Three years ago, his five-star restaurant in Yangon’s Mayangone township was packed with diners every day, serving French cuisine to both expats and Myanmar locals. But after the double whammy of the Covid-19 pandemic and February 1 coup left his business bankrupt, chef Orng Joitamoi decided to shut up shop and become a street food vendor, selling congee and sausages. “I didn’t become a chef to cook at a fine-dining restaurant, I did because I love cooking. As long as I am cooking, I am a chef,” said the 37-year-old. Myanmar’s entrepreneurs are struggling as coup upends business activity His restaurant, Orng Kitchen, fast became a fixture of Yangon’s booming food scene when he opened it in 2017, winning him Chef of the Year by the Myanmore Awards a year later and Restaurant of the Year in 2019. He later changed the name to Joitamoi by Chef Orng. Many of the his patrons and friends, including diplomats and ambassadors, wrote to express their sadness when he was forced to close down on April 20. It had been a long journey and rise to success for Orng, who was born into a family of farmers in Kyaikmayaw township in Mon state. In 2002, aged 19, he travelled to Yangon to further his education before using his parents’ savings to move to the UK to attend the foundation year of a language school. He started working as a part-time kitchen porter at a restaurant near Edinburgh while still pursuing his Master’s degree in politics, but became so enamoured with it that he remained in the restaurant industry after he graduated, slowly rising through the ranks. He began his career as a commis chef at Edinburgh’s Ondine restaurant and moved on to become junior sous chef at Michelin-starred Restaurant Castle Terrace. Before returning to Myanmar in 2016, he briefly led his own kitchen brigade in Scotland. “That’s where I learned how to cook and fell in love with it. I used to like politics, but I decided to become a chef,” Orng recalled. Once back in Yangon, Orng’s Kitchen became known for the variety and ingenuity in his dishes, as well as quality ingredients. He served Mediterranean and French dishes, and made up to 2,500,000 Myanmar kyat (US$1800) a day and more on weekends. But it was not easy opening a restaurant. “In the first six months of opening, there were countless times that we had to cut the loss, call it off because there was no money; there were a few nights a month with no turnover. We had no choice but to sleep at the restaurant as we could not afford a flat,” he said. In early 2020, he relocated to another location on Shin Saw Pu Road in Sanchaung, with high expectations. It’s really depressing sometimes because I had to give up what I’ve been doing for years and it was my dream Orng Joitamoi “Then there was Covid-19 but we managed to survive it with our very own creation, Fine Dining at Home, in which we delivered a five-course meal to customers’ homes.” But since the military coup earlier this year, many expats and diplomats have left Myanmar, meaning he lost about 80 per cent of his client base. He consulted his team about the situation they found themselves in. “We don’t have money to take the big risk any more,” he told them. The solution came out of his love for local products and traditional cuisine. And his fondness for congee. At first, his team was hesitant as they had to give up their restaurant and salaries to selling Kayar traditional congee and sausages outside the building at an affordable price of 2,000 kyat (US$1.4) a plate. “We were open for only two days and it is going really well. We ran out of most ingredients,” Orng told This Week in Asia . ‘I still get nightmares’: Myanmar student protesters traumatised after beatings in prison Orng is married to a Mon woman who is heavily pregnant with their baby. He sent her back to her mother’s village as he feels Yangon is not safe. Protests continued in the city on Monday, with a local monitoring group saying over 750 people have been killed by security forces since the coup. He said being a street food vendor is not just about him and supporting his family, but also keeping his staff members employed and safe. “It’s really depressing sometimes because I had to give up what I’ve been doing for years and it was my dream. It’s not my fault what had happened to us. Someone else did it. But we have to keep going to feed our families,” he said. “As long as I am cooking and feeding my family and staff, I no longer feel guilty about making my decision.”