Inspiring Conversations with Jake Sriwongsajarn of Good Goose Cafe

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Sriwongsajarn.

Hi Jake, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I received my degree from college in art; however, I’ve always had a passion for flavorful food. One could say I’m still using my college degree as cooking is science and art. Food preparation and plating are definitely an art.

Prior to opening the Good Goose Cafe, I started helping friends with the interior design and graphic design layouts of their restaurants. That ignited a flame inside me and made me really want to have my own restaurant. I was always in the kitchen as a child alongside my Mom, helping prep for family meals. At least, I thought I was helping, maybe I was just in her way – either way, I witnessed and learned a lot. My mom used the best ingredients for our family. Her food was always fresh, delicious, full of natural flavors and free of preservatives. It was this foundation that instilled me to make fresh, delicious, high-quality food for everyone. It was my own love of food and the blending of all of the influences that drive and inspire me that led to the creation of the Good Goose Cafe.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The struggle is real. When you hear running a restaurant is excruciatingly hard work: believe it. We struggled the most at the start. Never owning and operating a restaurant before, there was definitely a learning curve for us. Between managing, marketing, scheduling and employee issues, and city regulations, it seemed like the list of concerns and issues we ran into were never-ending. Honestly, we learned from our mistakes and finding resources and routes to solve them. For example, we originally had Japanese menus and a Poke bar. We quickly realized it was dividing our time and efforts. We were good at both, but we wanted to be great. Removing that section of the business allowed us to improve and expand our Thai menu and excel at what we do.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Good Goose Cafe is a Thai eatery on Beverly Blvd., located on the corner of Larchmont Village. We serve authentic, modern Thai cuisine with our own personal inspiration and flair. Meals are prepared and served in a quick, casual dining style. Customers order and pay at the counter. We serve their order at their table. Most of our dishes are unique to Good Goose Cafe and not available at other Thai restaurants. We pride ourselves on this fact. We even upped our dining experience by creating specialized beverages. We now offer a variety of drinks: boba, lemonades, matcha latte, and Thai iced tea, to name a few. Quality and taste are at the forefront of every single appetizer, entree and drink we create. That quality and our prices cannot be beaten by other Thai restaurants in the area. We also cater to vegetarians and vegans and offer gluten-free options with most of our menu. The restaurant is decorated in a calming, natural motif. Tropical foliage, plants and flowers surround guests to take them out of the concrete jungle that can be Los Angeles.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Do what you love and do it well. One should really have a love for anything they want to do if they wish to succeed. In the restaurant business, there are always growing pains, learning curves, and any multitude of issues needing to be addressed. Owners and managers sacrifice their personal lives for this profession. It seems as though there is never enough time; yet, on the other hand, it’s very rewarding when you get a moment to witness customers thoroughly enjoying the fruits of all of our labors. People have individual tastes and desires. Most Thai restaurants offer similar dishes and flavors. We do not. So, after figuring out your passion, I would recommend finding a way to make your product or service stand out. Recognizing that people are individuals and each has his or her own tastes and desires where food and everything else is concerned, we made it a priority to find individualized ingredients and special flavor combinations to ensure our guests have a distinctive, mouth-watering experience that can only be found at the Good Goose Cafe.

Contact Info:

• Website: goodgoosecafe.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goodgoosecafe/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goodgoosecafe/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/good-goose-cafe-los-angeles-3