Cover Chefs Jonathan Gan and Marcus Leow
Chefs Jonathan Gan and Marcus Leow
1 / 1
Taking over the space at Porstdown Road, the young chefs will showcase their brand of progressive Singaporean cuisine with a tasting menu that will be updated on a regular basis
Fresh from the closure of Magic Square last July, young chefs Marcus Leow and Jonathan Gan have teamed up again to open pop-up restaurant Focal at the incubator space’s former location at Portsdown Road. “Restaurant Focal is a portmanteau on the words foreign and local,” explains Leow, before letting on that their “progressive Singaporean menu” comprises local and foreign ingredients but cooked with a Singapore flair. Adds Leow, “We are not here to create modern versions of old Singaporean dishes, but to create new flavour profiles (that are still familiar)”.
The current menu (which is available until the end of September) comes in a tasting format at the counter table, which seats 16 diners at a time for lunch and dinner. For their debut, Leow shares that diners can expect an amalgamation of flavours that befit the restaurant name—think Anago (sea eel) from Shizuoka, Japan and Japanese eggplant paired with peanut butter and tamarind sauce; min jiang kueh presented like an airy crumpet and topped with caviar and orh nee (yam and coconut) foam; and chutoro and barbecued hami melon dusted with dried chilli powder.
Above Anago
Above Botan ebi
Anago
1 / 2
Lunch and dinner slots will be released two months in advance, and Leow and Gan will continuously update their tasting menu.
The idea of opening the pop-up restaurant was conceptualised by Magic Square founder Tan Ken Loon, who decided to delay the opening of Takatsu Restaurant (in partnership with chef-owner Kenichi Takatsu) to next year for undisclosed reasons. The previous Magic Square space, adds Leow, is their current stage to “test new ideas and showcase their brand of progressive Singaporean cuisine”.
Topics
Dudi Aureus is the senior dining and travel editor at Tatler Singapore, covering the city’s most exciting restaurants, global travel trends, and the personalities shaping the culinary and lifestyle scenes. She also serves as co-jury chair for the Tatler Best awards in Singapore, celebrating the very best in hospitality. When she’s off duty, she can often be found at a favourite hole-in-the-wall Thai spot, savouring a perfectly balanced pad thai.
