After 15 years of hummus, falafels and bold Middle Eastern plates, Bjorn Shen finally admits: He was bored.
“I mean, how many creative versions of hummus can I do? How many more things can I put shawarma on?” the chef-owner of Artichoke quipped. “And besides, I don’t have a grandmother in the Middle East.”
His initial recipes had been from his friends’ mothers, during his student days in Australia. “At some point, I felt like I was cooking someone else’s cuisine.”
But, why mess with what works? “Because I’m a s*** businessman,” deadpanned the chef with a Masters of Business in branding, marketing and consumer psychology. “A true businessman would just say, ‘Milk it.’ But the truth is, I'm a s*** businessman.”
And so, on the occasion of its 15th anniversary, Artichoke has shapeshifted into the pizza restaurant of Shen’s dreams: Basically, Pizza Hut in the 80s, but not as you know it.
Artichoke moved from its Middle Road location to New Bahru in 2024. (Photo: Artichoke)
Fifteen years, insists the MasterChef Singapore judge, is a “damn long time”.
“I got a 15-year itch,” he said. “Seven-year itch times two, plus one.”
That itch wasn’t new. At Artichoke’s 10th anniversary, Shen, 43, had tried to push for a concept change, even pitching “a modern Singaporean barbecue restaurant” and “a Vietnamese barbecue restaurant”. His team shot him down. “They told me, ‘Where are people going to get hummus if not from us?’ They were more attached to the cuisine than I was.”
Now, with a younger team, the timing feels right: Business had slowed in the last six months and the economy isn’t exactly buzzing.
“When things are slow, people wait. I fight,” he said. “Why sit around when you can change the whole restaurant?”
The announcement that Artichoke was pivoting to pizza brought consternation. Reactions ranged from “No! Why? I don’t want to come already” to “Why are you jumping on the bandwagon and copying a trend?”
Of course, what these people had perhaps forgotten was that he’d started doing mad pizza omakase experiments five years ago at Small’s and, over the years, served up charcoal-grilled pizzas in Jakarta and “neo-Neapolitan” pies in Bali.
Not a Hawaiian: Artichoke's Tropic Thunder pizza features jackfruit. (Photo: Artichoke)
“So, it’s not like I suddenly woke up and thought, hey, pizza’s trending,” he said. “Before anyone in Singapore was doing pizza omakase, I was the idiot fermenting dough for days and messing with dumb toppings. Like that scene in American Pie, where the guy says, ‘I’ve always been a band guy, I just never joined the band.’ I’ve always been a pizza guy. I just never had a pizzeria in Singapore. Until now.”
Don’t expect wood-fired Neapolitan pies, though. Shen’s new Artichoke will serve a sturdier hybrid of Roman and Detroit-style pizzas: Crunchy, square, with cheese that goes right to the edge, which is what he believes Singaporeans like. “Think artisanal Pizza Hut,” he said with a grin.
Pizzas here include Slabs, which are crunchy rectangles piled high with toppings; Stacks, which are double-decked and stuffed; and Rounds, which are fried then baked.
Exotic topping choices include Bacon Apple Pie with maple bacon, apple, brie, rosemary and hazelnut; Dirty Duck with Bali-spiced duck, snake bean lawar and sambal matah; and Tropic Thunder featuring Parma ham, burrata, jackfruit, ginger flower and honey.
The Dirty Duck is a Bali-inspired pizza. (Photo: CNA/May Seah)
Some Artichoke favourites remain but in different forms, like the Creamy Green Harissa Prawns which are now served as a pasta dish.
The pizzas are designed to also travel well in delivery or takeaway, with toppings that won’t slide off.
Does pizza mean lower costs for the restaurant? Not at all, Shen said. “We put in the same amount of effort. And, people don’t realise this, but cheese is more expensive than meat. A ball of fresh mozzarella, weight for weight, is more expensive than chicken or pork.”
As with everything Shen touches, this pivot is as much about survival as it is about creativity. “I’m a cockroach,” he declared proudly. “I have a certain way of channelling negative energy, and I have a way of feeding off haters and just coming back.”
(Photo: Artichoke)
It’s that fighter’s instinct that’s kept Artichoke alive through recessions, a relocation from Middle Road to New Bahru and even a S$300,000 loss when the move was delayed. While other restaurateurs might consolidate during tough times or try to wait them out, Shen said he doubles down.
Perhaps the funniest twist? Artichoke has always kind of looked like a pizza joint. “The terracotta floors, the 'Swensen's' lights, the wooden panels… It was destined,” Shen laughed. “We didn’t even have to renovate. We just leaned into our final form.”
