In Chinese proverbs, there’s a saying: “There is no banquet in this world that doesn’t come to an end.” (天下无不散的筵席)
Simply put, everything will eventually come to an end, some sooner than others.
For Nic & Tom Eatery, a local restaurant in Serangoon Garden opened by a pair of cousins, it has been a long and hard three years since they opened on 27 August 2019.
In their recent Facebook post, Nic & Tom Eatery announced that their restaurant will be closing down in June as they were unable to secure a new lease contract with their landlord.
The Highs and Lows of Nic & Tom Eatery
For the cousins, it must be very hard for them to say goodbye to their restaurant, given the amount of heart and soul that they poured into this business venture.
They reminisce how anxious they were before their opening day, all hands on deck as they cleaned chicken skins by hand, cooked the pig trotters and prepared all the necessary ingredients as they anticipated a huge crowd.
Like all restaurants, their business started with a loud bang for three days.
Being new to the F&B industry, they sacrificed their sleep and woke up at 6am to ensure that they would have their prep work done before opening shop for the day.
But it was a struggle after that.
Even though they opened early, they had to wait until 10:30am before they had their first customer.
“The business was so bad, we were helpless and depressed,” they write. “We started giving 50% discounts door to door to the neighbouring homes but that didn’t work. We started giving away hundreds of free bowls of our main dishes daily and it didn’t work too.”
At their wits’ end, they even went online to seek a larger customer base and the cousins thought they were doomed to fail from the beginning.
It was demoralising, to say the least.
Despite the stumbling and all the pitfalls, Nic and Tom gritted their teeth and continued to keep their restaurant open, in hopes that things would get better.
It eventually paid off.
When they got their first small crowd, the cousins had looked at each other and assumed it was luck; a simple fluke of good timing and the right patrons coming by.
Until one customer approached them with a Straits Times newspaper article and asked the pair if this restaurant was theirs.
It was like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
After nine months, business finally started to become better and better.
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Then, like thunder, the COVID-19 circuit breaker struck.
Back to ground zero, but somehow worse; now met with silence in their restaurant instead of the light chatter of their patrons.
Atmosphere and physical presences are usually understated, and you scarcely realise how important and uplifting it can be, until you’ve lost it.
Fortunately, the void of walk-in customers was filled by patrons who were willing to order their food online.
But unlike other restaurants that might have sought for delivery services from Grab, foodpanda or Deliveroo immediately, Nic & Tom Eatery took the literal hard and high way; choosing to deliver more than 200 orders island-wide on their own.
They drove out to break even the cost, taking this hardship as an opportunity to expand their customer circles, in hopes that these people would come and dine in when Safety Management Measures were eased.
Nic and Tom were incredibly happy and appreciative when they saw customers coming back to dine in when it was allowed.
Small groups of two at first, then larger as time went by.
Business was picking up once more, at last.
Another hurdle that they overcame.
“It was the most amazing place that created so many great memories. It wasn’t just a restaurant; it was a home to us.”
Words of Gratitude to Their Loyal Patrons
Nic & Tom Eatery would have been impossible without the customers, without the support of their loyal patrons who spread word about their restaurant through word of mouth.
They thank all the media sites that were willing to share their story for free.
It’s a hard and emotional decision to have to end their business so abruptly, but one they had to accept when there’s no longer a place and home for them to carry out their passions.
While the owners hope that they can find a new location to reopen for business in the future, there are no concrete plans yet.
If they do relaunch their business, they sincerely hope that the public can come back and support them, regardless of where they are.
In the meantime, they plan to make the time they have last, and they hope they can serve you once more before they officially cease their operations.
All the Best for Their Future Endeavours
Although it’s saddening that they have to close their restaurant, the “Bye for now… Till next time ♥” ends on a hopeful note.
No matter what the pair of cousins decide to do in the future, their preserving entrepreneurial spirit and accumulated experience will definitely carry them through.
If it’s another restaurant, there’s many reasons to believe that they will be more successful, considering the high ratings they have.
On Google reviews, they rate a solid 4.3 out of 5 stars with 502 reviews in total.
On Facebook, it’s even higher, where they are rated at 4.7 stars, with 225 reviews.
Their food is fairly affordable, and the restaurant has a good range of dishes on their refined menu; for the duo, success is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’.
Nevertheless, we hope that their future will be bright, no matter what path they take.
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Featured Image: Facebook (Nic & Tom Eatery)
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