KF Seetoh down with Covid, but SG hawkers are in New York to check on progress of food hall

Ahead of the opening of KF Seetoh’s New York food hall, the  chosen Singapore hawkers have made their way to the Big Apple.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, the man behind the idea, Mr Seetoh wrote that he was not able to go with them because he had tested positive for Covid-19 before they left..

But, he added, the people planning to open stalls there made the trip to be updated on the construction status, to settle legal and corporate paperwork, and to procure supplies.

“Stupid covid stopped me from being with you, but we’ll all be back for pre-opening ops and serving that first bowl of Singapore Chicken Curry, by Daisy Dream, among the full menu”, said Mr Seetoh,  who founded the food guide Makansutra, and the Makanstra Gluttons Bay at the Esplanade.

For now, there are 11 Singapore hawkers in the lineup for the new Urban Hawker food market, which will be located at 135 West 50th Street, within walking distance of Times Square in Manhattan.  Back in November, he had mentioned there would be as many as 18.

The Singapore hawkers are: Halal burger joint Ashes Burnnit, Sembawang’s White beehoon chain and coffee stall Kopifellas, Peranakan restaurant Daisy’s Dream, Chicken Nice from Maxwell Food Centre, Dragon Phoenix (known for its chilli crab and for inventing the yam ring), Prawnaholic (serving Hokkien-style prawn noodle soup), Hainanese Western stall Smokin’ Joe, Malay and Indonesian cafe Padi@Bussorah, Indian stall Mamak’s Corner, and Mr Fried Rice.

The concept is a lot different from Bourdain Market, the far more ambitious project that Mr Seetoh’s friend, the late TV host Anthony Bourdain, had conceived of  more than seven years ago, and which did not come to fruition.

Bourdain’s  plan envisioned some 50 stalls featuring world cuisines including Chinese, Indian, Korean, Mexican and Peranakan. That plan died with  Bourdain in June 1981, but now there is Seetoh’s Urban Hawker.

In a post on Makansutra’s website on Feb 16, Mr Seetoh wrote: “We have in our group, younger millennial hawkers who have never been to that part of the world, let alone New York. Some were fast to the draw, they called, came, listened, paid up and signed on. We have single stall hawkers, an exciting and young local kopi chain (I have always wanted to work with them) and even big name brands”. /TISG