California-born Rebecca Aiko Tay fell into the hospitality industry following a serendipitous encounter. She grew up in Singapore, but spent a year after high school with host families in Shanghai and Paris, immersing herself in the local culture and language. During this time, she happened to meet a connection who worked at the Four Seasons, who “really sold the dream to me,” says Rebecca. That same night, she went home to look up hotel management schools—and the rest, as they say, is history.
A natural-born hospitalitier, Rebecca leads the rock star team at the newly reopened Ho Lee Fook. Now just starting to come into its own, this reimagined dining room may be more sophisticated, but the vibe stays true to the original, boisterous spirit of the restaurant, supercharged by its dynamic team.
It is no wonder that Rebecca’s buoyant energy sets the tone for the electrifying atmosphere at Ho Lee Fook—this industry veteran has done the rounds at our other high-octane eateries from Chôm Chôm to Crown Super Deluxe; before that, she even served a brief stint as a spin instructor. Always ready to sprint, her typical day at work is fuelled by caffeine, Canto Pop, and even the occasional Lion Dance spontaneously occurring in the dining room. From keeping tabs on 80-plus menu items to late-night 7-11 runs, Rebecca takes us behind the front lines of Ho Lee Fook in her ‘Day In The Life’ diary below.
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10am: Hit snooze for the first time.
10:30am: Wake up! Pop a Nespresso capsule in and change into a workout outfit. If I don’t put on the outfit before drinking coffee, there’s a 99% chance that I won’t do it.
I got myself a spin bike when I was in hotel quarantine last year but to be honest, I haven’t touched it much since. Now that we’re back to dinner I’m trying to get in a spin class in the mornings to get back into shape for Dragon Boat! It’s a team activity that is really important to us outside of our restaurants and represents what we stand for at Black Sheep: unity, teamwork and perseverance!
11:30am: Shower and get ready. I pick up breakfast outside — I am notoriously bad at cooking for myself. Fortunately, I live in SoHo which enables this lifestyle. I bring it back, sit on my balcony, eat and check emails.
1:30pm: I rock up to Stazione Novella for my second coffee of the day. The boys there know the coffee order for the Ho Lee Fook team and we often take turns ordering coffees for each other. From the kitchen there are only two coffee drinkers (Chef ArChan will never turn down a latte) but the whole front of house loves to pound caffeine to hype each other up for the evening.
2pm: I arrive at Ho Lee Fook. We clean and reset the tables, prep mise en place for all stations and set up the bar. We make sure we are up to date with stock order, Axel and Jeevan prepare fresh ingredients for the cocktails, and Jules updates the wine lists for the night. Brian and I look through our guest reservations and assign appropriate tables.
4pm: Team training for half an hour. We have two new awesome team members: Spencer, who just graduated from school in Shanghai, and Anastasia, who is a student at Les Roches doing her internship. Trainings are a great way to get everyone in sync. Topics can range from service standards to food and beverage training. Today, we cover how to properly clear a table. It may sound simple but perfection stems from getting the simple things right.
4:30pm: Family meal time! Brian — who was on the original opening team of Ho Lee Fook and has worked in many of the Black Sheep Restaurants since — can attest to the fact that we really do one of the best family meals. All of our talented chefs take turns. I grew up in Singapore but have not been able to visit home for a long time. Chef ArChan, who previously lived in Singapore, makes the most legit Hainanese chicken rice I’ve had here.
5:15pm: We have team briefings at the same time every day. We assign team members to sections first and then run through the guests of note for the evening. This way the team members know which guests they will be looking after, along with any celebrations, dietary requirements and preferences. We like to ensure the right person is looking after the right guest.
5:45pm: Lights down and music up. We do one last check around the restaurant and dance around to the awesome Canto Pop to start getting vibey for the night.
6pm: The restaurant is open for our first guests.
The first few tables come in and you can see all team members eager to approach the tables. Usually during the turn time at 8-8:30pm is when things get hairy and we are running to get the tables ready for the second round (but not actually, because we never run in a restaurant). When the second round arrives, we usually have to spend some time getting tables settled in.
9pm: We slip into a good groove. All tables have been sat, orders are in, drinks have been served, and the level of charm is off the charts. This is the golden hour for us. If it’s a real vibe, Nathan puts on the costume and busts out a great Lion Dance.
10pm: Sadly, we have to close at 10pm these days, but honestly, we are already grateful for dinner being back. Dinner is when guests let their hair down, they lean back further into their seats, chew a little slower, laugh a little louder – this is the arena we play best in.
11pm: The floor has been vacuumed, chairs brushed, ice buckets polished, sections refilled, etc. Someone has cranked up some tunes and we’re cracking open Tsingtao beers from 7/11 and sharing stories from our evening to wind down.
11:30pm: Doors are locked and we all head home.
11:33pm: I live so close to work that by now I’m home and in the shower.
11:40pm: Watch an hour-ish of Friends.
Sometime late at night: I put on a sleeping podcast from Headspace and fall asleep to the sultry voice of John Legend.
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Craving more? Read more ‘Day In The Life’ stories here and here, or don your best outfit for a week’s worth of meals with us to celebrate the return of dinner.
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