Founders
MOGU is a mixed family (Chinese-Indonesian-Dutch) owned restaurant.
Gus and Niek: "Having grown up in the Netherlands and being very close to our Indo-Chinese grandmother, food was always central when family came together!"
Gus Rodermans
Gus: "I was bored with my mechanical engineering job in the Netherlands, so I went to explore Asia, which inhibits ~60% of the world's population. After a few months of traveling around Asia, I came to China and enrolled in a university to study the Chinese language. While becoming proficient in the language, I started applying for master's degrees and was lucky to get into Peking University to study Economics, and I took extra courses in Finance. During Peking University I started the Peking University boxing club and part-timed as PR-manager at a high-end night club. During this time I ate Malantang almost every day. I graduated with honors, and just a month after, COVID happened, and due to the harsh lockdown, I came back to Europe. After I left I was missing the food big time"
Dana Blekkenhorst
Dana: "Gus kept saying that he missed the food so much. So we went to eat it in New York. I told Gus if you want to open a restaurant, I will put my career as a doctor on hold for a few months and help you get it off the ground!"
Guus: "I wanted to go back to China at the end of 2022, but I didn't want to leave my love behind, and the opportunity to open up a restaurant doesn't come around very often. Dana understood the dining scene in Amsterdam very well, as well as the Asian flavors. Having Dana's support made me feel confident we can pull this off. So Dana and I started preparing the restaurant end of 2022. My cousin Niek also wanted to join from the start, so that was very very cool!".
Niek Schepers