Restaurant owner dishes out what the patrons want

Richard Feldman has 'Chief Listener' printed on his business card. 'It's the politically correct version of CEO, because that's what I do, listen and respond to feedback, that's how I know what's going on in my restaurants.'

His customers may see the extrovert wit and raconteur, but behind the guffaws of one of Hong Kong's most charismatic restaurateurs lies a shrewd business brain.

Mr Feldman readily admits, ironically, that what he considers two of his greatest assets would be viewed as shortcomings by many.

First, he is a vegetarian and cannot eat most of the dishes at the six outlets under his company banner Mimosa Holdings. These include Al's Diner and the Annexe in Lan Kwai Fong and the Peak Cafe in SoHo. 'With most restaurants, you get the burger or steak the way the chef or the owner likes it,' he explains. 'Instead I listen to the customers - I have to close my eyes and open my ears. It gives me a competitive edge.'

Second, he suffers from severe dyslexia. Reading prose has always been difficult, but he found studying medicine at Vassar College in New York easy. 'So I decided to try what was not easy,' he says and switched from medicine to theatre studies, which changed his life.

Born in Montreal, he worked part-time through college as assistant to the director of Vassar's catering department. 'It was an amazing experience, handling menus, inventory, staff issues, and we served 3,000 meals a day, three times a day. It covered all aspects: service, cost control, budget, everything.'