French Bistro Summer Hill Closing At Clementi, Will Offer Takeaway From Orchard Towers

Anthony tells 8days.sg that support from loyal customers kept the small restaurant afloat through the pandemic – and all of their staff employed. “When the pandemic started, we had a team meeting to prepare for the worst-case scenario – an eventual lockdown. And we set a clear, simple goal - keep everyone employed and avoid cutting salaries,” he says.

“We had amazing support from our customers and we ended up not only meeting our goal of keeping everyone employed, but being able to hire more staff who were looking for work after being put out by the lockdown,” the chef adds.

That said, getting through the Covid-19 storm wasn’t an easy journey for the restaurateur (who publicly expressed his frustrations on the commissions charged by delivery platforms). “After a while, it felt like trying to walk up an escalator in the wrong direction,” he shares. Despite turning a profit at Sunset Way, he also felt that they’ve “grown as much as they can in this space”.

The final straw came when the lease for Summer Hill was due for renewal this January, Anthony adds. “Our landlord wanted to increase the rent as well and wouldn’t do an extension. It wasn’t a crazy increase, but it was the kick we needed to get out of here rather than commit to a new lease that would hold us back a few more years,” he shares.

As for their search for a new location – which Anthony says will definitely be a bigger space – “we’ve looked pretty much everywhere from the east to the west”. He adds: “I don’t see any need for us at the moment to be somewhere like the CBD (Central Business District) or in Chinatown, which seems obvious for a restaurant to grow into. Too obvious, in fact – and we’d get lost in there [amid the competition].”

“There was a certain magic to Sunset Way when we first opened that made people say ‘Har? Really?’ when they heard I opened a restaurant there. But that became an understanding ‘Ohhhh’ when they arrived [and saw it],” he says with a laugh. “It’s hard to distill it into words, but I’ll know it [is the right place] when I see it.”

During the transition period to Summer Hill’s new digs, the chef and his crew will dish out grub from a cloud kitchen facility in Orchard Towers, chosen for its central location despite its seedy reputation. “Also, because we already have a lot of customers who we deliver to living in Orchard,” he adds. The cloud kitchen is called The Orchard Food Market and includes other F&B brands like Japanese rice bowl chain Wafuken and chicken wing joint Wing Zone.

“We’ll also be using this period to bring the focus back onto our original vision, which was to work on our ‘DIY Eats’ line of dishes and components people can use to cook at home such as ready-made roast meats, stews and sauces,” the chef continues. “We’re also going to focus on big sharing dishes that people have responded to for special occasions at home.”

However, as they will only be moving to the cloud kitchen once they’ve vacated the premises at Sunset Way, “there will be some changes to the menu, but we haven’t finalised them yet until we actually move in and are operational in the kitchen”, he adds. What he can confirm are that crowd-favourites like their signature Roast Chicken ($32 for half), Kurobuta Pork Belly Porchetta ($268 for 1.5kg; feeds four to five) and Wagyu Beef Bourguignon ($130; feeds two to three) will remain on the menu.

This will be a temporary arrangement until Summer Hill gets a new home. “But we’ve kept the option open that if it does well on its own, we might keep it running even when we set up a proper restaurant later,” Anthony says.

“We do hope everyone will continue to support us through this period, but with a major shift like this for a business there's just no guarantee. So, new challenge for the new year!” he adds chirpily.

If you are planning to make a trek down to the restaurant at Clementi before January 23, do call ahead as reservations are filling up quickly, especially over the weekend (Jan 22 and 23).

Summer Hill’s final day of operations is on Jan 23 at #01-62 Blk 106 Clementi St 12, S120106. Tel: 6251-5337. Open Tues – Sun 11.30am – 2pm; 6pm – 9.30pm. More info via Facebook, Instagram and website. Delivery via website.

Summer Hill resumes takeaway & delivery services on Feb 2 at #02-01, Orchard Towers, 1 Claymore Dr, S229594.

Photos: Anthony Yeoh/Instagram, Summer Hill

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