Singapore Chefs Association Newsletter
Issue 36
Aug - Sep 2008
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Dear Culinarians,
Please click here to open the SCA President ~ Chef Eric Teo’s Message
As the global financial world continues to rock in turmoil with one bad news after another, the US is already in recession and the threat of western European economies on the same verge is getting closer by the day. During the last recession, many unemployed people saw starting a food business as one of the most viable options of recovery. After all irregardless of good or bad times, people still need to eat so what can go wrong? Hence this resulted in the phenomenal growth of many food outlets at any high human traffic location all over the country.
Fast forward to the present, recently I have been hearing the agonies of my fellow chef friends and colleagues who are owners of small to big scale restaurants. Many are now facing a crunch with unsympathetic landlords trying to make quick money by raising rentals from 20%-100% or more the moment rental agreements expire due to the current boom in the private property market,. While the experienced ones will know better whether it is time to close, downsize or move out and on, yet however there will always novice first timers that actually see it as an opportunity to jump in as replacements for the space vacated without doing their homework in details and being too naive in business projections.
Whether it is a fine dining restaurant, a cafe or even a hawker stall in coffee shops and food courts, turnovers have become much more visible lately. We often hear industrial gossips or media reports of independent restaurants having to move, downsize or close due to operational problems which in most cases when narrowed down in detail always points to the raise in rentals as the main culprit. One thing that the landlords just do not get it or feign oblivious ignorance is that dish prices in any F&B concept do not correlate with the ups and downs of property prices. Being a country with 70% of people eating out of home at least one meal a day, the food industry is a lucrative business. But demographics have shown that majority of those who eat out often are working class people who can only pay so much X dollars for a meal on a everyday basis.
In any general food business working formula, rental often takes between 40-60% of the price of a dish sold. Say you rent a food court stall in downtown central business district for $10k a month to sell chicken rice @ $4 a plate, literally u need to sell 2500 plates of chicken rice to cover your rental before anything else matters. Which are why many of these business owners ends up feeling frustrated that they are just “working” for the landlords. Asked any experienced F&B professional in the industry and the general sentiment of any food business/restaurant’s shelf life is 2-3years before it either makes or breaks. This is also the time period for general rental agreements and woe betides you if your landlord walks in on a Saturday evening to a fully packed crowd instead on coming in to see reality from Mondays to Thursdays when your rental is about to expire.
With this new cycle of an economic slowdown looming again, it is the “musical chairs” time again for all new and existing players of the food industry again. The silver lining is that it creates new food trends and gives consumers more varieties and dinning options. Such are the vicious cycles of the restaurant trade in the different economic climates we face.
Culinary Regards
Eric Low
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| Student of the
Month |
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| This month we
feature.... |
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Michael Mulya Halim |
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The at-sunrice Student Hall of Fame is an academy initiative to recognize outstanding students. This
recognition is awarded on a monthly basis. The criteria for this award includes an average grade of B+
and above, active class participation, a first class attitude towards assignments and project work,
and glowing testimonials from chef instructors and mentor chefs. Candidates may be nominated by
chef instructors, mentor chefs and members of at-sunrice staff.
Be
an at-sunrice Student of The Month
NOW!
Michael is hard-working, courteous, pleasant and friendly. He exhibits a very positive work culture and is enthusiastic about participating in team activities. He has great potential to become a good Chef.
Chef Instructor, At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy
Michael is a great colleague to have in the kitchen. Keep up the excellent work and learning attitude.
Chef Salvatore, Chef de Cuisine, Fairmont Singapore
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| Industry Movements |
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| Executive Chef Dorin Schuster of Iggy’s at the Regent Singapore has left our shores. He returns to The Legian Bali as Executive Chef again, a position that he was in previously before coming to Singapore.
Shangri-La Singapore welcomes Paul Lenz, who has joined the property as their new Executive Chef. He was most recently in the same position for the Grand Mirage Resort in Dubai and previously the Beachcomber Group in Mauritius.
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Hawkers Blurb
In lieu of our National Day celebrations, Swissotel Le Concorde, supported by the Singapore Chefs Association invited us to send a team of chefs to showcase the very soul of Singaporean Cuisine, our signature hawker dishes. Comprising of Chefs Louis Tay, Tony Khoo and Eric Neo, the trio presented on 13th of August a plethora of local favourites like laksa, chicken rice, Prawn Noodle Soup, Otak Otak, Beef Rendang Char Kway Teow, Fried Prawn Noodles and many more other dishes making up and entire buffet line of what used to be known as the street food of Singapore. The scrumptious dishes were complimented with colouful ice kacang and a cool sweet fragrant chendol for desserts.
