An artist's impression of the Clifford Pier, a new eatery that will showcase Singaporean hawker food. Image: ST
A new restaurant that will pay homage to Singapore's hawker food culture will be opening next month at the space previously occupied by now- defunct restaurant One On The Bund at Clifford Pier.
The 272-seat restaurant, called The Clifford Pier, is run by The Fullerton Bay Hotel. It will focus on local dishes and contemporary interpretations of regional Asian cuisine. Some Western classics will also be on the menu.
About 60 to 70 per cent of the menu will be local, while Asian-inspired and other offerings make up the rest.
Dishes will include soup kambing or mutton soup, laksa, Teochew porridge, massaman lamb rack and uni glass noodles - bean vermicelli with sea urchin, salted egg and salmon roe in a lime truffle sauce.
The restaurant will also serve afternoon tea with pandan-flavoured scones served with coconut cream and kaya, as well as locally inspired cocktails.
Diners can expect to spend about $50 to $80 a head for a three-course meal.
Contemporary Chinese restaurant One On The Bund closed in January when its lease ended. It opened five years ago and was owned by Hong Kong chef- restaurateur Calvin Yeung.
The Fullerton Heritage, which manages seven properties including Clifford Pier, The Fullerton Hotel and The Fullerton Bay Hotel, decided to take back the space to review how it could be better aligned with The Fullerton Bay Hotel's concept.
Mr Giovanni Viterale, 49, general manager of The Fullerton Heritage, says: "Clifford Pier also functions as the arrival area and shapes our guests' first encounter with The Fullerton Bay Hotel. We felt that it was timely to create a new destination that would enhance the hotel's experience."
The restaurant has been conceptualised by Hong Kong designer Andre Fu of design company AFSO, who is also behind the interiors of The Fullerton Bay Hotel's public spaces and its three food and beverage outlets - The Landing Point, Clifford restaurant and Lantern rooftop bar.
Expect mineral-blue interiors interspersed with hues of warm tangerine and soft beige. It will have a nautical theme that harks back to the area's history as a landing point and seaport, with bespoke lights, rustic stone counters decorated with blue and white porcelain vases and old models of cruise ships.
The conservation building, which opened in 1933, used to be an entry point for immigrants.
It was converted into a terminal for small boats and ferries that serviced Singapore's Southern Islands until 2006.
It underwent an 18-month renovation and reopened in 2008. In 2010, it became the entrance for The Fullerton Bay Hotel.
The area's food heritage dates back to the 1930s, when floating hawkers on small boats sold food such as porridge to travellers who journeyed to Singapore by sea.
In the 1950s and 1960s, itinerant hawkers offered food and drink at a now- defunct carpark that was adjacent to the pier. On the choice of food at the new restaurant, Mr Viterale says: "We wanted the restaurant's menus to reflect the culinary landscape that was once present at the pier. The reinterpretations of Asian specialities and Western foods also pay tribute to the pier's significant historical role as a melting pot of cultures."
This article was first run in The Straits Times newspaper on April 5, 2014. For similar stories, go to sph.straitstimes.com/premium/singapore. You will not be able to access the Premium section of The Straits Times website unless you are already a subscriber.