Who are the young restaurateurs in Singapore you should know about?

Leong admits that it was “highly risky at the time to only have one steak on the menu, with just five sides and four accompanying sauces”, but The Feather Blade quickly built a loyal following who come for the food’s “quality and consistency”. The success gave Leong the confirmation of Flat Iron’s theory, that diners are happy to go beyond the usual rib‑eyes and sirloins, which dominate most steakhouse menus, if a restaurateur can provide an equally delicious and more affordable alternative. Last year, the group opened a second outlet of The Feather Blade on East Coast Road, this time offering an expanded surf and turf menu.

Even as he juggles six concepts simultaneously, Leong shows no signs of slowing down. His entrepreneurial spirit, he shares, is influenced by his parents, whom he considers his mentors. “They ran a couple of businesses and had a profound impact on my upbringing and attitude towards taking the off‑beaten path to carve out my own entrepreneurial career,” he says. The energetic entrepreneur is already working on his next project, a Korean cocktail club called Bae’s, in collaboration with acclaimed bartender Vijay Mudaliar of Native and Analogue. They plan to launch it later this year. As for the rest of the group’s concepts, Leong has bigger plans “to expand them across Singapore and the region” in the future.

Read more: Where do Singapore’s top bartenders head to for amazing cocktails in Hong Kong?

Goh Tong Hann, PleasureCraft Group

Unlike Leong, who came from a business management background, 30‑year‑old Goh Tong Hann, who founded the PleasureCraft Group in 2020 and serves as its managing director, already had the art of hospitality ingrained in his system from an early age. “Hospitality is where all my interests—design, food, architecture and more—intersect under one roof,” explains the restaurateur, who pursued a Bachelor of Business Administration in Hospitality Administration/Management at the prestigious hospitality school Les Roches in Crans‑Montana, Switzerland. He then sharpened his hotelier skills with stints at five‑star hotels, including The Upper House in Hong Kong and The Mark Hotel in New York.

Don’t miss: Ex-Mandala Club head chef, who’s worked with Gaggan and Narisawa, opens Hevel in Keong Saik

Goh’s time in New York, being immersed in the city’s buzzy dining scene, inspired his first project, Marcy’s, a seafood restaurant and cocktail bar that opened in 2021. “When I moved back to Singapore from New York, I wanted to recreate the sense of intimacy and escapism that defined so many of my favourite restaurants in [the Big Apple],” he explains.

Meanwhile, his second, the gastrobar concept Parliament, which launched in 2022, is, in his own words, a “true homage to the home‑town American dive bar” with its vibey space cast in a soft crimson glow and a menu of bulletproof cocktails (with a focus on dark and aged spirits) served alongside hearty comfort food.

Never one to rest on his laurels, the young entrepreneur launched Hevel, a modern European concept, just last year. His focus is on patrons looking for fine dining experiences that do not cost an arm and a leg. “We wanted it to be approachable in a way where guests could drop in like they would at a more casual restaurant, and just leave it to the chef. Priced thoughtfully at SG$138, [the Chef’s Menu] is an invitation to a memorable, relaxed meal,” declares Goh.

Louis Han, Nae:um Group

Indeed, the local dining scene is always evolving and diners’ preferences are changing. That is something South Korean chef Louis Han, 34, has learnt from his decade working in the industry. Han first moved to Singapore in 2016 to work in the acclaimed Korean‑French restaurant Meta, before being asked by its chef‑founder Sun Kim to helm the kitchen at its modern Korean sister restaurant Kimme.

After Kimme closed, Han founded his own contemporary Korean restaurant Nae:um in 2021, which earned a Michelin star the following year. On his decision to expand his role from a self‑described chef who “used to only worry about the menu and organising the kitchen” to a chef and restaurateur, Han states that he was motivated by his age. “I’m still youngish, so if I were to fall, wouldn’t it be better to fall earlier? I still have time to get up again later, instead of taking time to think twice or three times,” he says.

Read more: Watch: Modern Korean grill concept Guum brings the fire and the flavour to Keong Saik Road

Han recently opened the modern Korean grill Gu:um, one of several concepts he is developing under his Nae:um Group. Han explains that the new restaurant, with a menu inspired by Nae:um’s highly successful fifth episodic menu, Front Yard Barbecue, was created to give his team members, who have been with him for some time, a bigger platform. “It’ll be tough for them to grow working in one restaurant, so I decided to expand to give them a chance to grow,” declares Han, who says that he would rather see them grow with him than leave due to a lack of opportunity. Ng Kok Lam, for example, was the assistant restaurant manager at Nae:um. He has since been promoted to restaurant manager at Gu:um. Similarly, Toh Chye Long, Kenneth Tham and Subin Lee started their careers as Han’s commis chefs, but have since moved up the ranks as chefs de partie.

