SINGAPORE \u2013 At the revamped Food Opera at Ion Orchard, Ming Chung White Lor Mee stall doles out steaming Henghua delights from a facade designed to resemble an old-fashioned cobbler\u2019s shop. There are rows of wooden shoe lasts, shelves of shoe brushes and tins of polish.<\/p>\n
Over at Hakka Bond Express, handmade yong tau foo is served from what looks like a 1970s post office, complete with wooden pigeonhole mail-sorting racks filled with envelopes.<\/p>\n
Berempah Bros is decked out as a 1970s hair salon, with an oversized hairdryer, comb and scissors decorating its signboard. Below the service counter is a lit glass display shelf showing vintage hair-misting bottles.<\/p>\n
The shopfronts are part of BreadTalk Group\u2019s $5 million revamp of the sprawling 600-seat Food Opera, which reopened on Sept 28 after a three-month renovation.<\/p>\n
While themes are not new to BreadTalk Group\u2019s foodcourts, this is the first time the idea has been applied to individual stalls, each with its own identity based on a non-food business from the 1970s.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Quek, 31, group chief executive of BreadTalk Group, says the aim is not to recreate the era literally, but to capture its sense of aspiration, when people were beginning to want more than the basics, such as dressing better, listening to music and going out.<\/p>\n
He says diners today have a similar appetite for discovering new experiences and places.<\/p>\n
BreadTalk Group chairman George Quek, 69, came up with the name Food Opera when it opened at Ion Orchard in 2009. For him, the culinary arts involve performance and showmanship.<\/p>\n
With that in mind, Toast Box at Food Opera now offers diners a full view of the roasting and grinding of Colombian Supremo coffee beans for its new premium Nanyang Supremo Kopi Blend, with a cup of Kopi O starting at $3.50. The blend is exclusive to Food Opera.<\/p>\n
Diners can watch fishballs being made at LiXin Teochew Fishball Noodles. A baby grand piano takes up space which could otherwise accommodate about 10 diners. Customers can play it and there are plans to engage pianists for live performances.<\/p>\n
New to the foodcourt is Orchid Gallery, a retail and lifestyle section which sells local snacks, souvenirs and other home-grown products aimed at both tourists and locals, while Treasure Bakery is a new British-Nanyang bakery concept by BreadTalk Group.<\/p>\n The Treasure Bakery stall at Food Opera.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: JASEL POH<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Foodcourts under BreadTalk Group have evolved over the three decades since the elder Quek opened his first Food Junction at Bishan\u2019s Junction 8 in 1993.<\/p>\n This was two years after he returned to Singapore following an 11-year sojourn in Taiwan.<\/p>\n There, he had started Singa, a food kiosk selling Singaporean fare. He favoured locations in the basement food streets of departmental stores. The business grew to 21 outlets in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung.<\/p>\n Back in Singapore, he saw an opportunity in the foodcourt business, which kicked off in 1985 with the opening of the first air-conditioned foodcourt in Singapore at Scotts Shopping Centre. He boldly approached the management of Junction 8 with his proposal and opened Food Junction with 19 stalls in a space of close to 11,000 sq ft.<\/p>\n The elder Quek wanted a concept that would stand out and hit upon the theme of a 1960s American diner.<\/p>\n To offer diners a different food mix, he brought in teppanyaki, conveyor-belt sushi and Thai mini steamboat, along with local fare such as Hockchew fishballs and nasi padang served on banana leaves.<\/p>\n He believed mallgoers would be willing to pay more for comfort and quality food in an air-conditioned foodcourt.<\/p>\n The plan was to offer more than just basic meals. The foodcourt was meant as a lifestyle concept.<\/p>\n BreadTalk Group now operates 45 foodcourts across Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China, with 35 Food Republic outlets, nine Food Junctions and one Food Opera.<\/p>\n Food Junction is found mainly in suburban malls and is more fuss-free, while Food Republic is a thematic food-hall concept, in locations such as Jewel Changi Airport and Suntec City.<\/p>\n Food Opera is the group\u2019s only foodcourt under that name and was created to suit Ion Orchard, a more upmarket mall.<\/p>\n George Quek and his son, Jonathan, place importance on design and aesthetics.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: JASEL POH<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The elder Quek says increased competition means the group has to keep changing.<\/p>\n \u201cTo stand out from the competition, we focus on branding. We have to keep improving and reinventing,\u201d he says. \u201cWe travel, we observe the trends. Every day, we are absorbing and learning.\u201d<\/p>\n His son, Jonathan, who became group chief executive in October 2024, grew up following his parents to work. Weekends were filled with store visits. During his school holidays, he worked in the group for basic pay.