Food YouTuber Mark Wiens Had Plans To Open A Restaurant In S’pore
The popular vlogger, who is in town to promote his new HBO Go series Food Affair with Mark Wiens, tells 8days.sg what his eating reactions are all about and his Phed Mark restaurant that was supposedly opening an outlet here.
Photo: HBO Go Describing himself as a “full-time eater”, it makes sense that the 36-year-old has partnered HBO to launch a new TV miniseries called Food Affair with Mark Wiens, for which he is hosting unscripted. It streams on HBO Go from Nov 18. 
Photo: HBO Go In the six-episode series, created by homegrown director and avid foodie Eric Khoo and directed by Clicknetwork’s Gillian Tan, Mark checks out both hawker stalls and fine-dining restaurants. He’s accompanied by illustrious chefs and food personalities like local food doyenne Violet Oon, one-Michelin-starred Candlenut’s Malcolm Lee, mod Sin cuisine pioneer Willin Low and three-Michelin-starred Restaurant Zén’s exec head chef Tristin Farmer, who chows down on nasi lemak with Mark in the first episode.
Photo: HBO Go Mark is currently in Singapore to promote his series, and chats with 8days.sg over a casual lunch at Candlenut. "I have been to Singapore about five, six times," he says, listing some of his favourite hawker centres like Hong Lim Market, Chinatown Complex, Tekka Centre and Newton. We wonder if the spice lover might wear his “if it’s not spicy I’m not eating it” T-shirt, but he shows up in a chic bomber jacket over a crisp white tee.Born to an American father and Chinese mother in Arizona, US, he resides in Bangkok with his wife Ying, a chef, and their almost six-year-old son Micah. The couple runs a Thai restaurant called Phed Mark, which specialises in pad kaprao offered in five levels of spiciness. We also heard that Phed Mark might be opening an outlet in Singapore (but more on that later).
Photo: HBO Go Over lunch, we observe Mark — a self-professed lover of Peranakan food — eat his babi buah keluak and kueh pie tee. No, there was none of the famously visceral reactions from his videos. His table mannerisms are so well-known that people even make entire YouTube compilations out of them. But it’s obvious that this guy really respects and enjoys his food. We suspect we can even present fish head curry cup noodles to Mark, and he would savour it like a Michelin-starred meal.8 DAYS: There are YouTube videos and forum discussions devoted to dissecting your reactions to food. A head tilt means that the dish is great, and no head tilt means it’s just okay. True or not?
MARK WEINS: (Looks surprised) I think it’s true! My food reaction is about what comes naturally to me and that initial response to the taste. People can make their own judgement about it (laughs). I’m often asked about why I don’t give a rating for the food I eat. I’m not a food critic or a journalist. I just like to eat, and I get to choose what I eat.
My whole philosophy on food is that it’s so subjective. I have no idea what you’re tasting exactly, or if it’s the same as what I’m tasting. So my goal in covering food is to explain what it is and what’s in it. And the process of making it. I taste it and explain how it tastes, how it makes me feel. I can only speak for myself how good it is.
For instance, I’m not hugely into desserts. I might give the best chocolate cake in the world a 2 out of 10, but you might give it a 10 out of 10. And if I were to say I don’t really like this, that wouldn’t mean anything. I prefer to describe what [the dish] is. People can decide for themselves if it’s something they want to eat, or not.
Photo: HBO Go
How much food do you eat in a day when you are filming?
There’s no limit (laughs). As much food as there is. Four, five, six meals a day. If I’m filming for myself, I will be eating the whole day. With Food Affair, it was more spaced out because there was a production team.
How do you eat so much and not explode from the sheer quantity?
I didn't have to pace myself in the past. But now that I’m getting older, I’m focusing on food that I like to eat and maximise what I’m eating, rather than having everything. I’m not so much into sweets or desserts, so I don’t need to eat that. The good thing about what I do for my own content is that I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to do.
How were the eateries in Food Affairs with Mark Wiens chosen?
Eric [Khoo] and his team shortlisted and identified places and personalities in collaboration with the Singapore Tourism Board. He’s an amazing producer and director who’s also a big foodie, and he knows the food scene very well. So it’s some of the food places he likes, in conjunction with places that fit well into the story.
Speaking of local restaurants, we heard you were planning to open one in Singapore.
You know, I’m not sure if it will go through, because we had some issues with arranging everything. So we might not go through with it. For now! Maybe later. But I’m not sure about the details because there are so many people involved.
Photo: phedmark.com
Will there be an outlet of Phed Mark, your spicy pad kaprao restaurant in Bangkok?
No, probably not at the moment. But maybe in the future. We’ll see, I’m not totally sure! I’m part of Phed Mark in Bangkok, but I’m not really involved in the running of the restaurant because I have so many things going on. [Ed’s note: Mark owns the restaurant with three of his friends.]
What would your dream restaurant in Singapore be like, if you were opening one here?
Friendly, and good food that I’m passionate about. Spicy! I love Sichuan, Indian and Thai food, so maybe a mix of things I really like.
Is our local chilli spicy enough for you?
I typically get a side of chilli padi with most dishes I eat. Fresh chilli padi is good. But it can always be spicier (laughs). Spicy is not only a flavour, it’s a feeling. It has an element of fun in it. It’s different from pain for me. It’s not painful until you get to a certain level, like taking a bite out of a Carolina Reaper [the world’s hottest pepper]. But this leads back to how food is different for everyone.
Part of the reason why I love food so much is [understanding] what goes into food, how it is grown, where it comes from, who is producing it. I especially love visiting farms and picking things from a tree or a bush and using them straight away in my cooking. I do have a small garden at home with basil, chillies and other daily herbs that are used in Thai cooking.
You travel a lot to film content. How did you deal with the travel restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic?
We were fortunate to have a lot of content that I could use throughout lockdown. Thailand did a good job in locking down fast, and they closed the borders fast. They were able to reopen domestic travel quickly, so everything in the country was pretty much open. We did a lot of road-tripping around Thailand. It was fortunate that we had that opportunity to travel around to some regions that I had never been to. Thailand is totally different end to end, and the food is incredible. That’s why I like Thailand!
Stream or download Food Affair With Mark Wiens on HBO GO from Nov 18.
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