An Interview with Ulysses’s Kebab Plus

Written by Eden Jones
Photographed by JT White and courtesy of Ulysses Suskette

Whenever we ask expats what they miss most from home, an answer we often get is… the food! Though South Korea has rapidly developed and modernized over the years, including what it has to offer by way of imported goods, there are some foods that are still hard to come by in our fair city of Gwangju, and one of those things is good Mediterranean food! Thankfully, Kebab Plus exists. Kebab Plus is a popular hot spot within the expat community for ordering group lunches and catering for special events. We caught up with the owner, Canada native Ulysses Michael Suskette, to get the lowdown on what he has to offer and find out what has made his kebabs so irresistible.

Gwangju News (GN): Hello! Thank you for agreeing to do this interview for the April edition of the Gwangju News. First of all, we’d like to know more about your background. Where are you from?
Ulysses: I’m from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. But I have hometown roots in a small little place called Sioux Lookout, which is in Northern Ontario.

GN: When did you originally come to South Korea and why? How long have you been in Gwangju, specifically?
Ulysses: Sometime around 2006, my wife and I were asked to try teaching English here by a friend, Dan Henrickson, who was already here and had started recruiting teachers to Korea with his first company, and then later with his new company, Teach ESL Korea. But, we were busy loving, living, and working in Calgary, so we put it in the back of our minds. Soon after, though, we found out that we were expecting a child. We then started thinking about how we could take care of our newborn because we knew that both parents would be able to take paid parental leave from work. What we didn’t know was that we could receive these payments while traveling abroad. So, a light bulb went off, and we called up Dan and got ourselves ready for working abroad. Our son was born in the first quarter of 2007, and shortly after that, our paperwork was in the works. We then left Canada in September of that year to start our adventure here in wonderful Gwangju and have never left.

GN: When did you start your kebab business and what was the inspiration behind it? Also, how has your business grown over time?
Ulysses: Before the kebabs, I actually got started in the food industry a few years prior to moving to South Korea. I’d apprenticed under a five-star Italian chef in Calgary for a few years. Through that I learned to take great pride and care in hand-selecting produce, and in preparing and cooking my food fresh. That’s how I got interested in Kebab Plus, particularly when the opportunity presented itself after a friend asked me to help him with his food business. Around that time, the customers were mainly English teachers looking for something different. There was zero competition in Gwangju – and in South Korea, for that matter – and definitely no one else delivering fresh kebabs and hummus to customers’ doors. Eventually, I took over my friend’s business and started up a catering service along with the lunch delivery service, and then I expanded the menu and started marketing to Koreans and other cities and towns. After that marketing campaign is when it really started to take off. I was getting swamped with orders for business functions, teachers meetings, university lunches, and even picnics. I was also starting to ship out to larger cities like Seoul, Incheon, Daegu, and Pohang, as well as to smaller cities like Mokpo, Ansan, Ulsan, and Suncheon more frequently. I couldn’t keep up with the demand. I scaled it back eventually and just focused on catering to the local foreign community for the most part. I still take out-of-town orders but have not advertised it much recently.

GN: What type of menu do you offer and how do orders/pickups work?
Ulysses: I like calling my food “extremely delicious Mediterranean food with a hint of Greek island taste!” Also, by request, my menu can be made vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and halal. I make everything homemade and get fresh ingredients daily. There are exactly two things that are not homemade and fresh on my menu: the tortilla wraps and the kebab sauce (tzatziki), which has mayo in it. My vegan tzatziki is completely homemade and fresh though, FYI.

The ordering is a little bit trickier, since I cater to all of Gwangju and it’s only myself doing all the prepping, cooking, and delivering. I request that orders be placed at least a day in advance to coordinate with my weekly orders and to figure out a delivery schedule to get my food to customers all on time. I try my best and take last-minute orders if there’s enough time.

GN: What’s your most popular item at the moment?
Ulysses: It’s a toss-up between the hummus and chicken kebabs. I think I’d vote for the kebabs though, simply because I do roughly 100 to 250 kebabs a week with my deliveries. So that leaves me little time to focus on my hummus. When I do have a free day, I’ll advertise that hummus is available and get around 50 to 100 orders for that in one day.

GN: What’s your favorite menu item? Why?
Ulysses: The falafel. Why? Because it’s amazing, and I’m not being biased either! Seriously!

GN: Do you have any special plans for expanding the business in the future or adding to your menu?
Ulysses: Yes, I’ve since taken a managerial position at a Café near the Gwangju National University of Education, in between Punghyang-dong and Duam 3-dong, Buk-gu. This has allowed me to expand my business by adding coffee to my menu. In saying that though, my menu has been slimmed down to only chicken kebabs and falafel kebabs, along with Mediterranean salads and falafel salads for the time being. But, I’m now offering up a Korean-flavored wrap – the Korean Wrap. There will be more additions, such as healthy soups, as I get more comfortable working as a barista as well.

GN: Are you in Gwangju permanently or do you plan to eventually return to your home country?
Ulysses: At this moment I consider myself a permanent resident. I love this city. But like life, things constantly change and new adventures must be taken. One thing is for sure, though: There are no immediate plans to return to Canada. The rat race back home is something I don’t want to be a part of just yet. I do miss my profession and family, though. But, would I give up what I have now? No.

GN: What’s been the best part about running your own kebab business?
Ulysses: The best part would be the number of people I get to meet and the positive feedback I get from the awesome people who try my food.

GN: What do you do outside of making kebabs?
Ulysses: Recently, I picked up playing D&D (Dungeons and Dragons, a live role-playing game) again. LOL! I’m actually a big gamer, so when I can get free time, I like to nerd-out on board games, veg-out playing video games, or binge-watch movies or TV shows.

GN: Is there anything else about your business you’d like to share with the community?
Ulysses: I’d like to add that along with regular coffees such as Americano, caramel macchiato, café latte, et al., I also will be serving a “Double-Double” coffee for all the Canadians in the city! In addition, there are also vegan coffees made with homemade vegan caramel sauce and almond milk! So, if you’re vegetarian or vegan, come on over and try out the amazing coffee I have!

Well, there you have it. The ins and outs of Kebab Plus. We don’t know about you, but our taste buds are watering! Why not check out Kebab Plus for your next lunch meeting?

KEBAB PLUS
42-1 Gunwang-ro 46-beongil, Buk-gu, Gwangju
광주 북구 군왕로46번길 42-1
Orders can be made through the Kebab Plus Facebook page: facebook.com/KebabPlusGwangju
Instagram: instagram.com/kebabplusgwangju/
4,000–8,000 won

The Author
Eden has been living in Korea since 2014 and enjoys reading, writing, snowboarding, and enchanting the locals with her violin. She is presently on a multi-month tour of Europe.