<\/p>\n In 2018, on a holiday back home while studying at Cass Business School in London, he spent time in the finance department and did a three-week stint as an operations intern at Food Republic in Suntec City. There, his work included quality control, clearing trays and dishwashing.<\/p>\n He graduated with a bachelor of science in management in 2019. He capped it with a master of science in real estate in 2020, which he completed online after returning to Singapore in March that year during the Covid-19 pandemic, before borders closed.<\/p>\n He could see his parents grappling with the toll of the pandemic. Foodcourts with hundreds of seats were reduced to takeaway operations and, later, to limited seating with safe distancing measures.<\/p>\n Food Opera was one of the group\u2019s badly affected outlets. Business fell to as low as 20% of 2019\u2019s pre-pandemic numbers.<\/p>\n He joined BreadTalk Group full-time in September 2020 as an operations executive and went through six months of intensive operations training.<\/p>\n At BreadTalk in Tampines Mall, he manned the cashier, handled product displays and learnt to shape bread.<\/p>\n He also rotated through the central kitchen and Toast Box. His shifts ran from 7am to 4pm or from 1pm until closing at 10pm, and he worked overtime.<\/p>\n His father says: \u201cI wanted him to taste the hardship to understand the heartbeat of the business, so that he will cherish the employees who put in the hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n Jonathan adds: \u201cHis advice to me was, \u2018Roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n A year later, he became assistant general manager and was subsequently promoted to general manager of BreadTalk and Toast Box, then managing director in 2022.<\/p>\n As chairman of the group, Quek had mentored and trained other chief executives and was heartened by his children joining him. His elder daughter, Joselle Quek, 33, is senior director of research and development for the bakery division, while his younger son, Matthew Quek, 29, is general manager of Taiwanese restaurant chain Din Tai Fung. BreadTalk Group operates the Din Tai Fung franchise in Singapore.<\/p>\n When deciding who should lead the company, he looks for three qualities.<\/p>\n The first is character. A leader, he says, must be trustworthy and hardworking, with integrity, and cannot be arrogant or selfish.<\/p>\n The second is passion for the food and beverage business. \u201cIt is a difficult industry to be in, so you need passion as fuel,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The third is taste. \u201cThe person must have an eye for beauty, appreciate culture and have a flair for aesthetics.\u201d<\/p>\n Jonathan, chosen for the position, has introduced technology and data as part of the company\u2019s way forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n As part of its digital transformation, the group now uses Geographic Information System tools for site selection. Enterprise resource planning systems, finance automation and artificial intelligence are used to simplify routine work.<\/p>\n The elder Quek supports the change. In the past, he says, business development, including assessing potential sites for new foodcourts or other outlets, was based largely on experience, gut feel, footfall and observations of consumer behaviour. Now, decision-making is further backed by data.<\/p>\n Much thought goes into the design and tenant mix at Food Opera.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: JASEL POH<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Jonathan says his thinking about growth has also changed since he joined the company.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first joined the business in 2020, my instinct was to do more: more promotions, more campaigns, more product launches. We were chasing growth, but we might have ended up spreading ourselves too thin in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n Over time, he realised that strategy is not just about deciding what to do, but also having the discipline to decide what not to do.<\/p>\n He adds: \u201cInstead of asking, \u2018How do we sell more?\u2019, we began asking, \u2018How do we create an experience customers will remember and want to return to?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n At Food Opera, that means going beyond simply filling up the tenant list. Much thought goes into the tenant mix. Some are places the Quek family has patronised over the years.<\/p>\n Jonathan remembers going to Ming Chung Restaurant in Maude Road with his family when he was young.<\/p>\n He suggested getting Ming Chung and Berempah Bros to take up stalls at Food Opera. It was his team that approached and persuaded them to come on board. It is the first time the two brands, which have hawker outlets, entered a foodcourt.<\/p>\n He says: \u201cWe have to become curators of great food, great operators and even things people haven\u2019t discovered yet.\u201d<\/p>\n For him, keeping local food culture alive also means ensuring people still want to eat local fare.