For the first time in its 30-year history, the Singapore Food Festival is bringing its offerings to the Bay Area, with a "hawker center" popping up in San Francisco this weekend featuring up-and-coming chefs.
In an interview with KCBS Radio, Chef Emily Lim showed off some of the dishes she grew up eating. She hadn’t planned to cook them here until she was forced to pivot after being laid off from her restaurant job.
"I never would have thought I would have brought Singaporean food to the Bay Area," Lim told KCBS Radio. "My dream was basically to own a hawker stall in Singapore."
This weekend, she's running a pop-up hawker stall at Harmonic Brewing in San Francisco. Lim will be joined by Chef Martin Yan, bringing together their unique approaches to cooking by highlighting their Singaporean roots.
Chef Nora Haron will also showcase her signature fusion dishes.
"I'm so glad that our work has not gone unnoticed and all eyes are on us to continue this tradition," Chef Haron said.
Her new restaurant is scheduled to open in Walnut Creek in January.
Rachel Loh of the Singapore Tourism Board said the agency is capitalizing on the newfound popularity of her country’s food.
"The fact that people can't travel to Singapore and try some of the dishes over there, we thought, 'You know what? Let's bring it over,'" Loh said.
Loh said this weekend's pop-up, which runs from 3-7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, already is sold out of tickets. But they have catered for a limited number of walk-ins, so get there early if you want a taste of Singapore.
For more information about the festival, you can head to Visit Singapore's Facebook page.
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