School of hard woks: Ex-restaurant magnate works hard to rebuild catering business

Hong Kong is a city of survivors; few, however, embrace the never-say-die spirit quite like Chan Hing-to. The 55-year-old runs a small stall serving Western meals at the Shek Wu Hui cooked food centre in Sheung Shui. It's a humble venture compared to 20 years ago, when Chan was the boss of a chain of 48 restaurants, which at its peak recorded a turnover of about HK$1.5 million a day.

Opened in 2008, the Sheung Shui stall is Chan's return to the food business, a decade after the collapse of his Farm House Restaurant group. His outlet does brisk business during lunch and, although he has the help of two staff, Chan is often rushed off his feet between cooking and waiting on customers.

Chan looks older than his years with his head of white hair and fatigue evident on his face. But then, he has been logging 15-hour workdays, every day, year after year.

"I've only had four rest days over the past four years. Every day, I wake up at seven, start on paperwork for my business at 7.30am, go to my food stall at 10am and work until 10pm. [From washing dishes and cooking to serving customers], I do everything myself."

Wearing an apron, with his left armed bandaged after being scalded at the stove, Chan has fallen a long way from his position at the top of a restaurant empire that once employed a workforce of 1,300.

Yet he insists, "Having one eatery and 48 restaurants is no different to me. It's just work."

Chan hoped the Sheung Shui food stall would serve as the cornerstone for a new catering business. But his attempts to expand have run aground so far: rent hikes forced the closure of a branch in Kwai Chung in 2010. Of two later ventures in Sham Shui Po and Cheung Sha Wan, only the former survived.