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best way to preserve our food culture is to keep people eating it. Heritage has to stay alive, not sit behind glass,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n His father now concentrates mainly on board-level matters, but Jonathan does not hesitate to approach him for advice when needed. They dine together as a family at a foodcourt about once a month and continue to observe operations when they visit outlets, even entering the dishwashing area to check on hygiene levels.<\/p>\n Asked how he feels about handing over day-to-day leadership of the business he built, Quek says: \u201cI feel more relaxed. I have more free time.\u201d<\/p>\n But Jonathan feels the responsibility as a torchbearer. A Chinese saying that wealth does not last beyond three generations is always at the back of his mind.<\/p>\n \u201cI better not mess this up,\u201d he says good-humouredly.<\/p>\n He also does not believe preserving what his father built means leaving it unchanged. In fact, his father is behind the group\u2019s philosophy of seeking the new, embracing change and daring to differentiate.<\/p>\n \u201cThe most respectful thing we can do with a legacy is not to freeze it in time, but to keep having the courage to reinvent it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Where: <\/b>Food Opera at Ion Orchard, B4-04 Ion Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn Hakka Bond Express\u2019 Handmade Yong Tau Foo with Dry Noodles Set.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: JASEL POH<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n At Hakka Bond\u2019s first express outlet in a foodcourt, order its five-piece Handmade Yong Tau Foo ($10.90), with fried tau pok, fried mushroom, fried beancurd, steamed cabbage and fried tau kwa. Each piece is stuffed with a mixture of minced meat and fish instead of the fish-paste-only filling commonly found elsewhere.<\/p>\n Parkson Bak Kut Teh\u2019s Original White Pepper Bak Kut Teh (Dry).<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: JASEL POH<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The home-grown brand\u2019s Original White Pepper Bak Kut Teh (Dry, $10.80) is inspired by the dry-style herbal bak kut teh commonly found in Malaysia. The stall uses Australian pork and Sarawak white peppercorns, which are slowly roasted over low heat to bring out their aroma.<\/p>\n The dish includes pork ribs, intestines, pork leg and sliced pork coated in a peppery sauce.<\/p>\n Ming Chung White Lor Mee\u2019s Heng Hua Fried Bee Hoon.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: JASEL POH<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n While the 93-year-old brand is known for its white lor mee, its Heng Hua Fried Bee Hoon ($8.80 for small, $12.80 for medium) is worth ordering too.<\/p>\n Extra-thin Heng Hwa rice vermicelli imported from China is wok-fried until fragrant and savoury, then topped with fresh prawns, lala and braised pork. The combination gives the dish both seafood sweetness and meaty richness.<\/p>\n Wah Eng Beef Noodle\u2019s Mixed Beef Noodle Soup (right), and Mixed Beef Noodle Dry.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: JASEL POH<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The Mixed Beef Noodle Soup ($13.90) comes loaded with beef slices, beef brisket, honeycomb tripe and handmade beef balls. The broth is slow-simmered with beef knuckle bones and a secret blend of eight herbs and spices for a full-bodied, aromatic flavour. No additional monosodium glutamate is used, allowing the flavours of the beef and herbs to shine.<\/p>\n Berempah Bros\u2019 Signature Ayam Berempah.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: JASEL POH<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The signature Ayam Berempah ($10) features a boneless chicken thigh brined for juiciness, then marinated overnight in a blend of 16 ingredients, including fennel, cumin and coriander, before being fried.\u00a0<\/p>\n The dish comes with berempah crumbs made with toasted coconut and aromatic rempah, including ingredients such as lemongrass, shallots, garlic, turmeric and chilli. Coconut rice, fried egg and achar complete the plate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n SINGAPORE \u2013 At the revamped Food Opera at Ion Orchard, Ming Chung White Lor Mee stall doles out steaming Henghua delights from a facade designed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/91829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/picture><\/div>
First foodcourt<\/h2>\n
Staying ahead of the competition<\/h2>\n
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Leadership and strategy<\/h2>\n
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5 dishes to try at Food Opera<\/h2>\n
Open: <\/b>10am to 10pm\u00a0<\/p>\nHakka Bond Express<\/h3>\n
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Parkson Bak Kut Teh<\/h3>\n
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Ming Chung White Lor Mee<\/h3>\n
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Wah Eng Beef Noodle<\/h3>\n
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Berempah Bros<\/h3>\n
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