Small’s is big
Have you heard of the smallest restaurant in Singapore? It measures only two meters by two meters, and can seat only four guests at a time.
That resto is fittingly called Small’s, and it is owned by a chef with a big reputation—chef Bjorn Shen. He has been cited among Singapore’s Best Chefs twice, and has been a resident judge on MasterChef Singapore since 2018.
Only a chef with a creative energy such as chef Bjorn’s would think of offering an ever-changing menu.
“At the moment, Small’s bestsellers are Unicorn Pizza (made with uni and corn), Engawa Toast and Banh Mi Pizza,” says chef Bjorn. “Next, who knows, I might make it a dumpling or noodles place. Before pizzas, it was kebabs.”
The big news about Small’s is that it came to Manila this week through a partnership with A Mano restaurant of Amado Fores, which recently ranked top 15 in the 50 Top Pizza list in the Asia-Pacific region.
So we savored a Small’s x A Mano lunch recently in Rockwell, consisting of seven courses and a dessert, partnered with drinks from Wine Drop. What a meal. What an experience!
I’ve always been doing things differently since I was young. How I approach food is well-received in Singapore which embraces new ideas.
“Yes, Small’s is not a restaurant—it is an experience,” says chef Bjorn of his resto—rather, playground—which opened three years ago. It is actually a restaurant within a restaurant called Artichoke, and has been a fave of Singaporean foodies for the past 13 years.
“I’ve always been doing things differently since I was young,” he explains. “How I approach food is well-received in Singapore which embraces new ideas.”
Really a perfect fusion with Amado, who runs a classic Italian restaurant that stays true to Italian tradition. “Singapore has always been a hotbed for culinary creativity. Our A Mano team is excited to work with chef Bjorn’s Small’s to serve Filipinos a special meal that bridges our diverse approaches to the art and craft of cooking,” explains Amado.
“Manila is a savvy market,” says chef Bjorn, who has observed from previous three trips that Filipinos love pizza. “In fact, I was here to attend the wedding of chef JP Anglo in Siargao in 2018.”
Small’s serves mostly seafood pizza at the moment, relying on fresh ingredients from the waters of Singapore and Japan. Does it target crazy rich Asians? “No, we have a broad market,” says chef Bjorn who says a good meal in his Singapore resto would only cost about US$65.
This Small’s x A Mano partnership is part of the Asian Culinary Exchange organized by Angelo Comsti in partnership with Singapore Tourism Board (STB). Singa-Pub, a takeover of establishments in Poblacion, Makati, is the next project of STB in August 2023.
“The world is really getting smaller,” laughs chef Bjorn who enjoys bringing a bite of his Singaporean resto to Manila.
Does he also mean Small’s is getting bigger?