] SPEAKER_00: But also like this is where our hardest. This is what we want to do.
[06:57] SPEAKER_00: We want to bring different concepts into Edmonton.
[07:00] SPEAKER_00: So we will for sure our goal is to open another at least one L core zone, but we're already working on a couple other concepts that are going to be opening in one hole for sure.
[07:10] SPEAKER_00: We're also going to be opening in early 2024 and we're working on a couple others as well that'll be opening soon after.
[07:17] SPEAKER_01: All right. Let's talk a little bit about your background in the food industry.
[07:20] SPEAKER_01: I see a not on your LinkedIn profile that you work for Joey also work for Famoso.
[07:28] SPEAKER_01: What drew you into this.
[07:31] SPEAKER_01: I guess food industry and restaurant industry.
[07:35] SPEAKER_00: What's really interesting about the food industry which I love is it's a very people driven business.
[07:40] SPEAKER_00: You know, there's a lot of time as you would go home after you're running running a busy restaurant.
[07:45] SPEAKER_00: Seeing you know that Joey sells common you see a thousand a thousand people with a day sometimes on a busy patio day.
[07:51] SPEAKER_00: And you go home and you have to almost remind yourself that it's food and beverage because it's so people focused.
[07:56] SPEAKER_00: I feel like that's really what what kept me in the industry is the opportunity to work with a lot of really young people.
[08:03] SPEAKER_00: And really establish establish them and their mindset and culture around being good people caring about people really caring about the experiences that they're giving.
[08:15] SPEAKER_00: Being really good to each other.
[08:16] SPEAKER_00: I mean at some points you know you'd have 200 staff that you're managing and in order to really retain them and also drive sales and culture.
[08:25] SPEAKER_00: You have to spend the time making sure that people are happy and they feel cared for and appreciated in order for them to deliver that same with the rest of the staff as well as the guests.
[08:36] SPEAKER_00: So what really kept me in hospitality is that the business is very centered around people and interactions and I love that love.
[08:43] SPEAKER_00: Like if I had a really bad day it was a very special thing to just go on the floor.
[08:49] SPEAKER_00: You just go on the floor and you just talk to people and get lost in their experiences.
[08:53] SPEAKER_00: Whereas in business you know I mean the love words theory but if you had a really bad day you just had to kind of deal with it.
[08:59] SPEAKER_00: So you just had to thrive in the chaos and sit in your office and you know just deal with it.
[09:06] SPEAKER_00: Whereas here you could you could really in the hospitality industry you can really get lost.
[09:11] SPEAKER_00: And even now being a business owner I'm a whole management team.
[09:15] SPEAKER_00: So my favorite is going in on Friday Saturday nights and just going on the floor.
[09:19] SPEAKER_00: You know it's just no no agenda other than have fun make sure the team is having a really good time and guests start taking care of an entertain.
[09:27] SPEAKER_00: It's just a special it's a very special thing.
[09:30] SPEAKER_01: So tell me or tell our listeners and viewers here a little bit about your background with orange theory fitness and what you did there.
[09:39] SPEAKER_00: Well I started with I started with orange theory in 2015 when there was just about 10 locations and our head office I always laugh was actually the back storage room of one of the locations and there's two and a half of us that worked for the company.
[09:55] SPEAKER_00: One of one of our employees actually was a hybrid that also worked for World Health and I you know I was hired to help build operations and development of the entire company and build the team.
[10:08] SPEAKER_00: You know our original goal was to open maybe 50 locations didn't even know what that was going to look like and buy.
[10:14] SPEAKER_00: I'd say a year and a half and we were over 50 via 57 locations and so we really saw that something special was about to happen so by year three with myself in the company we actually open our hundred location which was a surreal thing.
[10:28] SPEAKER_00: You know standing in that location it's I was I was very much in shock that we actually did it and it mean orange theory was such a great opportunity you know not only being able to build operations model and build distribution and bring a lot of the procurement in that from the US into Canada to drop costs and I learned a lot about that.
[10:53] SPEAKER_00: But also really building that development fund and the team.
[10:56] SPEAKER_00: You know I said we started with two and a half team members you know by the time I left we had almost 30 across Canada which you know it's not a very easy thing to do but knock on wood we really did it more blessed to find some really great people but yeah took the took the company from 10 to about 120 in my time there and we actually opened over does on locations through COVID as well so yeah.
[11:21] SPEAKER_01: You know obviously the fitness industry was one of the hardest hit during COVID how what impact did it have for you guys when you worked at orange theory and I'm I'm also curious of just what you learned as a business person through this whole COVID experience.
[11:44] SPEAKER_00: Well there's a few things I learned number one was you know you that became a pivotal moment I always cared about people I feel like even if you were to ask any of the franchisees that work with me I was someone that really did support them and care about them and if they call the answers unless I was in a meeting I called that.
[12:05] SPEAKER_00: So I'm integrity and make that proper statement but really through COVID the level of care you have to have for not only just the businesses but the humans that were behind it people were standing to lose their homes not being able to feed themselves and feed their kids and putting everything that they had in it so what I really learned was you had to be really selfless as someone running an organization at that magnitude you know closing a hundred and 50.
