“I would say America has the widest ranch in terms of cuisine compared to any country in the world. People from all parts of the world migrate to the USA and bring their culture, language, and their food. It’s such a diverse and big country, produce from east to west, north to south is completely different.”

“I’ve only been in the scene for the past 10 years, but some of the players I’m familiar with include restaurants like Lawry’s or Jerry’s Barbecue − which have been around for a long time. I think those are the OGs of American food, and of course, you have the different kinds of fast-food chains.

Then restaurants like Over Easy and Clinton Street Baking Company came in. So the scene itself has changed because a lot more people are coming in. And pizzas are now the in-thing, with American pizzerias like Lucali or Roberto’s Pizza joining the scene.

As Singapore opens up more to the world, it gives brands opportunities to come out to the island to bring their flavours to intrigue the local crowd. Food dishes like the Hawaiian poke dish came into Singapore about six years ago and did really well for while.

There is still a lot more to explore in American cuisine and I hope more brands and restaurant entrepreneurs join me and many other industry friends to keep bringing better flavours to Singapore.”

“I think the main difference is that Singapore is able to be more hyper-specific regarding the types of American cuisine that come into the country. America itself is huge and made up of all different types of ‘American food’.

I wasn’t actually in Singapore when American-style diners such as the now-defunct Billy Bombers and NYDC were trending, and PBD came in later. Perhaps Billy Bombers was too early for its time.

But I think it’s tough in the sense that in Singapore, you can choose not to eat American food for 365 days and you’ll be completely fine. You can skip all the American restaurants, and still have so many options out there and opportunities to try them in future. I don’t know.”

“We’ve tried to have that ‘neighborhood feel’ that’s quintessential of delis around the world, where people are always coming in and out.

At PBD, we say that we ‘champion the best American cuisine from our favourite neighbourhoods’. It would be places like  The Mission in San Francisco where I came from. Or the French quarters in New Orleans, Koreatown in LA or Lower East Side in New York.

We also pay homage to places like Langers Deli in LA and all these cheese sandwich shops that have been around for so long in America. Our Pastrami Rueben is actually inspired by the versions at both Langers Deli in LA and Texas Deli in New York. And our Tofu Burger Sandwich is inspired by Burger Lords in LA, which champions vegetation sandwiches. We take our cues from these places and do our own take on the sandwiches.”

“We don’t have too much of an Asian influence in our food. We’ve always been about things like fried chicken or cold turkey sandwiches. We’re not really adapting food for local customers − more of showcasing what America is and hopefully local customers appreciate it and they “adapt” to the food we serve them.

Our PBD Big Breakfast (pictured) which has sausages, pancakes, scrambled eggs, tater tots and bacon. Also, our Pastrami Reuben. Hopefully people like these items because of the love we put into the cooking process and the quality of the food itself.

We hope to attain the same standard as what all the OG sandwich shops in America are doing. We want to be as good as them and bring that standard to Singapore, introducing more original flavours and techniques of the cuisine.”

“Probably plant and cell-based cuisine, like what plant-based butcher shop Love Handle on Ann Siang Hill does. We just did a collaboration with them a couple of weeks ago. Our food is so meat-heavy, and we enjoyed the challenge of serving sandwiches in vegetable forms that were never really done before.

I’ve seen a rise in vegan substitutes for meat, as well as meat grown in animal cells. That’s kind of big in grocery shops and restaurants across America. I think I see it in Singapore too. Many burger joints and even fast-food chains have their own plant-based options.”