History
Arte Restaurant started life in early 2016 as the Daiichi Art Space, an extension of the Daiichi Modern Art Gallery in Kedah.
Founded in 1998 in Sungai Petani, Daiichi Modern Art Gallery is one of the largest private art museums and galleries in Malaysia with a collection of over 3,000 art pieces.
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In July 2016, the lower level of the new branch gallery was transformed into a classy and intimate 28-seater restaurant.
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“Food is also a form of art, and we felt they complement each other. The idea was to create an atmosphere where people can dine and learn more about art,” said managing director Vincent Tai.
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During the initial cuisine selection and conceptual stage, it was concluded that the most suitable type of cuisine that would match the arts was French cuisine. Therefore, a F&B team with matching skills was formed to begin the journey.
On 5 February 2016, we started our restaurant's dinner operation then followed by lunch operation from 6 September 2016. In fact, we did not have any official opening launching for the restaurant. Our idea was to grow the business gradually as we improve along the way on the quality of food and service. Thanks to our customers' words of mouth, and not forgetting also our local food bloggers, our restaurant grows steadily over the period.
Besides being a dining place. Arte Restaurant is also a platform built to discover, develop, promote and nurture young talents into entrepreneurship. From food menu design to table setting, cutleries and glassware, uniform, etc., the entire concepts and processes were designed and executed by the new opening team who has little knowledge and experience in leading a new restaurant operation.
Despite being a small-scale restaurant, the restaurant is planned and operated the similar way as a multi-national corporation with service-oriented minds.
We began with establishing our Vision, Mission, Values and Goals, then designed our brand logo, etc. The team has the opportunity to learn various organisational and analytical skills during monthly / quarterly preparation and presentation of Sales reports, Monthly inventory counts, Expenses and Cost controls, etc. Transparency is practiced so that each team member has a sense of belonging and accountability. The learning processes will be beneficial to the team members who wish to pursue their own dreams and businesses in future.
Major Milestone
1998 – Daiichi Modern Art Gallery was established.
27 FEB 2016 – Daiichi Art Space was officially opened by Chief Minister of Penang.
5 JUL 2016 – Arte Restaurant started dinner operation.
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6 SEP 2016 – Arte Restaurant started lunch operation.
21 MAR 2017 – Invited by Embassy of France in Malaysia for participating in Good France 2017, 2000 Chefs from 5 Continents awere creating 2000 French cuisine menus on this day.
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Major Functions & Events organised:
30 JUL 2016 – Private event for The International Wine & Food Society, Australia.
25 AUG 2016 - Private event dinner and talk by a Pharmaceutical MNC.
10 SEP 2016 – Private event dinner and talk by a Pharmaceutical MNC.
19 SEP 2016 – Private dinner by Association of Tourism Attractions Penang (ATAP)
8 OCT 2016 - Private event dinner and talk by a Pharmaceutical MNC.
21 JAN 2017 - Private event dinner for a group of accounting professionals.
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11 APR 2017 - A Wine Pairing Dinner & Talk with Exclusive Chateau wines from the Mahler Besse stable, France.