Jason Thian (JT): Chicken rice is essentially the national food of Singapore. For us, we’ve been known as the Home of Famous Chicken Rice in Singapore since 1979, and we’re entirely home-grown. I believe this is one of the key reasons the team at Zouk reached out to us about this partnership at Famous Foods.

We had no hesitations. One meeting led to another, and the rest is history.

JT: We served only chicken rice. There seems to be a keen interest in Singapore’s hawker fare. We sold over 4,500 plates of chicken rice in the first week of opening!

JT: Recipes and processes — including preparation of raw materials — were shared virtually, and also digitised (video recordings) for ease of reference. We also provided photos of all raw materials to ensure consistency. The selection of chefs was done by the Vegas culinary team managing Famous Foods.

The chefs chosen have worked in Asian countries previously and I believe a couple of them are Malaysian, which has greatly helped preserve the authenticity of the dishes. Safe to say, the whole team in Singapore is looking forward to trying it for themselves.

JT: The collaboration with external delivery platform vendors made a big difference. The lockdown measures greatly affected the way consumers get their food and delivery seems to be the only way to facilitate this phenomenon.

JT: The reliance on manpower for the labour-intensive food and beverage sector, which requires service, made us relook into our workflow to improve the productivity of each employee.

In one of our outlets, we will be implementing a mobile ordering service, which requires scanning QR codes from the table and orders will be placed directly with the point-of-sale system. There will also be self-ordering kiosks for takeaway services. The dining concept will gear towards quick service as opposed the conventional concept of being seated and waiting for food to be served.

JT: My favorite would be nasi lemak as it is not only delicious but is also hearty, and there is a rich culture and heritage behind the dish.

JT: Succession planning is very important. Recipes and techniques will need to be digitised via electronic documentation or video recording.

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