Chinatown hawker collaborates with Italian chef; pasta dishes sell out within 35 minutes

SINGAPORE - Just 35 minutes after it opened at 11am on Wednesday (Aug 17), Italian chef Mirko Febbrile's pop-up at Chinatown Complex Food Centre sold out all 80 portions of pasta.

It is a month-long collaboration with Nudedles, a pasta stall at the hawker centre run by Mr Clarence Chooi, 28.

Chef Febbrile, 31, was previously the chef de cuisine of one-Michelin-starred restaurant Braci at Boat Quay. He joined hospitality company The Lo & Behold Group in September last year.

The pop-up at Nudedles is a prelude to two new openings under the group next year (2023). It runs till Sept 17.

The menu comprises four pasta dishes - Linguine al Pesto ($7), Ricotta and Tomato Cavatelli ($8), Rigatoni alla Carbonara ($9) and Pappardelle Oxtail Ragu ($10). Eighty portions of all four dishes are available daily.

For dessert, there is a Soft Serve Burrata Ice Cream ($5), topped with a tomato and strawberry compote.

First in line this morning was entrepreneur Lim Kim Yew, 28, who reached the stall at 9am. He ordered a portion of everything on the menu and picked the cavatelli as his favourite pasta dish.

He said: "The pasta is unique and people should try the dishes now when they are cheap. It was worth the wait."

Retiree Raymond Wong, 75, who had seen the news on Facebook, was also in the queue. Though he came with his brother at 10.40am, he had to wait more than two hours for his three pasta dishes to be ready.

"I think this is a good deal because it is food from a Michelin-starred chef. Many people were turned away so we are lucky to have gotten our portions," he said.

• Chef Mirko Febbrile's pop-up runs from Aug 17 to Sept 17, at 02-34 Chinatown Complex Food Centre, 335 Smith Street. It opens from 11am till the portions are sold out, Tuesdays to Sundays, closed on Mondays.

ALSO READ: From Michelin-starred restaurants to a hawker stall: This chef whips up squid ink and lobster bisque pasta from $6.50

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.