Hong Kong (CNN) – For Sandeep Arora, home is the ancient city of Jalandhar in the Punjab region of India. His wife, son and parents live there, but he has not seen them since March 2020.
Amy Stott has not seen her parents in Manchester, England – or eaten at her beloved local fish and chip shop – since June 2019.
Sabi Gurung, meanwhile, longs for the breathtaking mountains of Nepal, where her mom, dad and beloved dog all await their first visit in nearly two years.
And while they’re there, Black Sheep Restaurant will even deliver them dinner from one of their 32 restaurants.
The only caveat? The employee completes one year’s service on his return.
‘It felt right to do so’
Arora, Stott and Gurung are among the more than 250 employees who will benefit from the move, which will allow employees of every level to go home from Hong Kong to as far-flung countries as Argentina, Nigeria, France, South Africa and Australia.
The event was dreamed up by the co-founders of Black Sheep Restaurant, Syed Asim Hussain and Christopher Mark. Hussain is the first to admit that – the move – which would have cost him at least US$650,000 – is a bit crazy.
“It was such a silly idea that we had so many bottles of wine one after the other,” he tells CNN. “The next day we talked to our businessmen – they were totally against it. They’re there to help us not make silly decisions.”
Despite this advice, Hussein and Mark went ahead with it.
“Our business people are amazing and help us understand the liability and risk, but this is going to get in the way of doing the right thing,” Hussain says. “It’s always been a business that has had very low margins, but especially now. I understand it was kind of shameless — but it felt like the right thing to do.”
Clearly employees who are set to take advantage as they take benefits and go home from January couldn’t agree more.
Amy Stott, second from left, is hoping to fly home to see her family.
Courtesy Amt Stott / Black Sheep Restaurant
Among them is Stott, who has spent the last 27 months in Hong Kong.
“It’s been difficult being away from my family, especially when we’ve lost loved ones,” she says.
“Just not being able to hug my mother physically and mentally when she needs support has been challenging. Since Covid, I have had to be more conservative with spending, because you just don’t Know what’s around the corner. The cost is money for quarantine plus flights that I just don’t need to empty.”
She’ll head to Italy next summer for a friend’s wedding—and tuck into some proper fish and chips—before heading to Manchester in northwest England to see her family and dog.
“We have a little black schnauzer named Pippin and he loves to take long walks in the fields near my parents’ house,” Stott says. “With nothing but miles of lush green hills, I never thought I could remember the chill that chilled your ears. Then fish and chips! Every time I go home This is the tradition of my first meal. Fish, chips, mashed peas.”
His family’s reaction was quite emotional.
“My family was blown away. My dad said he already knew I worked with wonderful people, but it was the most generous gesture ever. My mother just cried,” she says .
Sandeep Arora has not seen his wife and son before the pandemic.
Courtesy Sandeep Arora/Black Sheep Restaurant
“I haven’t been home since the pandemic started, which has been really hard for me and my family,” he says. “My son is only eight years old so he is at an age where they grow up to be that much even in a month. Coming back to Hong Kong from India meant 21 days in a hotel. Before the pandemic I would go back every six It was a month.”
As a restaurant industry veteran, the first thing he looks forward to eating is home-cooked food.
“I can’t wait to eat my mother’s food, especially her brinjal bharta with roti,” he says. It’s a simple Punjabi brinjal recipe, but I miss it a lot.” “Whenever I go back she cooks the first thing for me.”
For many, it’s even the simple act of traveling to – anywhere – outside of Hong Kong for the first time in two years.
Arora says, “The opportunity to go home means a lot. “Apart from being with my family I am really excited to travel again, I want to travel to every corner of Punjab, especially the mountains. We will walk along rivers, stay in hill resorts and be in nature.”
There are also elements of working in hospitality that make living away from family difficult, he says.
“With the festive season approaching, there will be a lot of families celebrating at restaurants. It can be a bit daunting when we are away from our loved ones but it always happens when you work in hospitality, even Even before. Pandemic. For this time, we make guests our family.”
Sabi Gurung says that she cannot wait to return to Nepal and see her family and enjoy some momos while she is there.
Courtesy Sabi Gurung / Black Sheep Restaurant
Gurung, an eight-year-old Black Sheep restaurant employee who operates the group’s Parisian-style steakhouse, La Vache, says being away from family during the pandemic has raised real concerns.
“I’m from Pokhara in Nepal, a 20-minute flight from Kathmandu, a beautiful part of the world,” she says. “This is where my mom, dad and my dog live.
“Obviously when you have relatives over a certain age who are more vulnerable to this virus, you worry about them. It’s just a constant worry in the back of your mind. Since vaccination, the situation in my hometown Too much is better, but it was bad enough for a while, not like here in Hong Kong. This opportunity to go home means a lot to my parents and me. It has really made me proud.”
Local food – and ideas to get hearts racing – are also on her agenda.
“I have been craving momos (Nepali dumplings) and samosas that we would eat when my friends and I were hanging out in college. I miss those days! Then making coffee, sitting on my terrace watching the Himalayas.”
Clearly, as a successful conglomerate with more than 30 restaurants to his name – as well as ambitious future expansion plans in London, Paris and possibly elsewhere – Black Sheep is shaped to offer this special benefit to employees at restaurants. And has sufficiently deep pockets.
Gurung runs operations at the Hong Kong restaurant La Vache.
Noah Fake/Black Sheep Restaurant
Given that restaurant groups are often seen as the bad guys, Hussain expects the move to be met with a healthy combination of optimism and cynicism.
“Groups are famous for taking value from the people who work for the group, from the guests, from the suppliers,” he says. “So it’s very important for us to remain the type of group that gives value — or leaves something on the table for other parties.”
As far as any employee who may try to take advantage of the program — let’s say –?
“My instruction to our leadership team is not to be strict about this. Take people home. If there is documentation involved it would be terrible. We don’t want to be rigid about implementation, because then it weighs more and more.” Loses value. If someone wants to go to the beach, they’ll need it!”
Top image: Carbon, one of the 32 Hong Kong eateries of Black Sheep Restaurant Group. credit: Black Sheep Restaurant
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