With halal Swedish meatballs, she redefined Kampong Glam’s F&B scene
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With halal Swedish meatballs, she redefined Kampong Glam'southward F&B scene
Tasneem Noor became an F&B entrepreneur in 2009 when she opened Fika Swedish Cafe & Bistro on Beach Road, serving halal Swedish food. Twelve years later, she shares what'south next on her journey, and why she wants to take things slow.
Tasneem Noor, founder of Fika Swedish Buffet & Bistro. (Photo: Aik Chen)
06 Oct 2022 06:36AM (Updated: 06 Oct 2022 07:04AM)
In Singapore, the colourful and vibrant heritage enclave of Kampong Glam is home to many bustling F&B businesses. While several hipster cafes accept come and gone over the years, a few players have long dominated the scene.
One of them is Fika Swedish Cafe & Chophouse, situated forth Beach Road. First opened in 2009, Fika is well-known for its halal traditional Swedish meatballs, served alongside other authentic Swedish food including pyttipanna (Swedish meat and white potato hash), gravlax sandwich, toast skagen (shrimp toast) and more.
Fika was founded by Tasneem Noor, together with her husband, Joakim Smidhagen. The pair met when Tasneem was backpacking in Sweden in 2006. After getting married, Joakim moved to Singapore and the couple settled down here.
At the time, Tasneem was working as a graphic designer in contract publishing. Her begetter ran a wholesale store retailing scarves on Baghdad Street and noticed that a row of three conservation shophouses on Embankment Road were up for bidding.
"I'm always upwardly for any challenge, so I said yeah, permit'south bid on information technology," she said. "Nosotros didn't actually know what we wanted to practise. Essentially, at that place was no g plan or great business idea of any sort."
Away from Sweden, Joakim experienced a bout of homesickness. "We soon realised that in that location was no authentic Swedish food here and on top of that, no halal Swedish food," the 40-year-quondam recalled. "So we thought that it would be a cracking idea to innovate Singaporeans to the cuisine."
That's the story of how Fika was born and 12 years later, the restaurant remains a stalwart in the Kampong Glam surface area. In a urban center where the F&B scene is ever-evolving, that'due south a testament to Fika'due south success and popularity.
Over the years, Tasneem went on to open a string of halal F&B eateries in Kampong Glam. In 2016, she opened Konditori, a quaint artisanal bakery with European pastries and desserts, located just a stone's throw away from Fika on Bussorah Street. In 2017, she opened waffle and dessert parlour Lickety, situated right next door to Konditori.
In a manner, ane could say she'southward the queen of Kampong Glam, having redefined the dining scene here long before a wave of Instagrammable cafes popped upwards in the surface area.
'DOING MORE DOESN'T MEAN HAVING MORE'
With every new business organization venture, Tasneem shares that she aims to be the starting time in Singapore. "For example, Fika was the get-go Swedish restaurant in Singapore, and also the outset halal Swedish restaurant in the world."
When information technology first opened, Konditori was likewise the showtime halal European bakery in Singapore that was artisanal. "And so suddenly all these other artisanal bakeries started popping up. I think we were kind of absurd, we didn't follow trends, in fact, nosotros started them," Tasneem quipped.
The idea to open an ice cream parlour next to Konditori came almost when she realised that tourists would walk in to inquire if there were any ice cream shops in the vicinity. When it start opened in 2017, Lickety was the only dessert parlour in Singapore to serve ice cream together with the popular Hong Kong egglet waffles.
Nevertheless, due to a driblet in tourist numbers as a consequence of the pandemic, Lickety closed its doors earlier this yr, and the team decided to use its infinite to expand Konditori instead.
But Tasneem is not one to dwell on setbacks. Having started her journeying as an F&B entrepreneur at 28, she has seen her fair share of failures.
In 2011, spurred by the success of Fika'southward flagship outlet on Beach Road, she decided to aggrandize the brand into shopping malls and opened two outlets, one in Millenia Walk and the other at One KM in Paya Lebar (now known as Kinex).
Information technology was a bold move with a heavy investment that ended up being a misstep. Both outlets did non do well and were closed eventually. "I remember that was a huge humble pie to eat, losing and so much," she lamented.
