['While it’s unusual to find Italian dishes like gnocchi (dumplings usually made from mashed potato and flour), crayfish ', '\xa0and 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!”. ', 'Opened by Hangzhou native and Singapore PR Zhou Zongqing, 57, in 2011, the stall offers a 45-item menu, including classic ', 'Italian fare like', ' pizzas, pastas and baked rice dishes – all cooked by the hawker, who runs the stall single-handedly. Consider us impressed.', 'Zongqing tells ', ' that the brand was originally founded by Peter Bontoi, a Romanian chef trained in Italian cuisine. The pair crossed paths in the early 2000s while both were cooking at Denny’s, an American diner franchise that has since exited Singapore.\xa0', '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.', 'At its peak, Il Piccolo Pizzeria operated five coffeeshop stall branches across the island. However, as business waned, Peter left Singapore and Zongqing took over the reins of their kopitiam stall at SPH News Centre at Toa Payoh North. When the lease ran out in 2011, he relocated to the current address.', 'No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from ', '8days.sg', '.', ' ']
['After an almost two-year break, famous satay joint ', 'Ah Pui Satay', ' is back in business, this time at a hawker centre in Toa Payoh. The lauded satay brand, which is famous among foodies, is co-owned by street hawker Ah Pui (whose real name is Ang Boon Ee), 66, and his disciple, Ang Thiam Seng, 57. Previously located in Chinatown as ', 'a casual air-conditioned eatery', ', it shut down in November 2022 due to Ah Pui’s poor health.\xa0', 'No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from ', '8days.sg', '.']
['Taiwan Night Markets', ' was the talk of the town when it opened at Orchard Cineleisure last July. But after just eight months of operations, the food court quietly shut down on 31 March 2024.\xa0', 'No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from ', '8days.sg', '.']