Les Amis Group’s Cluny Food Court at Botanic Gardens closes just over a year after launch
Following a relatively short run since opening its doors to some fanfare in November 2021, Cluny Food Court quietly closed its doors for good last month. The Les Amis Group-run eatery at the Botanic Gardens was home to five stalls, three of which were owned by the food group. They were: Mui Kee Express, halal pizzeria Piccante Pronto and S’Mao Barbecue, an American barbecue joint run by Culinary Institute of America-trained chef, Chia Jue Mao, who has worked at BBQ joints in Texas.
The food court also housed two tenants: Ayam Penyet stall Project Penyek by Ansar, and wonton noodle house, Laifaba Express.
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Closure announced on IG
The Les Amis Group’s PR rep tells 8days.sg the same thing it had announced on its Instagram account in March: “It has been a challenging year of change and refocus”, explaining that they’re “moving away from multi-concept venues”.
Rather secluded location in Botanic Gardens
While the food court had a mix of promising stalls, its location wasn’t the most ideal. Unlike the always-crowded now-defunct Casa Verde cafe (also owned by Les Amis group) in a central part of Botanic Gardens, the food court sits in a somewhat secluded part of the park 1km from the nearest MRT station. It often only had a handful of diners, observed our colleague who frequents the area.
In fact, we only found out about the food court’s closure when she happened to drive by the eatery and saw it boarded up.
Our suspected reason for its closure is corroborated by S’Mao chef Chia Jue Mao, who tells 8days.sg that “poor footfall” in the area contributed to the concept’s demise.
What’s next for the stall vendors?
Diners can still get their congee and noodle fix at Mui Kee and Laifaba Wanton Noodles & Roasted Meats’ existing restaurant outlets in Shaw Centre and Prestige Centre respectively. Meanwhile, the original Project Penyek stall still stands at ABC Brickworks Food Centre.
The Les Amis Group’s PR rep also says that “a new Mui Kee outlet with an extended menu will be opening at Balestier come April”, while Piccante Pizza shared on Instagram that they “hope to bring it back at the right time and location”.
Fans of Texan-style ’cue joint S’Mao, however, will be sad to know that chef Jun Mao will be “temporarily taking a pause in Singapore”. He’s heading back to Austin, Texas, to “work with [his] previous company LeRoy & Lewis Barbecue (a popular BBQ food truck which he cooked at prior to opening S’Mao) as they're setting up a new restaurant”.
Photos: Kelvin Chia & Florence Fong
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