'My parents were struggling': 21-year-old drops out of university to save family's Slavic restaurant in Tanjong Pagar
PHOTO: Screengrabs/Tiktok/Kapitansingapore
PUBLISHED ONAugust 01, 2023 1:38 AMByAmierul RashidDropping out of university would understandably be a bitter pill to swallow for anyone. But for Mark Zubovskyy, he did just that in hopes of saving his family from "going bankrupt".
His family runs Kapitan, a Slavic restaurant in Tanjong Pagar. For the past 12 months, Mark said he noticed how the family business was suffering amid a steady decline in sales.
The 21-year-old told AsiaOne: "I saw how my parents were struggling to manage the restaurant."
Kapitan needed more hands on deck so he announced via TikTok, on July 25, that he'd press pause on his studies.
The restaurant was about to get a new full-time staff.
@kapitansingapore Join me to save my dad’s restaurant. 📍KAPITAN - Maxwell Chambers, 01-05, Singapore 069115 #fyp #firstvideo #slavic ♬ original sound - KAPITAN
Mark mentioned that his dad had spent a significant portion of the family's savings to set up the restaurant, initially known as Dumpling.ru, in January 2020.
Back then, the family noticed a potential gap in the food and beverages (F&B) sector here that they could plug.
Despite the diversity of cuisines in Singapore, one would likely struggle to name a restaurant serving Slavic food.
And that's how the restaurant came to be.
But, unfortunately, things did not go exactly to plan.
"We thought that business would pick up if we continued to serve good food and great service," the former Nanyang Technological University student said.
But Mark shared that sales at the restaurant continued to drop, and so he felt that it was time for him to go all in.
"I'm only 21 and I have no background in F&B, but I'm determined to make this work," he added.
In a separate TikTok clip posted on July 30, Mark revealed that Kapitan's total monthly expenses apparently came up to around $50,000.
Rent and utilities cost $14,000, while staff wages were $15,000 in total.
Inventory (explained as drinks, meats and vegetables) took the largest piece of the pie at $18,000 a month.
On the menu
TikTok has the potential to be a powerful marketing tool for Kapitan, and Mark understood that optimising the social media app can result in a boost in sales.
@kapitansingapore Comment if you guys would try these ang moh dumplings! I’ll be sharing more about slavic cuisine soon so follow along for the journey :) #fyp #slavic #cooking ♬ original sound - KAPITAN
While Kapitan would still be serving Slavic cuisine, Mark said he's changing the menu to include a bit of a twist.
In fact, he wanted locals here to realise the food served at the restaurant may not be as foreign as it seems.
"Basically, it's ang moh dumplings," he added.
The completed dish had meat-filled dumplings with an assortment of sauteed vegetables, and cheese on top.
Also, his job isn't all about creating content for the restaurant on TikTok.
The former maritime business student told AsiaOne that he also carries out managerial duties on a day-to-day basis. This includes tracking inventory and planning work schedules for staff.
On occasion, he is even behind the counter and cooking for customers.
He added: "Overall, there is no one position that I hold.
"Running a restaurant requires you to be able to know all aspects of your business and [be] able to help out where needed – be it on the floor, kitchen or behind the computer screen," Mark said.
Back when it was still known as Dumpling.ru, the restaurant had received backlash from netizens following Russia's military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The restaurant was managed by his parents, who have been living in Singapore for the past 18 years.
The following month, the restaurant made a statement on Facebook to address the matter, stating: "We wish for nothing but peace during such troubling times."
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