New York City chain Wolfgang’s Steakhouse will open its first restaurant in Singapore in the upcoming InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay hotel in October.
As well as the US, the chain has 17 international restaurants – in China, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. It is not associated with celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, who has the one-Michelin-star steakhouse Cut by Wolfgang Puck and American restaurant Spago, both in Marina Bay Sands.
Wolfgang’s Steakhouse was founded by Wolfgang Zwiener, who was the head waiter at the Peter Luger Steakhouse in New York for four decades. Its 6500 sqft, 150-seat Singapore restaurant will feature neo-classical decor complete with alabaster chandeliers, a mahogany bar, walnut-brown wainscoting and cherry-wood flooring.
Anchoring the menu will be signature USDA Prime Black Angus steaks, flown in chilled from the US weekly. The sub-primal cuts will be butchered on-site with the meat being dry aged for about 28 days in-house.
Like its eight other overseas outlets, the Singapore restaurant will offer nearly all of the dishes from the US restaurants plus one or two dishes with local influences.
Singapore’s outlet is a JV between Wolfgang’s Steakhouse, which is now headed by Zwiener’s son Peter, and Singapore F&B company THP Global (its first restaurant).
Peter Zwiener says the restaurants in New York attract a diverse range of customers, which led to plans to branch out to major cities across Asia (another outlet opened in Hong Kong last week).
A former investment banker, Zwiener has been to Singapore for business trips and knows its dining landscape is competitive. “Instead of being chef-driven, we focus on the dry-aged beef and let the product sell itself,” he says.
Wolfgang’s Steakhouse launched in New York City in 2004 when 78-year-old Wolfgang Zwiener was talked out of retirement by his son to fulfil his dream of fronting a restaurant. In 2014, the first overseas outlet opened in Tokyo. The older Zwiener still travels regularly to check on the overseas restaurants.
By the end of this year, Wolfgang’s Steakhouse will open two more locations in the Philippines. There are also plans to open in Jakarta, Shanghai and Taipei.
Photo: Wolfgang’s Steakhouse Miami
