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Street food chef's stall becomes world's first to earn Michelin star

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Re: Street food chef's stall becomes world's first to earn Michelin star

#71

Post by jzwinck »

hiou wrote: post #49

* > Incredibly, the 51-year-old, who works 17 hours a day* Could anyone comment on if this is an exaggeration? After commuting plus basic life tasks like bathing etc, this would allow him for a realistic maximum of 5 hours of sleep a day. And that is optimistic as likely this results in about 4 hours a day. It seems like the story of a person who has gone 35 years on 4 hours of sleep a day is possibly more interestin…

Typical service hours at a Singapore hawker stall would be either breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner--not all three. This particular one is open from 11 AM to 8 PM [1], which is perhaps one hour longer than typical.

If the proprietor does his own shopping, he may start at 5-6 AM and finish clean-up at 8:30 PM, for a "workday" of about 15 hours. There may have been some respite pre-Michelin but now it should be just an hour or two to nap before service begins.

An hour commute each way is not rare for modern hawkers, who in times past might have worked near home for convenience or in the business district for more customers. Now they have to work where the rent is low--and rent inevitably ratchets up as revenue does. Some landlords in Singapore install CCTV at the till to track receipts and make sure they get their pound.

Given the reported increase of only 20% production (180 chickens up from 150), this stall's incredible journey could come to an end when its lease comes up for renewal.

[1] https://guide.michelin.sg/en/2016-guide/hong-kong-soy-sauce-...

Re: Street food chef's stall becomes world's first to earn Michelin star

#72

Post by marcelfahle »

yomly wrote: post #12

Really fantastic achievement and a really down to earth take on food - good to see Michelin not adopting a stuffy elitist stance on their awards. I shudder, however, when I think of the queues to try this tasty goodness. For reference, queues can easily top 90 mins if a hawker stall is locally well reviewed! And just over the sea, the queues for Tim Ho Wan (Michelin star dim sum in Hong Kong) are also already oppress…

I agree. The stall Bourdain went to, across the street at Maxwell's, has always super long queues. Not 90 mins but still a pain. I'm glad most of the other stalls are usually not far off on their quality..

Re: Street food chef's stall becomes world's first to earn Michelin star

#73

Post by akiselev »

hiou wrote: post #49

* > Incredibly, the 51-year-old, who works 17 hours a day* Could anyone comment on if this is an exaggeration? After commuting plus basic life tasks like bathing etc, this would allow him for a realistic maximum of 5 hours of sleep a day. And that is optimistic as likely this results in about 4 hours a day. It seems like the story of a person who has gone 35 years on 4 hours of sleep a day is possibly more interestin…

I don't know of anyone who has done it for 35 years but most small business owners I know in competitive industries like restaurants work at least 12-14 hours a day, often taking only a few days off a month. Perhaps this has to do with the higher cost of living in their areas but it's pretty well accepted that small business owners and sole proprietors generally work a lot more than regular employees. Due to western labor laws regarding benefits and overtime that is usually the only way they can make it.

Re: Street food chef's stall becomes world's first to earn Michelin star

#74

Post by theCodeStig »

hiou wrote: post #49

* > Incredibly, the 51-year-old, who works 17 hours a day* Could anyone comment on if this is an exaggeration? After commuting plus basic life tasks like bathing etc, this would allow him for a realistic maximum of 5 hours of sleep a day. And that is optimistic as likely this results in about 4 hours a day. It seems like the story of a person who has gone 35 years on 4 hours of sleep a day is possibly more interestin…

He likely lives within a short walking distance of his stall.

Re: Street food chef's stall becomes world's first to earn Michelin star

#75

Post by theCodeStig »

avar wrote: post #24
beachstartup wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is just my opinion, but i don't think this is literally 'street food' -- it's not on the street, it's in a food court inside of a shopping mall frequented by affluent professionals. in my experience, east and southeast asia have the best 'food court' cuisine on earth, probably by an order of magnitude. nothing i've seen on any other continent even comes close. i think this is just michelin recognizing that fact.

