Koo Ming Wah Is Now a Restaurant Owner
Late bloomer Koo Ming Wah (古明華) is the next TVB actor turned restaurateur.
Ever since winning Best Supporting Actor at the 2012 TVB Anniversary Awards, Koo has been accepting jobs after jobs. Aside from his regular hosting job at TVB’s Crazy for History <瘋狂歷史補習社> program, Koo is also shooting for upcoming TVB blockbuster, The Hippocratic Crush 2 <On Call 36小時>, starring in a prominent role alongside Lawrence Ng (吳啟華), Kenneth Ma (馬國明), Tavia Yeung (楊怡), Louisa So (蘇玉華), and Him Law (羅仲謙).
The 48-year-old Best Supporting Actor recently decided to invest up to a six-figure sum in his friend’s hot pot restaurant business, which is situated in Yau Ma Tei’s thriving Woosung Street.
On the early evening of February 28, after attending a blessing ceremony for The Hippocratic Crush 2, Koo was seen in a rush to leave TVB Studios to meet up with a friend by Jordan Road. Koo and his friend stopped in front of estate agency store and chatted for about ten minutes, looking at the property prices that were posted at the entrance. The pair later entered their restaurant, King’s Hot Pot, which is located on the second floor of the Wing Kwok Center.
Koo realized that he was being followed when he entered the restaurant. He politely greeted the press and admitted that he is also a co-owner. “I invested a six-figure sum. I want to learn something new and learn how to do business.”
Asked for when Koo had decided to invest in the restaurant, Koo responded, “The restaurant was opened up by my good friend two years ago. I did not become a shareholder until a few months ago.”
Koo allowed reporters to take a tour around the restaurant; Koo even allowed the reporters to take a peek inside their kitchen, where Koo tasted some of the cook’s soup. Koo also took note of the food supplies stocked in the kitchen’s fridge and examined the seafood.
Koo left the restaurant 45 minutes later to return to the filming of The Hippocratic Crush 2. Before Koo left, a custodial worker cried, “Boss! Leaving so soon?” Koo replied with a smile, “Yes! I have work!”
A source close to Koo said, “He didn’t tell anyone about his restaurant, but people were noticing that he was never around during his two-three hour breaks during the shooting of The Hippocratic Crush 2. It took some pestering before he finally admitted to us that he invested in his friend’s business. He also promised to treat the crew to a dinner.” The source also revealed that he has intentions to buy some apartment flats and lease them.
Source: Sudden Weekly #919 via kuangaitvb.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Another hot pot restaurant. Hmmm..i’m not so sure. Better invest wisely, this is your hard earned money.
I notice guys open restaurant, girls wanna be singers.
Funn,
Restaurants are relatively easy to open without a lot of individual expertise, due to the number of owners involved. A good chef can be hired. It requires a big cash investment and easy for partnerships to open up.
Actors like restaurants because they can lend their brand name and be responsible for the marketing.
I’m surprised Wayne Lai hasn’t ventured into the restaurant business yet.
But restaurant business also very easy to close. Not many can open for long. If brand is an issue, or rather excuse, why not be like western counterparts and create perfumes, fashion, hand bags, etc? Or in HK this is a new concept, this collaboration?
Funn,
Restaurants usually are forced to close because it is a big monthly cash operation, with the food being perishable, and hefty salaries for staff. Sometimes keeping it running year round means riding out on the slow seasons for the busy tourist months, but that requires good cash flow.
Innovative restaurants will experiment with their menus and see what sells to their customers. But dining out is a social experience and people don’t always just go for the taste of the food. If the owner has good connections, they can fill up the tables with special events which bring in a lot of business.
The celebrities who have opened restaurants seem to do well due to people connections. Sunny Chan’s restaurant and Jazz Lam’s cafe are often frequented by their own friends in the industry, which keeps the word of mouth spreading and eager fans to check it out of curiosity.
Lending their name to a fashion product requires the celebrity to be very famous and a good fit with the product to the celebrity’s personal style, along the likes of Chrissie Chau, who has her own underwear brand. This is usually done through a joint venture in which Chrissie may be involved in conception of the products, but she doesn’t own the actual production facilities. Fashion products have a short season to sell, but upfront costs in the produced items. If the sales don’t happen in a given time, that celebrity apparel line can be easily pulled.
Opening a restaurant doesn’t require a celebrity to have the right “fashionable” image or have fashion influence.
Actually, Wayne Lai did venture into a restaurant business in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia since 2 years ago as co-owner. The restaurant is famous for its Japanese buffet and has few outlets. Doing pretty well. Guess he didn’t tell but whenever he is in KL for filming, he will visit the restaurant.
Tara, what’s the name of that restaurant by Wayne?
Jayne, where are articles on Reality Check? Why so little noise? I wanna proclaim my undying love for Ruco Chan and vote his backpack his best partner as opposed to Mr Jason Chan who can’t even use the prop properly.
Congrats. I’m sure you’ll make more money at the restaurant than acting at TVB.
Wish him success in his business. He reminds me of Wayne Lai a bit. It took many years of hard work for the two of them to gain recognition. TVB needs to focus more on supporting actors who have been in the industry for a long time. There are many under-appreciated actors with yet-to-be-recognized talent.
Louisa So (羅仲謙) or 蘇玉華?
Louisa So is 蘇玉華, and 羅仲謙 is Him Law.
I feel it’s wise of Koo Ming Wah to put his money elsewhere. No doubt he’s getting jobs after winning the award last year, but this year’s award winner may just overtake him and having struggled for so long, he knows money and fame in the industry is very fleeting. It’s wise not to put all your eggs in one basket.
Well being in the circle and doing any kind of business, there are always risks and chances that you have to take… It’s like gambling you either win big or you can lose it all..
Im happy for him. At least he can now take care of his sick daughter better than before.
I always liked him prior to Divas In Distress, I was so happy he finally got recognize last year. He deserves it. Hopefully some of the others can soon be recognized too
Good! Happy for him!
HAPPY For him. Wish he do well in his business.