By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, Sept 10: Two entrepreneurial siblings could have just donned office wear and worked 9-to-5 jobs, but instead, they decided to run their parents’ eatery which specialises in South Asian cooking.
Established in 2000, Tok Janggut Cafe, nestled in the heart of Chong Lin Park Commercial Centre along Tabuan Road, was opened by 65-year-old former mechanic Makshut Anuar Hassan.
His second daughter, 40-year-old Hajar Makshut, told DayakDaily that her father was a known mechanic who owned a garage in Mendu before he and her mother, 64-year-old Patimah Abdul Razak, ventured into the food business.
Hajar said her parents started the food business because they worried that their children, all daughters, would have nothing to fall back on if they did not enter the job market.
“My father is a kind man and worried a lot about his daughters, so the restaurant is a buffer for us. He closed his garage and opened a cafe serving South Asian dishes as he did not want his daughter to have greasy hands. The cafe is an alternative solution.
“That is my father, and despite his stern look, he is passionate and kind, understanding, a great motivator, a problem solver, serious, witty with a charming personality,” she said.
Hajar disclosed her father dared to venture into the food business because her mother inherited culinary skills from her father Haji Razak, who managed a cafe at Kuching Port Authority (KPA).
“Those who worked in KPA would know my maternal grandfather and his South Asian cooking, which we serve at this cafe now.
“My father is a learned mechanic and is also a passionate cook. His technical skills could adapt well in the kitchen, and my mother’s delectable recipes that he learned from my maternal grandfather and the culinary skills that run through her veins were great combinations for the cafe,” she said.
Hajar’s 43-year-old sister Nasariah Makhsut who is the eldest sibling in the family and cafe manager, shared that the cafe’s name came from Makshut’s grandchildren.
“As his grandchildren like to call him by his facial features, so we named the cafe ‘Tok Janggut’ which means ‘bearded grandfather’,” she chuckled.
Nasariah said she is not surprised they are operating a business in the food industry.
She believed they inherited the inclination from her family’s maternal and paternal grandparents, who were of Arab, Indian, and Pakistani decent and were traders.
“They all dared to and ventured here to prospect for a better life for their families and end up married into the local Sarawakian communities like Malay and others. So, our family is a mixture of these races, thus our physical complexion.
“That the reason we serve South Asian cuisines as food we serve in our cafe like briyani dishes has its influences from these countries. The entrepreneurial spirit and the culinary taste and skills also ran through our ancestors’ vein,” she added.
She added their business acumen also was shaped by their Sekama Chinese community, and family friends even called her ‘Amoi’ or little sister.
“That is how close we are with the Sekama Chinese community, and their resilience in business also teaches us,” she shared.
Nasariah revealed that she has managed the cafe and the kitchen for 15 years.
“When we started the cafe, my sister Hajar helped my mother after she finished her Form 5. And five years into the business, I came in until today.”
She also revealed that she and her sister Hajar both had a degree in business studies but instead chose to take up their parents’ culinary business.
“We have a sister, the third, who has culinary qualifications and a cafe in West Malaysia, while my youngest sister is studying in university.
“I am a daddy’s girl and love automobiles and their machines, and my sister Hajar is a mummy’s girl who loves cooking. We are always best of friends and have no rivalry.
“We both want to see our parents’ culinary legacy continue and serve from our hearts,” she said.
Tok Janggut Cafe’s signature dishes are South Asian style briyani dishes such as ‘Briyani Ayam’, ‘Briyani Ayam Goreng’, ‘Briyani Ayam Madu’, ‘Briyani Ayam Sambal’, ‘Briyani Daging’ ‘Briyani Ikan’, and ‘Briyani Kambing Shank’.
It also serves ‘rojak’, ‘roti canai, ‘nasi putih’ with ‘lauk’ and selections of beverages to suit the palate.
Tok Janggut Cafe is located at Chong Lin Park Commercial Centre along Jalan Tabuan. It operates daily from 7.30am to 2pm except on Sundays and public holidays. For more information, call 016 870 9414. — DayakDaily