It's not inside a mall, it's in a hawker center, a complex that doesn't have traditional shopping and is literally many levels of nothing but small one-man eateries. Saying that it's not "street food", I think, glosses over the context of what these things are in Singapore. There was a concerted effort by the government at some point to bring what were "street food" stalls in the western sense into regulated hawker c…

It sounds like you're Singaporean. Cheers! While some parts of Europe have street food, other parts of the west, such as the US do not. "There's no street food in the western sense" would more accurately be "There's no street food like there is in the rest of Southeast Asia". Contrast hawker centers with the street carts like you see in Bangkok (literally street food).

Re: Street food chef's stall becomes world's first to earn Michelin star

#76

Post by theCodeStig »

dllthomas wrote: post #68
tamana wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"street food in the western sense" is funny in USA because USA has nearly no street food in the sense of the western view of Asian streetfood vendors. USA has "food trucks"

Hot dog cart?

It's a rarity. Hot dog carts (or other food carts) would only be found in larger cities, such as NY. Smaller cities, only outside of a sports stadium during a game.

Re: Street food chef's stall becomes world's first to earn Michelin star

#77

Post by theCodeStig »

klausa wrote: post #30
davidmr wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think in general the hawker stands are such an integral part of the Singaporean culinary culture that, even as an homage, you'd have to honor that culture by finding the best one to give a star to. I'm certain that his food is outstanding, but it's also a good move to ingratiate yourselves with the locals as you start your business there. As an aside, I have never been anywhere with more consistently amazing food t…

Just curious - have you been to Bangkok? "Just wander around and eat at random — you have a decent chance of having one of the best meals of your life" was my impression of it — but I haven't had chance to visit Singapore yet, so I'm wondering how it compares.

In Bangkok you will have more of a "street food" experience. In Singapore you will have less risk of food poisoning (but it can still happen).

Re: Street food chef's stall becomes world's first to earn Michelin star

#78

Post by dllthomas »

theCodeStig wrote: post #76
dllthomas wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hot dog cart?

It's a rarity. Hot dog carts (or other food carts) would only be found in larger cities, such as NY. Smaller cities, only outside of a sports stadium during a game.

Normalizing geographically, it's a rarity. Normalizing by population, less so. It's still not something most Americans encounter, in person, with any frequency. But I think it's something Americans are pretty familiar with, if only because so much media is set in NYC.

Re: Street food chef's stall becomes world's first to earn Michelin star

#79

Post by poloniculmov »

fatjokes wrote: post #7
avar wrote: post #4

The article doesn't make this obvious, but the Michelin Guide just expanded into Singapore this year. Singapore has some amazing food, and the hawker stalls are no exception. If anything they exceed far fancier restaurants with their focus and authenticity. But as far as this being news or worthy of HN goes, this just seems like shameless corporate propaganda, even the video accompanying the article is entirely produ…

Suggestions for delicious street food in Europe? I travel to Europe pretty often and consider myself quite the glutton but have yet to experience good street food (great restaurants, yes, but not street food).

Kebabs, gyros and shawrma, though they're served from holes in the wall and not from a cart.

Re: Street food chef's stall becomes world's first to earn Michelin star

#80

Post by r00fus »

dak1 wrote: post #57
Retric wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China clearly qualifies as a superpower. Though, it's influence is more economic than military it still wields considerable influence on the global stage. EX: This is more than a decade out of date, but it's a useful reference. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superpower#/media/File:1_AD_to...

Being classified as a "superpower" is a term in political science that means the country has the ability to project unparalleled influence on a global scale. Don't let the prominence of discussions of China's "rise" fool you though, it is most certainly not a superpower. It certainly has the capacity to be one some day, but its power projection capability is fairly restricted to its immediate vicinity in East Asia st…

I must respectfully disagree. China is the worlds manufacturing center. The power it projects globally cannot be understated.
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