F&B: My Awesome Cafe
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Setting up a cafe was never part of Franck Hardy’s plans – until he viewed a vacant lot along Telok Ayer which used to be occupied by the Chung Hwa Free Clinic. His friends were moving their advertising agency into the second floor of the building, and had asked him along to view the space. Moved by its beauty, he was inspired to turn it into a cafe. “I wanted to return the history of the place to it,” the Frenchman says. Simply called My Awesome Cafe, the joint’s concept was to be as stripped back as its name. On a mission to imbue its ambience with Singapore’s past, Franck drove around Singapore (and Malacca) in search of pre-loved furniture. He soon amassed vintage shelves, tableware and a batch of school tables used in the 1970s. “I met an uncle here who repairs fire pipes, and convinced him to customise bar tables and stools from damaged pipes. He had never done anything like it before, and now he’s pretty happy that we’re MY AWESOME CAFE IS LOCATED AT 202 TELOK AYER STREET, TEL: 8248-0102. LEFT The cafe’s facade harks back to the history of the shophouse, which was built in 1956 as a Chinese clinic. FAR RIGHT Drinks are served in vintage glassware. BELOW The Awesome Salad ($15) is the joint’s protein-packed signature dish. BOTTOM Each of these customised light bulbs contain LEDs that fan out like a miniature Christmas tree. BOTTOM RIGHT The cafe’s raw industrial look is enlivened by Franck’s casual flower arrangements. My Awesome Cafe CHECK OUT The cafe is run by Franck Hardy, who finds respite in running a small cafe after years of managing large-scale hotels. “I love that I can leave marks of my personality everywhere,” he says. text MAVIS ANG photography VEE CHIN art direction NONIE CHEN referring the inquiries we get about our furniture to him,” says Franck with a chuckle. He’s also proud of the communal table, which has a century- old door from China as its table top. The food at this laid-back joint, which Franck established with a Swiss and a Singaporean, is kept unfussy. “We serve fresh, simple ingredients, and we stick to easy-to-eat sandwiches and salads. The salad leaves are air-flown from Melbourne, and I get some items from Tiong Bahru market.” The Awesome Salad, he shares, was inspired by a customer who wanted a healthy dish filled with protein. Franck’s solution was a Mesclun salad with smoked salmon, chicken breast, duck rillette and avocado. “I feel very proud when my customers say that they come to the cafe to get inspired,” he muses. “They say that they feel time stops here.” SHOP THE LOOK Find similar furniture and accessories at these places nJOURNEY EAST #03-02 Tan Boon Liat Building, 315 Outram Road, tel: 6473-1693 nLIKE THAT ONE #01-02 Skytech, 2 Bukit Batok Street 24, tel: 6560-9168 nLORGAN’S #01-03 Century Warehouse, 100E Pasir Panjang Road, tel: 6272-4988 nTHE HERITAGE SHOP #01-01, 93 Jalan Sultan, tel: 6223-7982 NOW 39 38
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The cafe is run by Franck Hardy, who finds respite in running a small cafe after years of managing large-scale hotels. “I love that I can leave marks of my personality everywhere,” he says.
Transcript of F&B: My Awesome Cafe
Setting up a cafe was never part of Franck Hardy’s plans – until he viewed a vacant lot along Telok Ayer which used to be occupied by the Chung Hwa Free Clinic.
His friends were moving their advertising agency into the second floor of the building, and had asked him along to view the space. Moved by its beauty, he was inspired to turn it into a cafe. “I wanted to return the history of the place to it,” the Frenchman says.
Simply called My Awesome Cafe, the joint’s concept was to be as stripped back as its name. On a mission to imbue its ambience with Singapore’s past, Franck drove around Singapore (and Malacca) in search of pre-loved furniture. He soon amassed vintage shelves, tableware and a batch of school tables used in the 1970s.
“I met an uncle here who repairs fire pipes, and convinced him to customise bar tables and stools from damaged pipes. He had never done anything like it before, and now he’s pretty happy that we’re
M y Aw e S O M e C A F e I S lO C AT e d AT 202 T e lO k Ay e r S T r e e T, T e l : 8248 - 0102.
l e F T The cafe’s facade harks back to the history of the shophouse, which was built in 1956 as a Chinese clinic.
F A r r I g H Tdrinks are served in vintage glassware.
b e l O wThe Awesome Salad ($15) is the joint’s protein-packed signature dish.
b O T T O Meach of these customised light bulbs contain leds that fan out like a miniature Christmas tree.
b O T T O M r I g H TThe cafe’s raw industrial look is enlivened by Franck’s casual flower arrangements.
M y A w e s o m e C a f e
CHeCkOuT
The cafe is run by Franck Hardy, who finds respite in running a small cafe after years of managing large-scale hotels. “I love that I can leave marks of my personality everywhere,” he says.
text MAvIS Ang photography vee CHIn art direction nOnIe CHen
referring the inquiries we get about our furniture to him,” says Franck with a chuckle. He’s also proud of the communal table, which has a century-old door from China as its table top.
The food at this laid-back joint, which Franck established with a Swiss and a Singaporean, is kept unfussy. “we serve fresh, simple ingredients, and we stick to easy-to-eat sandwiches and salads. The salad leaves are air-flown from Melbourne, and I get some items from Tiong bahru market.”
The Awesome Salad, he shares, was inspired by a customer who wanted a healthy dish filled with protein. Franck’s solution was a Mesclun salad with smoked salmon, chicken breast, duck rillette and avocado.
“I feel very proud when my customers say that they come to the cafe to get inspired,” he muses. “They say that they feel time stops here.”
S H O p T H e l O O k Find similar furniture and accessories at these places
n J O u r n e y e A S T#03-02 Tan boon liat building, 315 Outram road, tel: 6473-1693 n l I k e T H A T O n e#01-02 Skytech, 2 bukit batok Street 24, tel: 6560-9168n l O r g A n ’ S #01-03 Century warehouse, 100e pasir panjang road, tel: 6272-4988 n T H e H e r I T A g e S H O p#01-01, 93 Jalan Sultan, tel: 6223-7982
n o w
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