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Ming and I did the interview with 陳鴻 yesterday. He is not only gracious but also having a passion to integrate food to the way we live our life. Good food starts from home too.

We shared our vision on Nonzero and food culture in Taiwan. I think one dead end of Taiwan food culture is that we emphasize too much on taste, not enough on bigger issue like the role of food in our lifestyle, personal value and social issue, such as depletion of fish stock in the ocean, hygiene and yes, paying tax. No one ever talks about restaurant being a responsible corporate citizen, and that they need to pay tax, requiring their team to eat proper sit down dinner like the restaurant guests, most importantly, demanding their team to change, both lifestyle and creativity.

How to mix timeless dishes with innovative dishes is the benchmark of how great a restaurant is. No young man would like to work at a restaurant that stays the same using a secret recipe passed down from generations before. It may be a good business model, however, it is a bad way to evolve and renew.

There are so many things we could talk about during the interview. Unfortunately, we have limited time. I have to give credit to 陳鴻 for his professionalism and the vision to expand Taiwan’s uniqueness through out Asia Pacific, China and the world.

We have so many things to offer to the world, one thing I hope we can offer is not just which restaurant is the best to eat, but, which restaurant is having a vision to redefine restaurant from tasty food to a lifestyle.

Thank you, 陳鴻 , for finding Nonzero’s deeper mission.

Ping

Two episodes that surprised me a lot:

1. 陳鴻 secretly arrange a special guest during the interview. Sophie Huang, the most elegant and understated fashion designer in Taiwan, and a hero of mine, to call in and shared her love of Nonzero restaurant. Sophie is one of the early adopters to Nonzero. She sometimes came alone with a book in hand, enjoying a quiet lunch alone. This is the most beautiful scene when you see people who are so comfortable and at ease when they eat alone at Nonzero with an absorbing moment while reading a book. Thank you, Sophie Huang.

2. Ming’s sister called right after the interview from Malaysia and told her that three of us did an fantastic job. Wow, this is the power of instant internet radio programing. Ming has forwardedhttp://hichannel.hinet.net/player/radio/index.jsp?radio_id=232
UFO internet radio address to her sister before we started interview. Now, we can see the power of internet radio. People living in Malaysia and Taiwan could listen to UFO simultaneously.

Anyone interested in developing a low cost internet radio business. I know Monocle has done a great job to explore this business model. Please check out?http://www.monocle.com?to see how they built a brand and an evolving/progressive business through this innovated media channel. Taiwan has been a laggard for so long due to the laziness and internal focused of our media giant.

Be the change, any taker?

Ping