Wee Teng Wen: Launching New Bahru to champion local brands

It was not some glitzy commercial mall with big overseas brands that grabbed headlines in 2024.

- Eunice Quek

Instead, lifestyle destination New Bahru, a retail and food haven in Kim Yam Road championing Singapore-born brands, became the talk of the town in the second half of the year.

In a cut-throat year where both the food and beverage as well as retail scene were savaged, few could pull off what Mr Wee Teng Wen, managing director of home-grown hospitality company The Lo & Behold Group, did at New Bahru.

Taking on a nine-year lease as the master tenant, the 44-year-old transformed the former Nan Chiau High School into a buzzing enclave of over 40 F&B and retail concepts with an accumulative spending of more than $25 million to set up.

But with high stakes come high rewards. So far, this power move appears to have paid off.

With openings in phases from June, the hipster hot spot has been a flurry of activity, with diners flocking to the likes of burger joint One Fattened Calf, Mexican eatery Huevos, PPP Coffee cafe and Sri Lankan restaurant Kotuwa.

Restaurants by The Lo & Behold Group at New Bahru comprise nasi lemak specialist The Coconut Club, cocktail bar Bar Bon Funk and Somma, a fine-dining restaurant and cocktail bar led by Puglian chef-partner Mirko Febbrile.

Somma was picked as the Best High-end Restaurant in The Sunday Times' Best Eats of 2024 list last week.

More than 40 per cent of the brands at New Bahru have established their flagship outlets there.