Next up for the Nae:um Group is Hideaway, a private dining concept that will open above Nae:um sometime this month. Han confesses that up to now, his expansion plans have been funded mainly by his savings, but he has realised that he will eventually need external funding. “Should any angel investor see this, we’re open to discussing anytime,” he says.

Lim Kian Chun, Ebb & Flow Group

For 32‑year‑old Lim Kian Chun, the path to co‑founding and becoming the chief executive officer of the Ebb & Flow Group happened because of his passion for running businesses. After graduating from King’s College London with a law degree in 2016, he set up the venture capital firm Cerana Capital with two business partners and started investing in Southeast Asian start‑ups, including F&B companies. “[We] chanced upon Bacchanalia in early 2018 and [it] was offered at a very good deal. We saw [an] opportunity for improvement and went with it,” says Lim, who founded the Ebb & Flow Group that same year with two partners after the acquisition.

While Bacchanalia ceased operations after only a few years, owning the brand taught Lim what goes into operating a restaurant. He then expanded the group with more concepts, such as modern Chinese restaurant and speakeasy The Dragon Chamber, contemporary Asian restaurant Willow and modern European establishment Sommer.

Growing the group, says Lim, is dependent on two main factors: “[a] gap within the F&B scene [and] a talent or chef to invest in or partner with”. Case in point: Lewis Barker, the former sous chef at Bacchanalia who now helms Sommer, and Antonio Miscellaneo of La Bottega Enoteca, whom he partnered to launch Casa Vostra last year. “I’m a huge fan of chef Antonio. When we met, our discussions led us to realise there was an opportunity to explore a casual, fast‑service Italian bistro that’s not quite like your franchise pizza concepts, or a family‑centric or refined restaurant,” shares Lim. Casa Vostra started out as a gourmet pizza and pasta delivery service, but has evolved into an Italian bistro opening in Raffles City Shopping Centre this June.

Reflecting on his (second) career as a restaurateur, Lim observes that food security and waste are two of the main concerns in the F&B industry. “Our next goal,” he says, “[is] to reduce food waste across all outlets by encouraging our chefs to advance food innovation and repurpose food by‑products.”

In case you missed it: Ebb & Flow co-founder Lim Kian Chun on what it takes to keep up with Singapore’s evolving dining industry

Pang Gek Teng, Surrey Hills Holdings

As evidenced in Leong’s and Goh’s journeys, time abroad can have a lasting impact on someone’s life and sometimes, inspire their careers. Such was also the case for Pang Gek Teng. The 35‑year‑old Singaporean had been living in Melbourne for five years when Covid‑19 struck and she was forced to return home in 2020.

Inspired by what she describes as the Australian city’s “carefree, free‑spirited, unpretentious and authentic way of living”, which she had grown to love, the former banker, armed with an entrepreneurial background operating a grain bowl business with three outlets in Melbourne, opened Surrey Hills Grocer, modelled after an Australian grocer‑café, in 2021 in Jurong East. Her previous experience running a food business in Australia gave her strong connections with producers and farmers there, and many of their products are sold exclusively at the store.

Read more: Pang Gek Teng on Leaving Her Banking Job to Open an Australian-Inspired Grocery Store in Singapore

“Within just six months, [we] broke even. It was a moment that really boosted my confidence and fuelled my ambition to expand further,” says Pang, who now runs five outlets on the island. The latest one in Holland Village is her biggest space yet, spanning 4,148 square feet, and comprising a grocer, an innovative in‑house dog bakery and a restaurant concept in collaboration with Movida, Melbourne’s best‑known hatted Spanish restaurant. Despite Surrey Hills Grocer’s continued success locally, “we don’t foresee us having more than seven outlets [here],” admits Pang, though she is open to expanding the brand overseas.

So what’s next for this young entrepreneur? She reveals that she is planning to grow her business by “introducing new concepts, such as the new restaurant brands coming up soon in Raffles City [Shopping Centre]”. Stay tuned and watch that space.

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