Where dreams brew at 17, best friends open a café

What were you doing at 17?

By Hazim Didie, Iman Akidah and Noor Ashika

From left to right, Qays Zara Muhammad Fariq, and Aesha Ai Jia Patel.

Do you remember your dreams and aspirations when you were 17? For most of us, our dreams often stay as dreams. However, that was not the case for these two best friends, who started a café named Siësta.

After going semi-viral on TikTok, Siësta gained a good amount of traction and had a successful opening of their café.

What is Siësta?

Situated at Sultan Gate, a cosy café recently opened on Sep. 20, by two 17-year-old best friends. Qays Zara Muhammad Fariq, and Aesha Ai Jia Patel are both Year 1 students from Republic Polytechnic and Singapore Polytechnic respectively. Siësta was a passion project by the two girls, and is a sister brand of restaurant Overrice.

The name Siësta came from Spanish origins, which translates to ‘rest’ in English. If you need to slow down in life, Siësta is the place for you. According to the girls, the concept of Siësta is to bring customers of different backgrounds together and provide them with a safe space where they will not feel judged.

Despite being newly opened, Siësta is always packed with customers. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD HAZIM B DIDIE IRWANDY

Customers at Siësta are welcomed to stay as long as they like. There are screen projectors set up for movie screenings while customers dine and socialise in the café. In addition to that, Qays and Aesha constantly make efforts to engage with customers through small talk, and encourage them not only to converse among themselves but also with other customers.

"I think the concept of Siësta is very nice. It's minimal but homey and comfortable," said Siti Sulaiha Binte Abdul Manaf, a 25-year-old student from the Singapore Institute of Technology, who visited Siësta for the first time with her friends.

Are they nepo babies?

Curious about how these 17-year-old besties pulled together the funds to make their dream café a reality? Naturally, we can't help but ask the age-old question: Is it all in the family?

To simply answer that age-old question: NO!

Siësta was a result of Qays and Aesha’s manifestation and hard work. Both of them came from humble backgrounds.

Just like many other students looking for a part-time job, Qays was on the hunt for a job that could help her and her family out. She landed a part-time job at Overrice and excelled for a year and a half, even getting recognized as the top employee for a few months.

Qays’s diligence and passion got quickly recognised by Ms Megan Lim, the owner of Overrice, mid 30s, who saw her potential. She then decided to offer Qays an opportunity; to design and revamp the unoccupied space located right above Overrice's outlet on the second level into a café.

From left to right, Qays Zara Muhammad Fariq, Megan Lim (owner of Overrice) and Aesha Ai Jia Patel. PHOTO: Siësta

Coincidentally, Qays already had business ideas after completing her O levels, but she lacked the resources to start them. As the owner of Overrice, Ms Lim made the executive decision to fund Siësta; leveraging on Overrice’s capital, thus making them sister companies. Ms Lim noted that this gesture was also to minimise the business risk of Siësta.

Where does Aesha come in, you might ask. It was an instance of her being at the ‘right place, right time’. Qays was doing a spring-clean on the second level of Overrice, while Aesha was waiting for Qays to end her shift. When Qays ultimately asked Aesha if she wanted to join her in this journey, she said yes. “I will do anything she asks me to do,” Aesha joked.

From doing research and development of the menu to setting up the interior of the café and even learning to be a cashier. The girls had to put in the extra effort to learn what it takes to run a business; such as managing finance and inventory. They blazed through all the business procedures without any complaints, even though it was during their school holidays.

Juggling school and sustaining a café

In September, Qays and Aesha spent their two-month end-of-semester holiday, working hard together to bring their beautiful ideas to life. With Ms Lim witnessing and guiding them in the journey of setting up Siësta, she mentioned that she observed growth in Qays in terms of her resilience and confidence in presenting her ideas.

“I always look at growth like opening a Pandora box”, said Ms Lim, implying that growth can be a pleasant surprise.

Like most students, school will always be Qays and Aesha’s number one priority on the list. However, with the opening of the café, it just meant that there was an additional priority on their list.

Apart from opening on the weekends, Siësta is also up and running on the weekdays. Since Aesha’s parents do not allow her to work on school days, Qays has to manage the café alone on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Weekdays are rushed for Qays. After school ends, she heads straight to the café, and has to manage the café on the fly. This often leads to her doing her daily school work during her commute between school and the café.

At just 17, running a business and handling school isn't exactly a breeze. They have to sacrifice a chunk of their leisure time to keep the café going strong.

Siti Sulaiha, a customer, finds that opening a café at only 17 years old is “very empowering and innovative”, influencing the younger generation to start working toward their goals at a young age. She added that it is impressive to see people younger than her achieving so much more, as compared to her.

What’s up for grabs?

Now, you must be wondering, what exactly does Siësta serve? The two girls have curated a menu that specialises in toasts and curated drinks. They also serve sides such as fries and dessert. Being Gen Z, you can count on Qays and Aesha to come up with quirky names for their items. They pride themselves with the fact that most of the names of their menu items are references to pop-culture.

Check out their menu:

Menu from Siësta

Some of our favourite names are ‘On My Life’, ‘Shrek’s Love Potion’ (who doesn’t love shrek) and ‘The French Dispatch’.

Fun fact: One of their drinks was named after Ms Lim. It is their refreshing beverage called ‘Suparwoman Energy Drink’. They named the drink after her, because according to the girls, Ms Lim is a “girlboss”.

As the saying goes “the camera eats first”, so here are some of the toasties and drinks they serve.

Clockwise from top-left: Shrek’s Love Potion, Beefin’ It Up, Superwoman Energy Drink, and Cinnamon Girl. PHOTO: Siësta

“From what I’ve tasted, the food is really good,” said Dahlia Aniqa Binte Mohd Zainol, 18, student of Republic Polytechnic, patron at Siësta. Another customer, Siti Sulaiha, said that “the food is okay. It’s not bad for a startup.”

Personally, our favourite item was the ‘Shrek’s Love Potion’. So if you are curious, head down and try it for yourself; and don’t forget to say hi to Qays and Aesha!

Remember, it is not too early nor too late to start reaching for your goals. Qays and Aesha’s journey is evidence that age is indeed just a number.