Covid-19 has hit the local F&B industry hard, and celebrity-owned restaurants are not spared from the drastic dip in business. Well-loved veteran actor Chen Shucheng, 74, recently shocked his loyal customers when he abruptly shuttered his popular Chinese restaurant Teochew City earlier this month. The eatery along MacPherson Road had been enjoying steady business since it opened in June 2018, though it started slowing down in February this year as the coronavirus outbreak worsened.

“March was the worst [for the restaurant],” he tells 8days.sg over the phone. “January was okay. Our business at the start of this year was better than last year, ’cos back then we were new and not many people knew about us. But February and March was when our revenue started going down. We did a promotion in March and that attracted customers. It was okay, but not great. The [Covid-19 situation] was getting very bad.”

On March 26, the government started tightening social distancing measures by making it compulsory for restaurants to maintain a distance of at least one metre between tables. This affected Shucheng’s Teochew City, a modestly-sized space which could usually fit about 10 tables. He recalls, “Because of social distancing, we had to remove five of our 10 tables. That’s half of our business. We thought, ‘Wah, this is a bit tough’. [Me and my shareholders] were discussing how to maintain our business volume. Then the government announced that customers could not dine in at eateries [due to circuit breaker measures].”

This further impacted Shucheng’s business, though he says he understands the necessity of the policies. While Teochew City offered some of their dishes via GrabFood delivery, the response was lacklustre due to its location in an industrial neighbourhood. Shucheng adds, “It’s also not ideal for us to do takeaways. Everyone knows the essence of Teochew cuisine is all about enjoying the dishes fresh out of the kitchen with your friends and family. It’s not like noodles or kway teow, which can be easily served for takeaway. If you splurge on a steamed pomfret, you’d want it to be the best. If you tapow it home, it will start to have a [fishy pong] when it’s not fresh, and it really deteriorates when you reheat it.”

In March, Shucheng and his business partners were still in discussions with their landlord to extend their rental agreement for another year (the agreement was due to expire this April). “We told the landlord about the dip in our business, and they gave us a 20 per cent discount on rent. At that time, the situation was not so bad. We thought we could continue doing our promotions and extend the tenancy for one more year while we look for a bigger space. Our current place can only fit 10 tables, and we can’t find a new location so easily.”

By the end of March, Shucheng (pictured with Teochew City’s head chef Chai Ngen Kin) and his shareholders decisively agreed to shutter the restaurant for good while it was still in the black. “We didn’t know if the situation will improve within the next few months, or when it will return to normal. A lot of eateries are already ‘injured’. Since our rental agreement was expiring anyway, we took the opportunity to shut the restaurant and stanch our ‘bleeding’. We didn’t want to prolong this unnecessarily,” shares Shucheng, adding: “If we continue to operate and lose all our money, it will be harder to make a comeback next time. As long as the mountain is green, there will be firewood (a Chinese proverb that means as long as there is life, there will be hope). We were breaking even when we decided to close; we didn’t earn a big profit or suffer losses, so none of us [shareholders] had to dip into our own funds [to save the company].”

Though the rental agreement would only expire end of April, Shucheng and his partners closed the restaurant earlier this month to start clearing up .

Fans of Teochew City lamented about the restaurant’s closure. “A lot of my friends thought it was a pity to close it. They said, ‘Aiyah, we didn’t get a chance to have a last meal there,” says Shucheng. But he reckons it’s “less pressure to close” instead of stressing over the restaurant’s survival. “If we continue, the situation would get more dire and I won’t be able to sleep well at night. Honestly, I can sleep better at night now [that the restaurant is closed]. I can hug my bolster and pillow and snooze peacefully (laughs). But I regret nothing. I have learnt a lot. My shareholders and staff have all seen my efforts for the past two years, and we had results. We made our plans, but you can’t predict fate. My personality is easygoing. I just go with the flow. My business partners and I said, ‘If it’s meant to be, let us try again next time.’ (Laughs)”

He also tells us, “There were a lot of people who like our food. Some customers even offered to become shareholders for the restaurant when they heard we were closing. I was very heartened to know that we have loyal customers and very competent staff. We can still work on our food and open another restaurant next time. Singaporeans like light, refreshing food, so there’s a market for Teochew cuisine.”

While Shucheng has also shuttered a Taiwanese kopitiam stall he opened in Ang Mo Kio with an ex-Hyatt hotel chef last year, he still co-owns a thriving chain of food court vegetarian stalls called Legendary Vegetarian. He says, “The business wasn’t affected. We managed to maintain [a steady stream of customers] at our three outlets, two in Hougang and one in Woodlands. We’re also fortunate to have very hardworking Malaysian staff, and they stayed in Singapore even during the MCO. I’ve praised them! (Laughs).”