2 concepts

From curry noodles by day to izakaya by night, some F&B operators find shared spaces make better business sense

- Hedy Khoo Senior Correspondent

In a high-rent, manpower-tight market, some food and beverage (F&B) operators are squeezing more out of a single unit by giving it two distinct identities.

An early example is 118 Telok Ayer Street. Since May 2015, cocktail bar Bitters & Love has been operating at night, while Free The Robot runs the same 1,000 sq ft space during the day, serving coffee, pasta and steak.

Co-founder Beverly Yeoh says: “It makes sense to maximise our rental with two concepts in the same space to generate more revenue since rent increases each time we renew our lease. It’s not likely to go down.”

Along Telok Ayer Street, Bitters & Love and Free The Robot are the classic two-in-one combo. Bitters & Love opened in 2012 in North Canal Road and moved to its current 50-seat premises at 118 Telok Ayer Street in May 2015. Six months later, the team launched Free The Robot in the same space, creating a cafe-by-day, bar-by-night pairing.