On the opening night, Singapore’s Ambassador to Thailand HE Mr Peter Chan and wife, Mdm Diana Chan were the Guests of Honour as well as selected VIPs from the Thai Tourism Authority. Homesick Singaporean expatriates working in Bangkok also turned up to support our chefs in their showcase as well as to get a dosage of relief from missing local hawker food. Many Thai singers, actors and actresses also turned up to experience for themselves eating straight off from the chefs’ hands what Singaporean hawker fare is all about. The reviews were all very positive and many enjoyed what they have tasted by coming back for second helpings. It was indeed a positive experience for all three chefs who also had a chance to interact with their Thai counterparts, all these made possible with the gracious support and initiative by the hotel’s Director of Culinary Operations, Mr Willment Leong who also played host to the event and SCA.
Membership Dining Privileges 2008/2009 
As membership grows, so will the benefits as President Teo has mentioned before in the last AGM. One the latest benefits milestone we have achieved here for all SCA members is the launch of the membership card privileges scheme with various restaurants and vendors.
From September 15th onwards, all membership card holders will enjoy certain privileges in the list of participating restaurants and vendors attached below. The validity of the scheme is for one year from launch date. As we go along the way, the list of participating outlets will continue to expand as we aspire to get more vendors in. Members are encouraged to make use of these benefits.
Singapore Chefs Association
Membership Dining Privileges 2008/2009
Exclusive Selection For Your Indulgence |
As a member of our esteemed association, the committee is continuously and tirelessly
striving to bring privileges to all members.
Attached are the lists of dining privileges exclusive to the members of the Singapore Chefs Association.
The information on this list will be updated monthly so do check back regularly for more updates.
Just flash your SCA membership card to enjoy the discounts and privileges. |
| Restaurants |
Benefits |
Address |
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• 15% off total bill
Terms and Conditions
• Valid from 15 Sep 2008 to 15 Sep 2009
• Not valid with other promotions, discounts, vouchers or in-house specials
• Not valid on eve of Public Holiday and Public Holiday
• Valid Monday – Sunday, both lunch & dinner |
Lawry's The Prime Rib Singapore Pte Ltd
290 Orchard Road
# 02-42/44 Paragon, Singapore 238859
Tel: 6836 3333
http://www.lawrys.com.sg |
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• 10% off a la carte food bill
Terms and Conditions
• Valid from 15 Sep 2008 to 15 Sep 2009
• Not applicable on eves of and on PH and special occasions |
Jack’s Place Steak House & Restaurant (Singapore)
http://www.jpgroup.com.sg
Anchor Point
370 Alexandra Road
# 01-09/10
Tel: 6475 9790 / 6475 9256
Ang Mo Kio (Central)
Blk 730 Ang Mo Kio Ave 6
# 01-4274
Tel: 6454 9677 / 6452 0142
Bras Basah Complex
Blk 231 Bain Street
# 01-01
Tel: 6338 6634 / 6337 1752
Bukit Panjang Plaza
1 Jelebu Road
# 04-01
Tel: 6892 8700 / 6769 0992
Causeway Point
1 Woodland Square
# 02-43
Tel: 6894 1448
Century Square
2 Tampines Central 5
# B1-25
Century Square
Tel: 6788 5508
Compass Point
1 Seng Kang Square
# 04-07
Tel: 6489 0737
Great World City
1 Kim Seng Promenade
# 03-19
Tel: 6738 5868 / 6737 4326
Marina Square
No. 6 Raffles Boulevard
# 02-138H
Tel: 6338 8292 / 6338 6081
Parkway Parade
80 Marine Parade Road
# 01-30
Tel: 6348 5203 / 6344 9728
United Square
101 Thomson Road
# B1-54/55
Tel: 6253 9097
West Coast Recreation Centre
12 West Coast Walk
# 01-04/05/06
Singapore 127157
Tel: 6776 2775 / 6775 9957
Eatzi Steakhouse & Bistro East Point Mall
3 Simei St 6
#03-14
Tel: 6786 6388
Eatzi Steakhouse & Bistro
SAFRA Yishun Country Club
60 Yishun Ave 4
Tel: 6852 8270
Seafood Harvest Restaurant
Bugis Junction
200 Victoria Street
# 02-49
Tel: 6883 1149 |
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• 10% off total bill with a minimum spend of $30.00
Terms and Conditions
• Valid from 15 Sep 2008 to 15 Sep 2009
• Valid daily incl. of eve of Public Holidays and Public Holidays
• One redemption per bill per visit
• Dine-in only. Not valid for takeaway.
• Promotion is not valid with any other promotions, vouchers, gift certificates, discounts, privilege card(s), privileges or sales items.
