6 Questions with KC Gonzalez of Tenmomi on Starting As A Dishwasher, Understanding Restaurant Financials, Chef Life Tik Tok

Read time: 8 min

By Sophie Braker

This article is from an interview with KC Gonzalez of Tenmomi. If you want to learn more about his story, watch his videocast BSP378: KC Gonzalez of Tenmomi on Opening A Noodle Shop, 1000 Bowls Of Ramen & Chef Life Tik Tok.

KC Gonzalez always knew he was meant for restaurants. Growing up in the Philippines, he helped his grandmother at her store and cooked food for their multigenerational household. KC earned the moniker Chef Salty during his days as a sous chef, the name he currently uses as his Tik Tok handle. Tenmomi, his ghost kitchen ramen concept in Rutherford, New Jersey, is his newest project. Right now it's just him creating bowls of ramen but he’s working on flipping the narrative and making restaurants a good place to work for creatives again as he grows his business. Read below to learn more about his journey and his plans for Tenmomi. 

First restaurant job?

It was 2002 or 2001, right out of high school. I was a dishwasher but I was also a contractor full time. I couldn’t pay for any bills and my mom couldn’t pay for college. I did contract work until Friday and then on the weekend, I was a dishwasher. I worked at one of the “mom and pop” shops here. They’re not open anymore. After that I tried night cleaning for a little bit. They’re the people who come in at 10 o’clock till 4 in the morning to clean stuff. That was like 2004, 2005. This is yeah…no. This is not for me. Dishwashing was my first W2 job.

Growing up in the Philippines, my grandmother is the one who introduced me to the cooking side. Everyone lived in the same family compound, gated community. There were four families. My grandmother who did most of the cooking also had a shop in the local market. I would bring over the food that she would cook or butcher. I would help her with the cooking in the wok. That was my first job, that family child labor life. 

What’s a food / drink you always have on hand at home?

I always have spam and noodles. I’m the only one who eats spam in my house. My wife doesn’t like it but I grew up on it so it's natural to me. She’s tried it a couple times and she just can’t get into it. For drinking, I just drink water. I don’t really drink soda or juice. I am a big purveyor of tea. I do have a tea cupboard, like stacks and stacks of tea. Primo teas too. I go hard on tea. I school people on tea too when they screw it up. What are you brewing? 212? No 165. Are you kidding me right now? For how long? You heathens.

Why is your Tik Tok handle @ChefSalty?

I got the nickname when I was a sous chef, maybe 23, 24 years old. I’m a salty person and by salty I mean petty. I really am. I’m working on it but I am still petty. I’m way less than I was when I was younger. My coworkers would ask me why I’m so salty. Everytime, salty, salty. But it also rhymes with my nickname which is KC. That’s how that came to be. When I opened my Tik Tok, I knew I was going to be ChefSalty. Sometimes it goes over into bitter, too salty. I’m more nuanced now. I’m not as blunt as I used to be. It’s more tastefully applied. 

What chefs and restaurants should we be following on Tik Tok?

You should follow Brandon Deardon @chefauthorize, former alumni of Alinea. He’s ridiculous. You could just follow him and you’d be fine. He’s all Michelin. It's cool the way we met. We’re pretty much the same person but he went the Michelin route and I went the corporate route. Because when I tried Michelin in 2010, 2011, when I was staging in the city, if you’ve ever been in a Michelin restaurant, it was so cut throat. People would literally step on you to get that position. This person can’t cut it. I’m better than them. Put me in there. It’s that mentality. I never liked that. I can really put that down. But am I going to have the same attitude? That’s where I drew the line. It didn’t feel right. They are a little bit like a factory. There’s no playing, only following steps. 

One thing you wish you knew before opening Tenmomi?

There’s definitely a thousand things. This is something you will learn eventually. It’s backwards. So when you open your stuff, you get your LLC. You would want to get your business credit. They won’t give you one unless you have a form of business already. I was so confused. I called everyone. I couldn’t get a business credit unless I had a business first for at least a year. I should have been able to apply for it while my business was starting. It’s so backwards. We let people fail. I didn’t and I still don’t understand it. I saved money because I used my own funds. When I was fully realized, I was able to get that return back. I was able to do it because I did the ghost kitchen. It was still a lot of money and it's still not a brick and mortar. I’m phasing into it. 

How do we flip the narrative and make restaurants a great place to work for creatives?

This is my vision. I’m going to have a full blown restaurant. I am only going to be open Tuesday through Saturday. It's only early shifts too, closing at seven pm. Those late night shifts are really unsustainable. I don’t want my team to be overworked or rushed through the week. I only want to have one crew. There’s too much conflict between the morning crew and the night crew. Everyone’s going to be on salary and everyone’s going to have benefits. On the days that we’re closed, I want to have our space open to other creatives who are starting up, kind of being an incubator for other businesses. Doing the same thing that I’m doing right now. You have a vision. Use my space. Go for it. That’s my goal. 

I am tired of my twenty one years that I’ve spent every Memorial Day, every Christmas [working]. Everyone should be off too. Just because we’re a restaurant. Just because we can bring in more revenue. I get it but I’m not a greedy man. I just want to make enough. We make enough to sustain our team and keep pushing. Holding the space for others is so important. 

Born and raised in the Philippines, I grew up around food and thrown in early in the kitchen to help my lola feed our family. I came to the US in 1997. Started my career as a dishwasher first then finally to exec chef. Twenty one years later, I finally decided to open my ramen shop which is for now a ghost kitchen concept. But eventually a full fledged restaurant soon.