Entrepreneur envisions mutton for the masses

Almas Pulat (left) and his colleague at Wemily, a fast-food restaurant brand in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. [Photo by Zhao Yong/China Daily]

Upon graduation, he considered starting an English school in Urumqi, his hometown, so he joined New Oriental, the largest educational company in China. A year later, when he quit, he was already a star teacher.

The young entrepreneur returned to Urumqi to start his business. But by then, his interest had shifted to the mutton pilaf, which he admitted to have taken for granted - both as the signature taste of his youth and as the family business.

When he was studying in the US, he cooked zhuafan for his friends, who raved about the dish and asked him for the recipe and where they could order it. Inspired, Almas decided to take over the family business and push it forward in his own way.

"I saw more-advanced business models in the US, and I believed that traditional restaurant chains, such as Mayflower in Xinjiang, would decline," Almas said. "It's normal for a company to have peaks and troughs, and I believe Mayflower has gone beyond its peak, unless it changes."

He has his eyes on the potential for a modernized fast-food chain of traditional Uygur delicacies, much like a McDonald's or KFC.

"The taste of zhuafan in ethnic restaurants varies according to the chef's experience and mood," Almas said. "But standardization is the key to modern catering."

His father was not keen on the idea at first. But after much discussion, Almas persuaded him to transform the restaurant into a fast-food chain. Aiming at young customers, he started another brand, Wemily. "It is a pun on the phrase 'a grain of Uygur rice' in Chinese, and it's also short for 'we are family' in English," Almas said.

In contrast to his father's ornate restaurant, which features ethnic decor, a floor show, delicate cutlery and many kinds of dishes, Almas chose a simpler, more youthful theme.

Inside Wemily, graffiti and Marvel comic heroes take the place of elaborate hand-carved patterns and fancy furniture. The shop signs are wri-tten in Chinese and English in dynamic fonts.

"The cost of my father's traditional restaurant is way too high. It's time to turn zhuafan into modern fast-food," Almas said.