She has now learned that "doing more doesn't hateful having more". "I don't think it is important for me to open more places for the sake of information technology. We desire to have better control over the current businesses that nosotros have and at the same fourth dimension, to have a life. Nosotros have children and we want to be with them," the mum of ii said.
DIVERSIFYING IN A PANDEMIC
Like many other F&B entrepreneurs, navigating a pandemic and constantly changing dining restrictions has been a claiming for Tasneem. Referring to Fika, she shared: "We're not really a place for takeaways or deliveries. It's easy for people to ask us to do delivery, but dining at a restaurant like Fika is an eventful thing, and people pay for the atmosphere."
Meanwhile, as Konditori is a takeaway-only bakery, "it has been doing wonderfully", she acknowledged.
A silver lining to the pandemic, nonetheless, is that information technology has instilled in her an "urgency to be a bit more diverse". After more than a decade in F&B, Tasneem is now embarking on the next step in her entrepreneurship journeying by going into the wellness industry.
Come December, Tasneem volition be opening a dazzler and wellness lounge together with 2 of her close friends and young man business owners, Rozza Ramli, founder of women-only pilus salon Karva, and Cassandra Riene Tan, founder of F&B outlets The Ritual and Botany.
The women-only health lounge, named Aura, volition also exist located in the Kampong Glam vicinity on Haji Lane, and will offer spa and skincare treatments using natural and sustainable products.
"The pandemic has made me more open and audacious to try new things. This is likewise my showtime venture with partners and I thought it would exist something fun to practice with my friends," she said.
In the midst of a pandemic, the founders of Aura felt that "it'south important for us to remind women that it'due south okay to have the time to indulge in self-intendance," Tasneem added.
While the health lounge will start off by offering skincare and spa services, in that location are plans to innovate holistic healing rituals in the future. "I remember people's mental health isn't great at the moment, and we want to do something to help them experience better," said Tasneem.
"I don't think information technology is important for me to open up more places for the sake of it. We desire to take better control over the current businesses that we have and at the same fourth dimension, to accept a life." – Tasneem Noor
'THERE'South E'er SOMETHING TO Learn'
Prior to the pandemic, diversification was something she instilled in her personal life. Even while managing her businesses, Tasneem makes it a point to selection up at least 2 different skills every year.
This year, for instance, she completed a personal preparation course and is now a certified personal trainer. She likewise picked upward guitar-playing, "although I'm bad at it," she added with a express mirth. "Whenever I do something unlike, like going from opening a eating place, to opening a bakery and then an ice cream parlour, and at present, to wellness, there's always something to learn along the way."
Cognition, afterward all, is not specific, Tasneem believes. Once, she took up a farming course in Bali, which ended up being a useful lesson in people direction. "When we were learning how to subcontract, nosotros realised how the world is and then symbiotic, how we are so dependent on trees. It actually made me call up about the human race, how we've become and so calculative then judgmental, and that really helped in learning how to manage people, which is the well-nigh challenging bit about being an entrepreneur," she quipped.
THE BEAUTY OF SLOWING DOWN
In that location are entrepreneurs who dream of running an empire, just ask Tasneem what she wants to exercise next and her answer – going dorsum to her philosophy that "doing more than doesn't mean having more" – is non to aggrandize her businesses if information technology doesn't make sense to exercise then.
After all, there is value in slowing downward and focusing on what you already have. "I enjoy having the time to become for runs, have upwardly courses and acquire new things, spend time with family unit and friends. In the span of 12 years, I have opened half-dozen, and soon, seven shops, and during those times, it gets intense and I don't have fourth dimension for anything else. It has since become a conscious decision to take things slow now and enjoy time for living and being," she mused.
As she reflects on her entrepreneurial journey, Tasneem shares that her goal is to eventually "lead a simpler life". "I recently stumbled upon this quote that said, 'Instead of building a life that looks skillful, what if you cultivated a life that feels practiced?' I recall that'southward what I'm working towards."
"Instead of edifice a life that looks good, what if you lot cultivated a life that feels practiced?' I think that'southward what I'm working towards." – Tasneem Noor
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/people/tasneem-noor-fika-swedish-cafe-founder-282581
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