China-Born Hawker Sells Affordable $7.50 Gnocchi He Names ‘Cheese Potato’ To Make It More Relatable

and panna cotta at a kopitiam stall, what truly sets Il Piccolo Pizzeria, a modest Italian joint tucked away in a bright and spacious Toa Payoh Central coffeeshop apart, is the fact that it’s helmed by a Mandarin-speaking chef from China. He has created an extensive zi char-like menu for his stall, complete with amusing slogans like “Delicious Healthy Food! No MSG!”.

In 2005, Peter left the chain to start his own Italian hawker venture and recruited Zongqing as his assistant. Under Peter’s guidance, he learned to make, as well as different styles of pasta. “I’m still using those recipes today,” he says in Mandarin. Asked if the sizable menu is too challenging for a single person to handle, the soft-spoken chef replies matter-of-factly: “I’m used to it. I think it’s important to offer a wide variety of dishes, as different customers prefer different items.”

To make these Italian dishes more approachable, the hawker has renamed some of them. For instance, gnocchi is charmingly labelled “Cheese Potato” on his stall’s signboard. “Some of my customers may not have heard of gnocchi before, but they liked the dish after trying it. They usually order it by referring to the dish as ‘potato’,” he shares happily.Impressively, there are 20 pizza options available – possibly the widest range we’ve seen at a hawker stall.

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