[12:35] SPEAKER_00: And locations you know in one day with no notice and then trying to do everything you can to open every single one of them every chance you got was you know it was challenging but what really did what really did fuel myself on the team was we're doing this for people we're not doing this for the brand we're doing this because there are people that are absolutely emotionally and financially connected to this and this is our responsibility so really I felt that it was the first time I was going to do this.
[13:05] SPEAKER_00: I really understood what it meant to be an owner because I had to fight so hard for them constantly every single day yet.
[13:12] SPEAKER_01: Yeah let's talk about Al Corazon again what's the name what's the name mean and where's it come from.
[13:20] SPEAKER_00: The name means the heart and so the yeah the reason that we call it that is you know a lot of people put their heart in their business we put our heart around it want people to walk into it.
[13:32] SPEAKER_01: Wonderful you got a favorite dish there.
[13:36] SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh I have quite a few favorite dishes all I mean the staff would absolutely advocate that I love the calibre and green olive tap and I absolutely love it I am a sucker for all of fiber walk in anywhere any restaurant just anywhere random.
[13:52] SPEAKER_00: If I see olives on the menu I am eating olives it's just that happened.
[13:57] SPEAKER_01: You are made it.
[13:59] SPEAKER_00: I'm obsessed my guilty pleasure is the Argentinian provoleta it smoked mosa and smoked provolone marinated in chimichurri and then baked so delicious and cheesy kind of citrusy and served with chapa bread it is absolutely amazing.
[14:15] SPEAKER_01: Okay now I'm really ticked off in myself because I had my wife and I came to Edmonton I think four times last summer I wish I would have known that you guys are we're open but next summer for sure.
[14:32] SPEAKER_00: Well now you're coming and you're going to you're going to try some delicious cocktails and I'm going to feed you I'm going to feed you until you have to crawl out we have to roll you out of the rest of your in a way.
[14:43] SPEAKER_01: So so he for the do you grew up in Edmonton.
[14:47] SPEAKER_00: I did yeah we left I ran when I was about a year and a half we were refugees we were in Pakistan and we were in Pakistan for a year and a half and then we actually got sent to Edmonton because my dad's a machinist and you know there's a big oil boom.
[15:03] SPEAKER_00: So as refugees I mean our families all got split all over the world and we were the only ones that were sent to Edmonton and I've you know grown up in Edmonton ever since so it's been really happy 36 years and I will never leave.
[15:17] SPEAKER_01: What did you want to do when you grew up.
[15:21] SPEAKER_00: I originally I mean I used to when I was little I wanted to be a paleontologist.
[15:29] SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah I was like obsessed with dinosaurs I still am I'm that weird friend everyone sends dinosaur memes to and by dinosaurs so far but I'm grown but it's okay it's a healthy it's a healthy passion but I wanted to be a lawyer.
[15:47] SPEAKER_00: Oh wow yeah I wanted to help people through law as much as I could and I feel like in French I think I got to live that you know I felt like I had to be a lawyer with all the agreements and that but yeah that's what I wanted to do when I grew up.
[16:01] SPEAKER_01: Now being obviously an entrepreneur like yourself right now it's a busy time you know your business is always on your mind as an entrepreneur.
[16:11] SPEAKER_01: I just curious how do you how do you find that work like balance what do you do for for work like balance.
[16:21] SPEAKER_00: Well for myself my perspective is this if you love what you do work doesn't feel like work and so and for anyone that knows me it's always how when I worked at Joey was how's Joey.
[16:35] SPEAKER_00: I was always a second to business in orange theory how's OTF and it's like oh yeah how are you I'm good actually think so.
[16:44] SPEAKER_00: But I take a lot of pride in that you know I really I really when I do something I like to throw myself into it and what I do for myself is I spend 30 minutes minimum a day whether it's you know if it's cooking a really great meal or I'm working out I really believe in that active self-man.
[17:04] SPEAKER_00: I'm not a medication and self care 30 minutes a day I no matter what and and people know I mean if I get home at midnight from a busy day at the restaurant I'm riding on the treadmill for 30 minutes.
[17:14] SPEAKER_00: It's just what's happening it doesn't matter if it's 5 a.m. it doesn't matter if it's been that or 1 a.m. it will spend that 30 minutes no matter what you need that recharge and that's that's what kind of fuels you fuels me to this day of busy as I need as I need to be.
[17:29] SPEAKER_00: Oh wonderful alright devil thanks a lot he for joining us today thank you thank you so much for having you so nice chatting with you.
[17:37] SPEAKER_01: Oh great and I will definitely call you when come to Edmonton this summer.
[17:42] SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna hold you to it.
[17:43] SPEAKER_01: Okay wonderful that was he from a lucky owner and partner with L Corazon Y.E.G. I'm Mario Toneguzi this has been Edmonton's podcast on Canada's podcast network thanks for joining us today.