• The Management reserves the right to vary / amend privileges or terms and conditions without prior notice |
Olio Café Holland Village
No.29 Lorong Mambong
Singapore 277687
Tel : 6219 7668
http://www.olio.sg |
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• 10% off total bill with a minimum spend of $30.00
Terms and Conditions
• Valid from 15 Sep 2008 to 15 Sep 2009
• Valid daily incl. of eve of Public Holidays and Public Holidays
• One redemption per bill per visit
• Dine-in only. Not valid for takeaway.
• Promotion is not valid with any other promotions, vouchers, gift certificates, discounts, privilege card(s), privileges or sales items.
• The Management reserves the right to vary / amend privileges or terms and conditions without prior notice |
Dôme Singapore Art Museum
71 Bras Basah Road
# 01-01
Tel : 6339 0792
Dôme Park Mall
9 Penang Road
# 01-22/23
Tel : 6336 8070
Dôme Shaw House
350 Orchard Road
L4 Isetan Scotts Shaw House
Tel : 6836 9778
Dôme Dempsey Hill
Blk 11 Dempsey Road
# 01-18
Tel : 6476 8748
Dôme Parkway Parade
80 Marine Parade Road
# B1-156/157/158
Tel : 6348 8498
Dôme Bishan CC
51 Bishan St 13
#01-02
Tel : 6354 8939
Dôme UOB Plaza 1
80 Raffles Place
#01-02
Tel : 6533 3266 |
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• 10% off ala carte food menu
Terms and Conditions
• Valid from 15 Sep 2008 to 15 Sep 2009
• Not valid on eves of public holidays, Chinese New Year, Mother’s & Father’s Day, all 15 days of Chinese New Year, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day |
Red House Seafood Restaurant
http://www.redhouseseafood.com
60 Robertson Quay
# 01-13/ 14
The Quayside
Tel: 6735 7666
Blk 1204, # 01-05
East Coast Parkway Seafood Centre
Tel: 6442 3112 |
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• 20% off food bill
Terms and Conditions
• Valid from 15 Sep 2008 to 15 Sep 2009
• Not applicable on eves of and on PH and special occasions
• Only valid for Dine-in orders
• This privilege cannot be extended for use in conjunction with other promotion, discount and value vouchers.
• Not valid for items on promotion, takeaway, set menu and catering. |
Lemongrass Thai Restaurant
www.lemongrass.com.sg
East Coast Branch
899 East Coast Road
Tel: 6443 1995
South Buona Vista Branch
3 South Buona Vista Road
# 03-03 The Village Centre
Tel: 6873 2112
Pasir Ris Branch
1 Pasir Ris Close
# 01-41 Downtown East
Tel: 6583 2112 |
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• 10% off total bill
Terms and Conditions
• Valid from 1 October 2008 to 15 Sep 2009
• Not applicable on eves of and on PH and special occasions
• This privilege cannot be extended for use in conjunction with other promotion, discount and value vouchers. |
Tambuah Mas
enquiry@tambuahmas.com
www.tambuahmas.com.sg
Tanglin Shopping Centre
19 Tanglin Road
# 04–10/13
Tel: 6733 3333
Paragon
290 Orchard Road
# B1 - 47
Tel: 6733 2220
Marina Square
6 Raffles Boulevard
# 02 - 04
Tel: 6336 8911 |
| Attached are the lists of shopping/service privileges exclusive to the members of the Singapore Chefs Association. |
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- NO GST for all purchases.
- Freebies given with every purchase.
- Free Delivery Direct to your Home / Office.
Terms and Conditions
• Valid from 15 Sep 2008 – 15 Sep 2009.
• Minimum spending of $80.00 per invoice.
- Payment by Cash only.
- Benefits applies to personal purchases only.
