After four years of operations in New York City, Urban Hawker will be closing.
The Singapore-style hawker centre, located in Midtown Manhattan, features 17 vendors handpicked by KF Seetoh.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday (June 30), Seetoh, who is also the founder of Makansutra, shared that Urban Hawker had known that the building’s owners wanted to sell the property for redevelopment about a year ago.
Urban Hawker’s last day will be July 17, he said.
“It has been a great four-year run on West 50th Street in Manhattan, and it was an exciting step into the New York City market. We are truly grateful for your support all this while. It was such a pleasure for me to help curate and create Urban Hawker.
“It may be curtains down at Urban Hawker, but it ain’t the end for Singapore makan culture there. Another door will always be open,” said Seetoh.
According to him, a few Singapore hawkers have already opened several outlets in New York, with plans to “roll out even more”.
They also hope to find a location to house several “dynamic hawkers” in a Kopitiam-style food hall.
Asking for recommendations for suitable places, Seetoh added: “New York City and the United States are a dynamic and meaningful market for us”.
Following Urban Hawker’s closure, those in New York can still get their Singapore food fix.
They can do so at Hainan Jones, which has a second outlet at DeKalb Market Hall in Brooklyn. In addition to chicken rice, its menu includes laksa, curry pork chop rice, and chicken porridge.
“From the depth of the warm cockles of our hearts, thank you for all your support thus far. Stay tuned for fresh announcements,” said Seetoh.
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Urban Hawker opened in New York City in September 2022, featuring 11 of 17 vendors sourced directly from hawker centres in Singapore, Reuters reported.
Each stall was designed to specialise in a well-known dish, such as chilli crab, oyster omelette, Hainanese chicken rice and nasi lemak.
The idea for Urban Hawker was born from an encounter that Seetoh had with late US celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain in 2013. They had met at a Singapore street food event where Anthony expressed excitement over a hawker market in New York.
Eldon Scott, president of Urbanspace, a property manager who curates immersive public markets, soon got on board with the idea.
Apart from giving New Yorkers a chance to try authentic Singapore cuisine, Urban Hawker also catered to Singaporeans who hadn’t been home for a long time.
“I came across Singaporeans who had been living in the United States in New York for like 20, 30, 35 years, and they still miss Singapore food,” Seetoh told Reuters then.
And while Singaporeans found the prices at Urban Hawker too high for their liking, New Yorkers said it was reasonable to pay $26 for prawn noodles or $19 for mee rebus there.
In 2023, former Singapore politician Maliki Osman patronised the food hall while he was there for a work trip, saying: “Very interesting to see so much of Singapore here, right smack in New York City”.
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