SINGAPORE: Native movie star chef Arifin has been noticed working a hawker stall in Little India after his high-end restaurant shuttered, months after a rebranding train.
Chef Arifin will not be solely a veteran chef who has spent greater than 4 many years in Singapore’s meals and beverage scene, but in addition a distinguished media persona and well-known among the many nation’s Indian inhabitants. He’s identified by some locally because the “Vasantham Chef” as he has appeared in a number of culinary programmes broadcast by Mediacorp’s Tamil-language channel, Vasantham.
The well-known chef based his personal restaurant named Bacos, which rapidly turned a hotspot for native Indians and people hoping to style the recipes they see on tv or catch a glimpse of the chef who created them. Positioned on the Tekka Place procuring centre in Little India, Bacos was identified for mixing Indian and Italian flavours, one thing Chef Arifin describes as “fusion delicacies”.
The daring cross-cultural menu seemed to be successful, with patrons lapping up distinctive dishes corresponding to tandoori butter hen pasta, fusion biryani creations, wraps, pizzas and different Indian-Italian hybrids. Evaluations often point out the weird flavour mixtures and beneficiant parts.
Regardless of its recognition, Bacos is not in operation. Chef Arifin, who beforehand shared in public concerning the difficulties of sustaining the enterprise in the course of the COVID-19 interval, closed the doorways to the restaurant on Nov 23 final 12 months earlier than the doorways reopened underneath a brand new model title.
An announcement on Bacos’ social media web page had stated on the time, “At this time is our ultimate day working underneath the Bacos title…However each ending carries a brand new starting. We’ll reopen twenty ninth Saturday, reborn with a brand-new id, a richer heritage, and an entire new eating expertise.”
On Nov 29, Bacos reopened as Anjaraipetti on the identical ground-floor Tekka Place location, this time that includes a menu replete with conventional Tamil fare, with meals served on a banana leaf.
Whereas the enterprise was now being run by a brand new proprietor named Mr Vasanth, Bacos’ much-loved signature dishes slowly began trickling again into the menu earlier than making a full comeback in February 2026, because of fashionable demand.
On March 25 2026, nonetheless, Anjaraipetti introduced that will probably be closing its doorways for good. The restaurant crew stated on social media, “Anjaraipetti was by no means only a restaurant; it was a spot of recollections, laughter, and shared moments. Although we are actually closed, the recollections we created collectively will all the time stay. Thanks, Singapore, on your love and assist.”
Months after the closure of the enterprise, Chef Arifin has been noticed behind the range once more however this time at a hawker stall.
Fb consumer Kali Dass S noticed the chef whipping up scrumptious meals at a stall on the Tekka Market meals centre. Sharing that Chef Arifin was “allotting plates of mee goreng and different native favourites,” Mr Dass stated on-line:
“There have been no cameras or cooking present lights, simply the chef serving clients instantly. We ordered three objects from his stall, and every one was a real delight and wow, comforting, flavourful, and clearly made with care.”
His put up rapidly went viral amongst Singaporean Indians, with many sharing that they are going to be visiting the meals centre to assist their beloved ‘Vasantham Chef’.
