http://www.wnd.sg038
Opposite page,
clockwise from top
left Louise; The Ledge
by Dave Pynt; Saint Pierre
in Kuala Lumpur; Old
Chang Kee in LondonSINGAPORE AS A CULINARY HEAVYWEIGHT
In the current global landscape, Singapore is seen by
many as a hub for culinary innovation and activity,
no doubt thanks to its location at the crossroads of
Southeast Asia and its unique cultural dynamics. As Pynt
notes, “Singapore’s culinary world has got a very unique
identity both at the street food level and the top end. It’s
worked really hard to create an environment where both
can thrive, you don’t really see that anywhere else in the
world let alone the region.”
The local dining scene has evolved tremendously in
recent years and has been steadily gaining a reputation
as a competitive gastronomic hotspot, punching above its
weight in terms of the quantity and quality of world class
F&B offerings.
Having opened up an outpost of his flagship
restaurant Saint Pierre in Kuala Lumpur recently, Chef
Emmanuel Stroobant of the eponymous restaurant group,
which include other Michelin-starred establishment
like Shoukouwa, opines that Singapore’s accessibility to
high quality ingredients from all over the world leaves
chefs spoilt for choice and affords them plenty room for
innovation. At the same time, “the Singapore diner is
more sophisticated, has travelled, is knowledgable, and is
willing to indulge provided that the experience is value
for money”. As such, for a restaurant to succeed in the
competitive local dining landscape, they not only need to
be competitively priced, offer a sound concept but also be
consistent in their quality and service offered.
If harnessed shrewdly, surviving within the local
dining industry can bode well for restaurants and chefs.
Song Yeow Chung, chief financial officer of Old Chang
Kee notes, “The local F&B scene is extremely competitive,
which brings out the best in everyone. If a restaurateur
is able to do well in such a competitive market, he or she
is likely to do even better in the regional or international
dining scene.”
On one hand, there is a healthy pipeline of global
restaurant and F&B groups striking while the iron is hot
to open up in Singapore. And on the other, there are also
plenty of businesses leveraging on ‘Brand Singapore’
to expand overseas: from renowned chefs partnering
international restaurant groups or big name hotels, to
even street food brands like Old Chang Kee and hawker
names like Michelin-starred chef Chan Hon Meng, who
opened up an outpost of his soya sauce chicken rice
brand in Melbourne.
“[The appeal of Singapore as a food hub] has helped
to make our brand more recognisable, especially among
tourists. Our more popular and recognisable outlets
along the Orchard belt and Changi Airport have helped
to generate a lot of positive reviews on social media and
on apps used by tourists, which in turn have helped us in
our recent overseas expansion, including the opening of
our flagship outlet in London’s Covent Garden (in June),”
Song explains.