Stories | The Forum | In the lift with: Elizabeth Haigh

Decorative image — In the lift with: Elizabeth Haigh, chef and founder of Mei Mei
The Michelin-star founder of Borough Market’s Mei Mei restaurant takes us on a lift journey through business, food and life.
Find out more about Mei Mei

I like the coworking areas here at Borough Yards. My ADHD enjoys a bit of noise and stuff going on.”
Elizabeth HaighChef and founder of Mei Mei

Once the lift doors opened, we kept the conversation going. Below, Elizabeth answers a few additional questions.

With all the choice in Borough Market, why do people choose Mei Mei?

I think they come to us because the restaurant is based on a kopitiam, which is a traditional coffee shop in Singapore. I like to think that we offer that little slice of home. We do everything in very traditional way – the recipes, the ingredients, even the techniques are exactly how we do it back in Singapore – so it’s about trying to be as close to the original thing as possible.

We designed Mei Mei withan open kitchen, like a kopitiam, as it’s all about the sense of community and building relationships with the people that come. Those coffee shops are pillars of the community in Singapore, so it’s really important that my staff and customers can talk to each other.

You appeared on MasterChef as a student. What impact did that have on your career?

It was an amazing experience; definitely life-changing. I was very young and my classmates dared me to enter because I’d always go on about cooking and spent most of my student loan on food! Most people were going out clubbing and I was spending £70 on a côte de boeuf. When I appeared on the show, I realised that I really do like being around food, cooking for people and making them happy. It made me take the jump and go into the food business industry after that summer.

How does running a kitchen compare to running a business?

They can be very similar, as with both you’ve got to be able to manage your time, money and people. Other than budgeting, learning how to develop your leadership skills is probably the most important thing that I’ve learned as a chef going on to be a business owner.