Top 20 Under 40: William Liu, 36, from Sono Restaurant and Motto Motto

In a notoriously fickle industry, this Chinese-born, Brisbane-educated restauranter has found success in both the high-end fine-dining sector and the tricky foodcourt eatery.

William Liu is the managing director of the company behind Sono Restaurant and the Motto Motto chain. Picture: Mark Cranitch

William Liu is a Chinese-born, Queensland-educated businessman with plans to take a chain of Japanese eateries – to Japan.

It sounds ambitious. But, while he has seen setbacks, Liu has also since 2005 survived in the high-end restaurant game.

He’s even expanded into food chains in the notoriously insolvent eatery sector.

Liu was born in Ningbo in China’s east and moved to southeast Queensland at 16.

There, he gained an education at John Paul College, took a top OP1 and then studied accounting at the University of Queensland.

“I wanted to be a businessperson,” he says of why he embarked on such a degree.

Studying taught him ways of overcoming problems, he says.

William Liu is the managing director of the company behind Sono Restaurant and the Motto Motto chain. Picture: Mark Cranitch

He enjoyed Japanese food and would eat at the high-end Sono Restaurant in Brisbane’s CBD, but the owner there was struggling in 2005.

Armed with some money from his parents, and selling assets including his car to ensure funds remained sufficient, Liu and his new wife then took over and worked there seven days a week.

In the meantime, Liu has also expanded into the Motto Motto (meaning More, More in Japanese) chain.

It is a food-court style outlet. But the expansion has been slower than planned.

That slower expansion matches how Liu describes himself as someone who takes calculated risks rather than getting big for the pride of it.

There are six Motto Motto locations and hopes of a franchise model with more than 70 stores in Australia, Singapore and even Japan.