‘I’m Not Fat, I’m Fluffy,’ Says Pink-Haired Chef At Pizzeria Selling Colourful Sourdough Pizza
If her fab pink hair is any indication of her personality, it’s that 28-year-old Zarifah binte Abdul Rasid loves colourful things. So much so that she sells fun sourdough pizzas in shades of pink, black and green at her Arab Street pizzeria, The Fluffy Chef.
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Why call herself The Fluffy Chef?
Zarifah opened Muslim-friendly The Fluffy Chef in September 2023 with an ex-schoolmate from Sunrice Global Chef Academy, where she graduated from in 2018. She briefly co-owned another Italian restaurant with two other pals in 2019, but left the biz to set up her own pizzeria. Currently, the young chef is in the process of buying back her shares in order to be the sole owner of The Fluffy Chef, as her biz partner left earlier this year. In total, Zarifah invested around $100K into the eatery, from money she earned from selling her shares at her previous eatery, plus her own savings.
Why name herself The Fluffy Chef? “When we first started this restaurant, people kept coming in and asking for pancakes and waffles. But they’ve since come to know that we’re an Italian restaurant. I like to watch [American stand-up comedian] Gabriel Iglesias, and he has a joke that goes: ‘I’m not fat, I’m fluffy’, so I’ve called myself that since secondary school,” Zarifah laughs.
Feta Beetroot ($18, left), Margherita ($16, right)
Colourful sourdough pizzas
The singleton’s colourful sourdough pizzas intrigue many of her customers. “Some of them come in because they’re curious about how we make our sourdough pink, green and black, so I’ll come out of the kitchen and explain it to them,” she shares.
Currently, her vibrant selection of pies includes a green-coloured spinach crust, reddish-pink beetroot crust, and black charcoal crust. This month, the restaurant is also selling a limited-edition Sourdough Pizza Tie-Dye ($18.90), a bluish-pink crusted pizza made with vegan natural food colouring. It’s topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni and chicken sausage.
How did Zarifah get the idea to make colourful pizzas? She says excitedly: “I love sourdough, and I’ve been cooking since I was 12. I thought why not experiment with ingredients like beetroot, spinach and charcoal? Currently, I’m also trying out using sweet potatoes to make an orange coloured dough.”
Each 12-inch pizza is made-to-order with handmade sourdough prepped fresh daily. They’re baked in a deck oven. Currently, Zarifah and a hired full-time chef take turns to cook.
Their best-seller is the charcoal powder-infused Truffle Brisket pizza ($28) topped with mozzarella cheese, truffles, beef brisket and mushroom sauce. Other options include the light greenish-hued Pesto Burrata ($25), with pesto sauce and pesto-stuffed burrata cheese, and beetroot-stained Formaggi ($24), a four-cheese pizza with a medley of mozzarella, parmesan, scamorza and blue cheese.
Prawn Tortellini, $25
Stuffed pasta also available
Aside from pizzas, The Fluffy Chef also offers handmade stuffed pasta, including Beetroot Spinach Ravioli ($21), beetroot ravioli crammed with spinach ricotta filling, and Prawn Tortellini ($25), comprising pasta parcels filled with prawns in a tomato sauce.
The Fluffy Chef is at 47 Arab St, S199744. Open daily except Mon 11am - 10pm. Tel: 9125 6405. More info via Instagram.
Photos: The Fluffy Chef
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