Julian Decraene has years of experience in the Food & Beverage industry across a few different countries and is part owner of Artisanal BBQ restaurant in Jakarta.

What’s your story?
I began my restaurant career at the age of 18 working as a barback in a restaurant in New York. Moved to London and earned my way through as General Manager, I managed a couple of the top 50 best bars in the world. I moved to Indonesia to take over as Group Beverage Manager under the wing of Dre Masso and moved to General Manager for the Potato Head Group for 3 years. I then went to Singapore to open 140 seater restaurant, Summerlong, on the Quayside own by the Dandy Group. Now I am a part owner of the Artisanal BBQ restaurant – Up in Smoke in Jakarta.

What excites you most about your industry?
The chance of offering to the public a product that’s new for them; can be food or beverage related

What’s your connection to Asia?
I moved to Asia at the end of 2014 until now.

Favourite city in Asia for business and why?
Singapore, due to the F&B scene over there, they are always trying to bring new concept.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?
Work hard but work smart!

Who inspires you?
Dre Masso – Industry legend in the cocktail world, he runs some of the most prestigious cocktail bars in London to then open his own with the Breakfast Group. He moved to Indonesia for the Potato Head Group for a few years then went to Columbia and now he is based in Spain.

What have you just learnt recently that blew you away?
How and why the Hakkasan Group is so successful!

If you had your time again, what would you do differently?
No, I would do it all over again the same way

How do you unwind?
Small island, nice beaches and cocktail to sip on.

Favourite Asian destination for relaxation? Why?
Bali will be my choice. It has so much culture to offer and beautiful sightseeing all over the island and if you get tired of it you can jump on a boat and go 30 minutes away to a smaller island for a more remote place.

Everyone in business should read this book:
Setting up the table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business – Daniel Meyer

Shameless plug for your business:
People tend to always say nowadays that they can do it better at home when it comes to food or beverage.
http://www.upinsmokeindo.com/

How can people connect with you?
Instagram: JulianDecraene
Facebook: Julian Decraene

This interview is part of the ‘Callum Connect’ series of more than 500 interviews

Callum Laing is an entrepreneur and investor based in Singapore. He has previously started, built and sold half a dozen businesses and is now a Partner at Unity-Group Private Equity and Co-Founder of The Marketing Group PLC. He is the author two best selling books ‘Progressive Partnerships’ and ‘Agglomerate’.

Connect with Callum here: twitter.com/laingcallum linkedin.com/in/callumlaing Download free copies of his books here: www.callumlaing.com

Recently Published

Key Takeaway China’s decision-making calendar is structured with key moments when it makes plans for its economic and political future. These include two sessions, study sessions of the politburo, and the declaration of President Xi Jinping’s third term as general secretary. The Chinese political calendar features seven plenary sessions to establish a unified vision for […]

Top Picks

Key Takeaway: Standards of beauty have been embedded in different cultures since time immemorial, often based on binary notions of idealised forms of femininity or masculinity. Eleanor Janega’s book explores medieval women’s social roles to consider the ways that women’s roles have and haven’t changed. Religious women in the middle ages used weaponised beauty to […]
Key Takeaway: Authenticity is important for both individuals and society, as it is a social glue that reinforces trust. People need to reexamine and recalibrate how authenticity is judged. Social science offers guidance on what makes something feel authentic. George Newman found three dimensions of authenticity: historical authenticity, categorical authenticity, and values and beliefs. Generative […]
Key Takeaway: Buzzfeed News has announced it will shut its award-winning news division for good, laying off 60 journalists. This is bad news for those involved and a tragedy for the wider digital news media, as it produced hard-edged, scoop-heavy journalism. Media companies sought to emulate Buzzfeed’s irreverent and flippant style, but its quality journalism […]

Trending

I highly recommend reading the McKinsey Global Institute’s new report, “Reskilling China: Transforming The World’s Largest Workforce Into Lifelong Learners”, which focuses on the country’s biggest employment challenge, re-training its workforce and the adoption of practices such as lifelong learning to address the growing digital transformation of its productive fabric. How to transform the country […]

Join our Newsletter

Get our monthly recap with the latest news, articles and resources.

Login

Welcome to Empirics

We are glad you have decided to join our mission of gathering the collective knowledge of Asia!
Join Empirics