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On a Sunday evening, the lights dimmed in a 32-year-old cha chaan teng in Hong Kong. The owners made room for a turntable and taped foam over the entrance to keep sound from leaking out. They were preparing the space for a “milk tea rave”, complete with beatboxing.
The owners of Kam Shun Restaurant are two brothers: 23-year-old Theo Ko and 25-year-old Lavitt Ko. Their diner is in Sun Tin Village in Tai Wai. It is a humble neighbourhood restaurant surrounded by public housing estates.
Like many other local eateries, it had been struggling to survive.
But since the brothers took over from their parents last December, they want to make their cha chaan teng cool again. The milk tea raves are part of this plan.
“Sometimes people would call us just to ask if there are events happening here,” Theo said. “Diners have become really curious about the place, and it’s helped more young people discover us.”
Their idea was inspired by viral “coffee rave” events. These are popular with young people who don’t want to drink alcohol to enjoy dancing to music.
“Foreigners might rave with coffee, but Hongkongers drink milk tea. Why can’t we blend them together?” Lavitt noted.
How the brothers inherited the restaurant
Seven days a week, Theo handles the drinks, passes along customer orders and cleans up before the diner closes. He does this while finishing his final year studying business at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).
Lavitt works full-time as a teaching assistant at CUHK’s Business School, so he helps out on weekends.
But taking over the business was never part of the plan.
“My dad actually didn’t want us entering this industry because he knew how constraining running a cha chaan teng can be,” Theo shared.
The brothers’ late father had originally left the shop to their uncle. But management of the restaurant eventually found its way back to the young brothers.
“Suddenly, I felt this intense sense of duty,” Theo said. “I just knew I wanted to breathe life back into this place.”
For both brothers, taking over Kam Shun Restaurant also matched their career goals.
“We didn’t want to just climb the corporate ladder; we wanted our own business, a place where our own ideas could actually leave the office and come to life,” Lavitt said.
Why they want to bring young people to their cafe
Cha chaan teng have long been considered a core part of Hong Kong’s food scene. It is known for staples like macaroni soup sets and pineapple buns with thick slabs of butter.
But for the younger generation, they prefer to visit cafes that are trendy and Instagram-friendly.
“Their impression of a cha chaan teng might just be a bunch of middle-aged uncles wearing earphones and reading the horse racing pages,” Lavitt said.
“How can we break that stereotype so young people don’t think it’s boring?”
To break the mould, Theo turned to his passion as a beatboxer.
So far, the brothers have organised three “milk tea raves” with beatboxing at their restaurant. They hope to continue hosting one every two months.
Theo and Lavitt do not think youth entrepreneurship should just be about tech start-ups. They hope other young people can work on saving the city’s heritage.
“Take cha chaan teng culture, for example – hardly any young people enter this industry any more,” Lavitt said. “But traditional culture needs to be preserved, and to do that, you have to find new ways to innovate.”
