Impromptu Journal

Hello, Veta! Can you share a bit about yourself, such as your name, the city you live in, your hobbies, activities, anything!

Hello! My name is Veta, from “veterinarian” — I’m serious, haha — because my mother was on her way to achieving a bachelor’s degree in veterinary medicine at university when I was born.

I am the “Pak” (Mister) in Mie Ayam Pak Sarmintul, and I live in Bantul, nearby the TPA Piyungan that will be closed next year.

Daily, I manage my chicken noodles stall, Mie Ayam Pak Sarmintul, take and pick up my kids from school, and watch K-dramas with my wife (she’s the “Ibu” (Missus) in Ibu Sarmintul.)

Mie ayam, mi ayam, or bakmi ayam (Indonesian for ‘chicken bakmi’, literally chicken noodles) is a common Indonesian dish of seasoned yellow wheat noodles topped with diced chicken meat (ayam). It is derived from culinary techniques employed in Chinese cuisine.

Source: Wikipedia

I’ll just go straight to the point 😆 Why chicken noodles shop? What prompted you to open the business?

It all actually started not from chicken noodles. Back in February 2020, my wife and I started an ayam geprek restaurant in Jepara, Central Java. Then, as we all know, came the pandemic. We just started our business, yet the pandemic happened — naturally, our ayam geprek restaurant took the hit. The location was far from where we lived, which added to the existing problems. In mid-2020, we decided to shut down the business.

I seriously just found out about that! You had an ayam geprek restaurant?

The dream was still there, though. My wife still wanted to open ayam geprek restaurant, but this time, in Yogyakarta – Bantul area, where we lived. We looked around, and then we found a location: A shophouse in front of Sultan Agung Bantul sports stadium. But then, as we looked and checked the area, we felt the shophouse was more appropriate as chicken noodles stall than ayam geprek 😆

I myself am a fan of chicken noodles, and I own the Twitter account @infomieayamyk. What you see in Pak Sarmintul‘s dishes is the culmination and things that I love about chicken noodles and what people love when they eat chicken noodles, such as free-flow green onions for garnishes.

In the middle of November 2020, Mie Ayam Pak Sarmintul opened its doors.

Why do you use the name “Pak Sarmintul”? Who is/was he?

It was really sudden. Unplanned. It even started as a joke.

On the account @infomieayamyk, sometimes folks only posted chicken noodles pics without mentioning the name — and I usually retweeted the post and added the text “Pak Sarmintul.” Apparently, it got people curious, asking, “Who is this Pak Sarmintul, and where is his restaurant?” 😆

Mind you, I hadn’t opened my stall at that time — but then, I decided that should I ever have a chicken noodles stall, I would name it “Pak Sarmintul”. I honestly hope the public already had the brand awareness, but I then realized there’s still a long way to go, hahah.

What is the most challenging part for you throughout the years of managing Mie Ayam Pak Sarmintul?

Starting the business was the hardest. In Javanese, we call it “babat alas” (clearing the forest/making the path/starting from the very beginning.) It was really challenging to get regulars to come to our store. When we just started, we could only sell 10, 20 bowls, hahah. As of now, I’m glad that the public knows us more and that we have an influx of regulars. We maintain our quality control periodically and monitor our Twitter account and Google Maps’ rating for the quality of our services.

Another challenge is human resources—managing the staff. Unlike corporations, where folks need to submit two weeks’ notice, it’s pretty normal for small stall like this for the staff to inform the owner that they are resigning the next day.

Also, as this is an F&B business, handling the ingredients is another level of the puzzle, haha. It’s pretty normal and common for basic ingredients, such as cooking oil, to “disappear” or become scarce, which results in a price increase. This is a problem because we can’t increase the price of our chicken noodles as it can drive away our regulars.

When I still had my full-time job, I wasn’t really concerned when the stall was quiet with low sales; now, as I dedicate myself to Mie Ayam Pak Sarmintul and have the business sustain my employees’ lives, it becomes something I constantly fight for.

Oh, speaking about your previous full-time job — I remember you were an HR staff in your previous job.

Yep, yep.

Are there any skills from your previous HR job that helped you when you started with Mie Ayam Pak Sarmintul other than HR skills?

Yes! The skills were tremendously helpful as I started the business. For example, during recruitment and payroll process. Even when we just started and were new, we ensure we pay our employees’ their yearly religious holiday allowance (THR) according to the standard even though it was not compulsory.

Mie Ayam Pak Sarmintul‘s management style ensures everyone has a safe space and place in the business. We do our best to “nguwongke wong” (humanizing humans) and deliver—and receive—feedback effectively. We are a team, and we can’t work only on our own without the help of others.

How long does it take for someone to get used with working in the kitchen of Mie Ayam Pak Sarmintul?

Everyone who just joined will be trained to cook according to our stall’s standard to ensure the taste fulfills our quality, no matter who cooked the dish. The training usually lasted, at the soonest, one week.

That said, cooking itself is a skill, and not everyone can, or comfortable, with cooking. For those who prefer not to cook, they can be the assistant (“kenek“), runner/busboy, beverages, and dishwashing.

In our stall, at minimum, there should be three areas to cover: The cook, the assistant helping the cook, and the cashier — The cashier usually taking care the beverages too.

I remember Mie Ayam Pak Sarmintul used to sponsor a local football club. That’s so cool! How did you do that?

Oh, yeah, that! Hahah! Our first stall was in front of Sultan Agung Bantul stadium, the home base of Persiba Bantul. A bit of fun fact: I was part of the supporter management of the club 😄

Anyway! As a young man who grew up playing Football Manager game and Championship Manager game, I felt it would be super cool if we, Mie Ayam Pak Sarmintul, could own a club — but, as you know, it’s pretty expensive to buy and manage a football club. Then, when I heard about the opportunity to be part of the sponsorships, I immediately agreed.

Persiba Bantul is not a big club in Indonesia football arena, so our sponsorship contract was only up to province-level championship. Alhamdulillah, Persiba Bantul managed to go through to national level.

I actually hoping we could be part of the sponsors on the players’ jersey — that would be super cool. Maybe one day!

Let’s say there’s a teenager with dreams and hopes of opening their own food stall. What advices and recommendations would you share with them?

If they decided to dive into the F&B business because they have the choice to do so, as in, it’s not something they have to do, I would say: Just go for it.

Then, start small. You don’t need someplace big and fancy. You need a place that is clean and comfortable.

And if you want high profit, do it on your own/don’t give the business to someone else to manage, hahah.

The ultimate question: What is the best chicken noodles combo according to you?

Mie ayam bakso (chicken noodles with beef meatballs.)

Add it with beef trimmings.