Meet Diego Ng | Hospitality Consultant, Restaurateur, Chef & Soon to be Father

We had the good fortune of connecting with Diego Ng and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Diego, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thought process behind starting my business came from an early age. My family owned businesses ever since I was born and I always strived to start one myself. The idea of owning a business has always been to create a product or service that benefits our community. I chose to focus on Hospitality Management and ultimately into the food service as I found that I really like bringing a smile to our guests by feeding them delicious food!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business partner and I started our restaurant Temple Street Eatery in 2014. Alex was born and raised in the US. I was born and raised in Venezuela.

We wanted to open a restaurant that integrated our Asian heritage (we are both Chinese) and Temple Street was born. We call ourselves Asian American Comfort food as we incorporate classic Asian street food dishes and add our twist to them. For example, for our Spicy Miso Ramen, we follow the classic Japanese style Pork Tonkotsu broth and add our TSE Ropa Vieja (shredded beef braised with sofrito, Korean chili paste, soy, ginger and other spices) Speaks a little bit about our upbringing and how we like to eat!

The road to reach the level where we are is not easy. It takes a lot of practice, trial and errors, and everyday we continue to work on improving and fine-tuning every department of our business, from the food to the service, etc…
We are lucky to have a great support system that has helped guide us throughout the years, but at the end of the day this is a labor of passion. It takes a lot of sacrifice, dedication, grit, discipline and a little bit of luck to be able to sustain a restaurant as the everyday demands are very high in our industry. I caution any aspiring chef and restaurateur to think very carefully about pursuing this road because there will be a lot of sacrifices to be made and a lot more hours of lost sleep!

We are excited for the future as we are looking to share our knowledge and experiences with the new generation. We pride ourselves as we try our best to educate and teach our team on food knowledge, service and overall spreading good hospitality service in our community.

We are currently working on starting our new company (Two Happy Buddhas Hospitality). It’s mission is to share with other aspiring entrepreneurs our experiences throughout our years in the hospitality industry with the hope of inspiring others to follow their own path and become successful!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
A great South Florida week definitely includes being surrounded with food!

We would eat at the Citadel Food Hall in Miami and grab a burger at USBS Burger. They’ve got great (homemade) buns and I cannot lie!

Another stop would be Zitz Sum in the Gables for delicious drinks and Asian-inspired tapas.

For the classic Miami vibe, I love Palacios de los Jugos. A delicious place to eat Latin American food at affordable prices, and honestly makes me feel like I’m back in Venezuela because of the atmosphere.

I’m always in the mood for Chinese BBQ, and some of my favorite places for roast pork and roast duck are Gou Lou Cheong BBQ in Lauderdale Lakes (make sure you bring cash!), and Hong’s BBQ in Davie.

I love the water, so any trip to our local beaches would help digest all the great eats, while getting a good dose of that perfect South Florida sun.

I love retro and in Fort Lauderdale, Glitch Bar is a low key place to hang out with friends. Full Bar with old school arcade games is what I consider a great night out!

For some late night eats, my wife and I always enjoy going to MSMR in Miami Lakes. Their braised duck and taro dish is a must have, and you can enjoy while listening to others karaoke! (I’m working my courage to sing in front of people lol)

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I dedicate this shoutout to my father, who is my biggest mentor, as well as to my alma mater Florida International University for their unconditional support and the place where I made many connections including my business partner Alex Kuk.

Website: www.templestreeteatery.com

Instagram: @twohappybuddhas

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diego-ng-5a380212

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TempleStEatery

Image Credits
Jea Caampued &Kanesha Janel