Kapitan Restaurant, formerly known as Borscht and Dumplings.RU, is one of the only restaurants in Singapore that serves Slavic cuisine.
They serve various types of Slavic food and drinks, including pelmeni and pierogi, both of which are dumplings they dub ‘ang moh dumplings’.
Even though Slavic cuisine is rarely seen in Singapore, the business has been steadily declining since Ukraine-born Vadim Zoubovski opened Kapitan restaurant in 2020 at Maxwell Chambers.
Mark Zubovskyy, his 21-year-old son, was going to attend university and get a degree in maritime business, but even the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
When Kapitan fell on hard times, Mark decided to answer the call to arms and join the business full-time.
Now, Mark wears pretty much every hat at the restaurant at the tender age of 21 and with a recent surge in virality thanks to a TikTok video, business may begin to pick up again.
Mr Zoubovski, who is from Ukraine, accepted a shipping job in Singapore, and the family moved here in 2004.
Since then, they’ve grown to love the country and its food, acquiring permanent residency.
Due to Slavic culture, the family often eats at home, but they have also fallen in love with our dishes like chicken rice, prata, and nasi lemak.
Mark has lived in Singapore since he could start forming memories, went to a local secondary school, did his A-levels in junior college, and went through National Service.
Both Mark and his 16-year-old sister attended neighbourhood schools here. When Mark entered secondary school, he initially found adapting to a completely new environment tough.
“I feel like in the local system, I had to study more and do much more work,” he shared.
However, he eventually did well enough in school to go to junior college, and after his A-levels, he entered National Service.
“My experience was quite welcoming,” Mark, a permanent resident who feels connected to Singapore, shared.
Though his uni enrollment was delayed compared to his friends in international schools, Mark entered NS “with an open mind”.
Because he’s grown up in Singapore for so long and plans to stay here for the foreseeable future, Mark decided he “had to” enlist.
In the end, Mark felt the two years were quite fruitful as he’d work out or read while he wasn’t on duty as a driver at his camp.
“I decided not to waste my time and used it to improve myself,” he said.
Running the restaurant full-time was not exactly on Mark’s mind, although he’s helped out since his school and NS days, mainly serving customers.
But sales had been dropping and the menu was not bringing in enough repeat customers.
With the restaurant in dire straits, Mark decided to step in and help run the restaurant full-time.
Though his father was previously the front-facing person for the restaurant, Mark thought that telling his story might be a new way to bring attention to Kapitan.
So he donned a captain’s scarf and hat — which some comments jokingly refer to as a Japanese sailor uniform — and told his story on TikTok.
To his great surprise, the resulting TikTok video became extremely viral and has more than 700,000 views to date.
“Initially, I posted with no expectations, but TikTok does crazy wonders. I was very fortunate that the first video caught people’s attention, and people started sharing it,” Mark said.
“It’s pretty crazy, especially in Singapore, since our audience is quite small, but we managed to reach so many people, so it’s amazing.”
Thanks to the video, several people have come down to support the restaurant and try the food.
“It warms my heart how people are coming down to support us,” he said.
In a follow-up video, Mark debuted a new dish for the restaurant’s set lunch – a fusion dish of salmon pelmeni, mentaiko, and pasta, along with cheese added on top.
Though he appears well-acquainted as a cook in the video, Mark shared that he was actually a “terrible cook” before he started working full-time.
In something of a trial by fire, he started working in the kitchen with his parents, who taught him how to cook on the job.
Mark experiments with new recipes with his father in his free time, and they’re thinking of more new fusion dishes.
“We want to improve the menu, add a few more fusion dishes to meet the local palette.”
The family realised that even though diners enjoy the food, they rarely return to the restaurant after their first visit.
Slavic cuisine, while unique, also has the downside of not appearing to be like everyday food to Singaporeans.
Hence, the pasta is but one of several fusion dishes the family hopes to make more relatable to Singaporeans, especially for the office crowd in the area.
“We’re trying to make some dishes for people to relate with so they can come back more often,” he said.
Mark says he’ll share more soon about new recipes on TikTok.
Many young adults may baulk at the idea of working at a restaurant nearly every day for such long hours. Not only does one lose most of their social life, the mental and physical toll isn’t for everyone.
But Mark knew his parents struggled to keep the restaurant afloat and readily jumped into things.
Knowing Kapitan now requires a full-time commitment instead of just part-time help, Mark paused his studies for a maritime business degree at a local university.
He now has a passion for the F&B industry and wishes to continue working at Kapitan restaurant in Singapore for at least the next few years.
Now, his life “has pretty much become the restaurant”. He works the lunch shift from 10am to 3pm, followed by the prep for dinner shift from 5-11pm.
During that time, he does everything from being in the kitchen, planning the roster, to liaising with clients, and even serving customers.
After all that work, it’s simply too tiring to go out.
“My friends understand I’m working, so they come down to the restaurant, and we hang out,” Mark said.
Being able to hang out with his friends who come down to the restaurant helps with the slight FOMO he gets when he can’t join in for some activities.
Then there are all the other things he has to do, especially computer-specific tasks such as graphic design and advertising.
To manage his time and ensure he doesn’t burn out, Mark hits the gym in the morning and watches his diet to keep his fitness levels up.
Mark also tries to spend his day off with loved ones and friends, but he also admits that he can sometimes sleep 12 to 13 hours if he gets overwhelmed.
Regardless, he tries to get seven to eight hours of sleep a night.
Mark also revealed in a TikTok video that monthly expenses at Kapitan can run up to S$50,000.
To keep costs lower, there are just four full-timers, most of whom are in the family.
However, the family aren’t considering moving from their current location at Maxwell Chambers for now.
“We’re very fortunate to be here since 2020,” Mark said. “We like this place. I think it’s a good place and area – lots of foot traffic.”
“Perhaps in the future, we may open some other outlets, maybe with outdoor seating.”
Addressing several comments about whether Kapitan serves halal food, Mark said in a TikTok video that due to the restaurant’s circumstances, Kapitan won’t be obtaining halal certification for now.
The idea isn’t fully off the table, however, as Mark said he has some plans for the future. But that will only come after things stabilise a little.
Some thrive under pressure, while others wilt under it. It can’t be easy for a 21-year-old to take up the business reins.
However, Mark appears to be taking things in stride and learning on the go.
The fact that he’s cooking in the kitchen after admitting to being a “terrible cook” is but one example. Becoming Kapitan’s front-facing person is another step not everyone would take.
But putting himself out there appears to be working, as far as the viral TikTok video goes. Now, the mission for Mark and his family is to steer the ship into safer waters.
Know an inspiring individual you’d like to highlight? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured image by MS News. Photography by Iskandar Rossali.
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