To launch his first restaurant with a takeawayonly menu amid a ravaging pandemic was something restaurateur Gibran Baydoun never imagined doing. But that was what happened anyway. Early in June, Baydoun’s Lucali BYGB, an offshoot of the Brooklyn-based pizzeria Lucali, announced a taster menu ahead of its opening. The original founder Mark Iacono’s Lucali Pie — the 18-inch wood-fired pizza which shot it to snaking-queue fame — was deliberately not included in the teaser’s selections.
“I refuse to let someone have my pizza the first time in their apartment when I have no clue what has happened from the time it left my oven to the time it went to them,” says Baydoun, 31, who partnered up with Iacono for its Singapore restaurant.
In the second phase of Singapore’s gradual reopening, dining out is now no longer prohibited. But after a brutal two-month period of confinement in which the world was put on pause, restaurants across the island are still trying their best to navigate around new restrictions.
Despite the risks, however, brave new ones have emerged. Lucali BYGB is one of them.
Described by The New York Times as “a luxury restaurant disguised as a pizza joint” and propelled to international recognition by an episode of David Chang’s “Ugly Delicious” on Netflix, Lucali is known to be the gritty haunt of in-the-know locals. Jay-Z and Beyoncé famously had dinner at the pizza joint instead of going to the Grammys some years ago. Lucali BYGB, only its second outpost, is located some 20,000 miles away, occupying a space in a warehouse in Kallang’s industrial neighbourhood.
This story is from the September 2020 edition of T Singapore: The New York Times Style Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2020 edition of T Singapore: The New York Times Style Magazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Look At Us
As public memorials face a public reckoning, there’s still too little thought paid to how women are represented — as bodies and as selves.
Two New Jewellery Collections Find Their Inspiration In The Human Anatomy
Two new jewellery collections find their inspiration in the human anatomy.
She For She
We speak to three women in Singapore who are trying to improve the lives of women — and all other gender identities — through their work.
Over The Rainbow
How the bright colours and lively prints created by illustrator Donald Robertson brought the latest Weekend Max Mara Flutterflies capsule collection to life.
What Is Love?
The artist Hank Willis Thomas discusses his partnership with the Japanese fashion label Sacai and the idea of fashion in the context of the art world.
The Luxury Hotel For New Mums
Singapore’s first luxury confinement facility, Kai Suites, aims to provide much more than plush beds and 24-hour infant care: It wants to help mothers with their mental and emotional wellbeing as well.
Who Gets To Eat?
As recent food movements have focused on buying local or organic, a deeper and different conversation is happening among America’s food activists: one that demands not just better meals for everyone but a dismantling of the structures that have failed to nourish us all along.
Reimagining The Future Of Fashion
What do women want from their clothes and accessories, and does luxury still have a place in this post-pandemic era? The iconic designer Alber Elbaz thinks he has the answers with his new label, AZ Factory.
A Holiday At Home
Once seen as the less exciting alternative to an exotic destination holiday, the staycation takes on new importance.
All Dressed Up, Nowhere To Go
Chinese supermodel He Sui talks about the unseen pressures of being an international star, being a trailblazer for East Asian models in the fashion world, and why, at the end of the day, she is content with being known as just a regular girl from Wenzhou.
