Former DJ Daniel Ong Opening Steakhouse; Said Twelve Cupcakes Incident Made Him Lose Income

By
Boon Hun
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Former DJ Daniel Ong isn’t exactly new to the F&B sectors although his previous attempts haven’t gone well.

Nonetheless, despite having to close all three outlets of his restaurant, Rookery, back in 2020, he’s coming back again with a new F&B offering.

This time, a steakhouse.

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Former DJ Daniel Ong Opening Steakhouse; Said Twelve Cupcakes Incident Made Him Lose Income

According to 8Days, Ong will be making a comeback with Dan’s Steak, a steakhouse at Serangoon Gardens.

Previously, he had run his F&B business in the Central Business District (CBD) and it was “tough”.

During the Circuit Breaker, business dropped by 70% and then, to 50%, so he shut the business down.

That’s why, for his next F&B venture, he plans to “keep it small”.

Opening In Mid-April

His steakhouse is slated to open for business in mid-April.

He will be the one cooking and serving so he wants to limit the capacity to keep the food and service great.

It was estimated that his steakhouse will serve 20 to 30 high-quality steaks a day.

Here’s our prediction: if his food and service are great, it could become a place which is very hard to get reservations at.

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Korean-Influenced Steakhouse

To make the deal even sweeter, or steakier, as some might say, Dan’s Steakhouse will come with a Korean twist.

Other than steaks, customers will be served free Korean side dishes while waiting for their mains to arrive.

There’ll be around twenty types of side dishes including spicy tteokbokki, kimchi, braised black beans, and more on a rotational basis.

Customers can expect around eight types of side dishes during their visit.

Other than steaks, there will also be non-beef choices like grilled lamb, miso salmon and Korean Chicken.

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The menu will be expanded as time passes by, he said.

Started As A Home Business

Turns out, Dan’s Steaks isn’t new.

In fact, it started as a home-based business during the circuit breaker “out of necessity”.

Because the steaks were popular and sold out daily, Ong shifted operations to a commercial kitchen to cope with the demand.

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Unfortunately, since entering Phase two, people started going out to dine and wine again, and orders dropped.

Ong closed down the business at the end of September after he concluded that the business was no longer viable.

Apparently, his steaks were so good people have been DM-ing him daily to ask if he’s opened for business yet.

Lost All Income From Twelve Cupcakes Saga

In case you’ve missed it, Twelve Cupcakes, a business he founded with ex-wife Jaime Teo and sold to an Indian company, was found guilty of underpaying foreign employees for years.

Ong’s case is still pending while Jaime was fined S$65,000 for her role in the scandal.

Ong says that Twelve Cupcakes has caused him to lost all his income.

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Clients pulled out from his renovation business after hearing about the news.

He realised that he had to find new ways to “put food on the table”, and since he can cook, Dan’s Steakhouse is the answer.

While he’s worried that the upcoming court case will affect Dan’s Steakhouse, he decided to go ahead with it anyway and hopes for the best.

Feature Image: Instagram (danssteak)

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Boon Hun
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