Sylvia Su
Sommelier and restaurant manager at Sober Company, Shanghai
I’m half Taiwanese and half Nigerian, born and raised in Taipei, with Mandarin as my native tongue. My first job in hospitality was part-timing as a waitress at TGI Friday’s when I graduated from high school. It was when I began working part time at a French bistro that I really got into wine and started taking WSET lessons. I then learned so much more about wine at my next job, as the company operated both a restaurant and a wine importing company.
I wanted to move to Shanghai because I needed a change at the time. I wanted to experience a different city, but I wasn’t ready to be too far away from home. I had heard a lot about Shanghai from my mentor Sandy Yoon and decided it was perfect for me! I started asking around for jobs while I was getting ready to move and heard from a friend of a friend that Sober Company was hiring for a position that was exactly what I was currently doing.
Working for Sober Company is awesome. I guess I imagined working for a Japanese company would be very stressful, as they’re known for their diligence and focus on details. The latter is true at Sober, but there’s also so much flexibility and room for growth. Sober Company is actually very international in a way, and our managers bring out the best of both worlds. There’s the drive for details and balance that stems from the Japanese side, but there’s also so much trust and freedom for creation. I love how my job is what I make it, and I’ve learned so much more about service and delivering a great experience.
Guests from Shanghai and Taiwan respond quite differently to the fact I’m half Taiwanese, half Nigerian. Taiwanese guests are a lot more scared to speak English, as Taiwan is not as international – and then when local guests they find out I’m Taiwanese, they find that hard to accept and are shocked. Other than that, people are always friendly and I rarely experience any discrimination. Perhaps a bit of privilege for looking like a foreigner.
When people are shocked that I’m Taiwanese, I try not to let it get to me for the most part. But I’m human, and sometimes I can feel weaker and let my inner child take over. I get defensive and offended that people find my origins and my story shocking, unbelievable or even funny. But still, I don’t like it when I let it get to me, because their reactions are nothing new, so the only thing that I can change is my mindset. I think people are a lot more chill about it in Shanghai because it’s a bit more international and they’ve kind of “seen it all”.
Though things in Shanghai are mostly fine, I’m really disappointed to say that just recently, I experienced racial discrimination. I was walking from Sober to the store room, and passed a film crew. In Mandarin, one of them uttered a racial slur and started laughing. I was absolutely stunned and didn’t know what to do. I stared at them and I think they began to realise I’d understood them. All I could say was lihai (厲害; impressive) sarcastically, and walked away. When I got back to the restaurant, I was really upset and spoke to my colleagues. We wanted to deal with the situation by confronting the film crew, but by the time we got around to it, they had gone.
I honestly don’t have any special advice just for black people working in Asia’s f&b industry, especially as I’ve only really lived in Asia, so I don’t know what it’s like elsewhere! That said, my advice for anyone wanting to pursue a career in the bar industry would be take care of yourself first! Both mental and physical health are so important, and you can’t be productive or creative if you’re not at your best. And for me, taking care of myself means hanging out with my friends to keep me sane! I also keep in mind that different friends serve different purposes in my life, and I can’t rely on any single one of them to give me all the different kinds of support I need. I also love my dose of endorphins, so I run, work out at home and try different sports.
My mentor is Sandy Yoon – former executive chef at Mercato on the Bund, Shanghai and now owner of Sugar Pea, Taipei. She’s like a big sister to me and gave me a lot of advice regarding my career, moving to Shanghai, relationships and life in general. And as I mentioned, she inspired my move to Shanghai.
Going forward, my plan is to host my own wine tasting events. I enjoy the independence and knowing I can create a great experience and provide knowledge outside of my workplace. I host some at Sober and some at other venues, such as Eu Noia and Bird in Shanghai. My friends always support me and there are always people interested to learn more, so they find me on WeChat – please feel free to get in touch, my WeChat ID is sylviayifeisu. I absolutely love natural wines – they’re just so funky and fun! I often use them at my events but also use conventional wines according to the theme of the tasting.