- 48 hours lead-time required for all home deliveries. |
FoodXervices Inc Pte Ltd
39 Keppel Road
#01-02/04 Tanjong Pagar
Distripark
Singapore 089065
Tel: 1800 933 3333
Fax : 1800 933 3339
Email :xervices@foodxervices.com
http://www.foodxervices.com |
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Magazines Subscription
• Saveur - 9 issues / S$ 90.61
• Gourmet - 12 issues / S$112.18
• Food & Wine -12 issues / S$120.82
• Waitrose Food – 12 issues / S$129.46
• Food & Travel – 10 issues / S$126.20
• Wine Spectator – 12 issues / S$129.46
• Vegetarian Times – 9 issues / S$90.61
• Italian Cooking & Living – 6 issues / S$ 47.45
• Cooking with Paula Deen – 6 issues / S$ 56.09
• Everyday Food – 9 issues / S$ 62.75
• Cook’s Country – 7 issues / S$ 65.44
Terms and Conditions
• Valid from 15 Sep 2008 – 15 Sep 2009
• Monthly / Bi-monthly subscription only
• 20% - 28% discount Benefits applies to mail purchases only
• Price Quoted Included S$ 1.50 Postage per issue
• 7 days lead-time required for all mail deliveries. |
Magazines One Source Pte Ltd
1 Charlton Lane
# 01-02, Charlton Corner
Singapore 539631
Tel: 6282 1960 / 6282 6217
Fax: 6382 3021
Email: subscription@magazines1source.com
http://www.magazines1source.com
Contact Person:
Ms May Teng / Mr Steve Ong |
Nestle Professional Singapore Endorses SCA National Culinary Team for Culinary Olympics
As a leading Food, Beverage, Nutrition, Health and Wellness Company in the area of foodservice, supporting the Singapore National Culinary Team is one of the key initiatives by Nestle Professional to promote culinary awareness beyond business. With the IKA HOGA Culinary Olympics coming up in October 2008, SCA has formed up a new team currently in training to prepare for them for this mammoth task of bring culinary glory for Singapore once again. Nestle Professional is proud to be one of the first organizations to recognize what it takes to achieve that and has thus generously help to sponsor our team members for this challenging mission. On behalf of the world’s largest food and beverage company, Nestle Professional sends its best wishes to the Singapore National Culinary Team for a successful mission to Efurt, Germany.
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SCA NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION |
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01 November 2007
Dear Member,
SCA NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION
The Singapore Chefs’ Association was registered in 1984. In the same year, it was affiliated with the World Association of Cooks Societies (WACS).
The Singapore Chefs’ Association had co-ordinated various national culinary teams which have won numerous awards in International Culinary Exhibitions around the world. In the past 12 years, we have been consistently in the top three of world rankings.
We are proud to announce that we are selecting representatives for the Singapore Chefs’ Association National Culinary Team. The selection will be for coming Culinary Olympics 2008 at Erfurt and other future competitions.
The selected Team Members/Assistants will require each participant :
- spent 9 months training for the competition
- performed 15 full hot and cold practices throughout
-
meet at least
twice a month to share updates and
level of progress
-
had to keep
the scheduled deadline for submission
of menus, recipes, food photography
We strongly invite
you to apply to be a member/assistant
of the future National Team for it is
then that you will be able to attest
for yourself that only the best will
be selected. If you are confident about
being amongst the best then we want
you to represent Singapore as part of
the National Team.
Please do look in our SCA website on
the application for members for the
future National Team.
Application closes on 15 December 2007.
Please call me at 6780 6351 if you have
any queries.
Yours sincerely,
Eric Teo
Jasmine
Ng
President
Competition
Chefs’ Association
SCA
Culinary Team
Please click here
to download the SCA Team Recruitment
form.
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| Job Opportunities |
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Cantonese/Chinese Chef
Looking for a Cantonese/Chinese chef to run a la carte Chinese signature restaurant and help with banquet for Chinese menus/weddings.
Offer a net USD salary plus all the IHG expat benefits.
Interested candidates please contact Eric Neo at Eric.Neo@ihg.com or Chef Paolo Zambrano at the address below.
Paolo Zambrano
Executive Chef
INTERCONTINENTAL
HANOI WESTLAKE
1A Nghi Tam, Tay Ho District
Hanoi, Vietnam
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Executive/Head chef, Singapore (2 positions)
An expanding restaurant group currently with 2 units (1 gastrobar and 1 modern European dinning outlet) currently seeks suitable candidates for the above positions to run each unit. Reporting directly to Group Executive Chef, each Executive/Head Chef will be responsible for individual unit’s kitchen operations, menu planning in line with restaurant concept and cost management. Interested candidates please submit your CVs to coolchef@hotmail.com. Only short listed candidates will be notified.
Asian Head Chef
Starwood, with the Westin brand in the Caribbean
Interested candidates please contact Pamala Baldwin at Caribsearchltd@aol.com
Development Chef
Nestlé, the world's largest food company is looking to recruit a Development Chef who is willing to relocate out of Singapore
Tasks
- Develop recipes for culinary products according to development request: i. e. recipes, flavour and texture profile, ingredient statement, etc.
- Prepare taste-testing and product benchmarks sessions
- Prepare samples for market research, consumer tests, shelf-life tests
- Assist factories during first production
- Assist factories in recipes rationalization, adaption, cost reduction, etc.
- Support and participation in extensive cooking events/presentations
- Appropriate work report documentation according to Nestlé standards
The Profile
- Professional chef degree/diploma including very good skills in Asian cuisine
- Extensive working experience in Asian countries as well international background
- Good knowledge of international food habits, food composition, hygiene and microbiology
- Very good communication skills in English
- Team orientation, flexible and open-minded, proactive and independent
If you fulfil the requirements mentioned above and are interested to work in an international environment, please submit your application to: Monica.Seng@rdsg.nestle.com
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