Will this ensure Artichoke’s survival for another 15 years in Singapore’s volatile F&B climate? Well, the restaurant's tagline has changed from “Still not dead” to “Let’s hope this is a good idea”, Shen said.
He shrugged: “If I go bankrupt and end up delivering McDonald’s on a Grab bike, I’ll still be smiling, because at least I had a pizza place.”
Artichoke is at 46 Kim Yam Road, New Bahru #01-02.
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“I mean, how many creative versions of hummus can I do? How many more things can I put shawarma on?” the chef-owner of Artichoke quipped. “And besides, I don’t have a grandmother in the Middle East.”
His initial recipes had been from his friends’ mothers, during his student days in Australia. “At some point, I felt like I was cooking someone else’s cuisine.”
But, why mess with what works? “Because I’m a s*** businessman,” deadpanned the chef with a Masters of Business in branding, marketing and consumer psychology. “A true businessman would just say, ‘Milk it.’ But the truth is, I'm a s*** businessman.”
And so, on the occasion of its 15th anniversary, Artichoke has shapeshifted into the pizza restaurant of Shen’s dreams: Basically, Pizza Hut in the 80s, but not as you know it.
A 15-YEAR ITCH
Artichoke moved from its Middle Road location to New Bahru in 2024. (Photo: Artichoke)
Fifteen years, insists the MasterChef Singapore judge, is a “damn long time”.
“I got a 15-year itch,” he said. “Seven-year itch times two, plus one.”
That itch wasn’t new. At Artichoke’s 10th anniversary, Shen, 43, had tried to push for a concept change, even pitching “a modern Singaporean barbecue restaurant” and “a Vietnamese barbecue restaurant”. His team shot him down. “They told me, ‘Where are people going to get hummus if not from us?’ They were more attached to the cuisine than I was.”
Now, with a younger team, the timing feels right: Business had slowed in the last six months and the economy isn’t exactly buzzing.
“When things are slow, people wait. I fight,” he said. “Why sit around when you can change the whole restaurant?”
The announcement that Artichoke was pivoting to pizza brought consternation. Reactions ranged from “No! Why? I don’t want to come already” to “Why are you jumping on the bandwagon and copying a trend?”
Of course, what these people had perhaps forgotten was that he’d started doing mad pizza omakase experiments five years ago at Small’s and, over the years, served up charcoal-grilled pizzas in Jakarta and “neo-Neapolitan” pies in Bali.
Not a Hawaiian: Artichoke's Tropic Thunder pizza features jackfruit. (Photo: Artichoke)
“So, it’s not like I suddenly woke up and thought, hey, pizza’s trending,” he said. “Before anyone in Singapore was doing pizza omakase, I was the idiot fermenting dough for days and messing with dumb toppings. Like that scene in American Pie, where the guy says, ‘I’ve always been a band guy, I just never joined the band.’ I’ve always been a pizza guy. I just never had a pizzeria in Singapore. Until now.”
Don’t expect wood-fired Neapolitan pies, though. Shen’s new Artichoke will serve a sturdier hybrid of Roman and Detroit-style pizzas: Crunchy, square, with cheese that goes right to the edge, which is what he believes Singaporeans like. “Think artisanal Pizza Hut,” he said with a grin.
Pizzas here include Slabs, which are crunchy rectangles piled high with toppings; Stacks, which are double-decked and stuffed; and Rounds, which are fried then baked.
Exotic topping choices include Bacon Apple Pie with maple bacon, apple, brie, rosemary and hazelnut; Dirty Duck with Bali-spiced duck, snake bean lawar and sambal matah; and Tropic Thunder featuring Parma ham, burrata, jackfruit, ginger flower and honey.
The Dirty Duck is a Bali-inspired pizza. (Photo: CNA/May Seah)
Some Artichoke favourites remain but in different forms, like the Creamy Green Harissa Prawns which are now served as a pasta dish.
The pizzas are designed to also travel well in delivery or takeaway, with toppings that won’t slide off.
Does pizza mean lower costs for the restaurant? Not at all, Shen said. “We put in the same amount of effort. And, people don’t realise this, but cheese is more expensive than meat. A ball of fresh mozzarella, weight for weight, is more expensive than chicken or pork.”
SAME HUSTLE, NEW FIGHT
As with everything Shen touches, this pivot is as much about survival as it is about creativity. “I’m a cockroach,” he declared proudly. “I have a certain way of channelling negative energy, and I have a way of feeding off haters and just coming back.”
(Photo: Artichoke)
It’s that fighter’s instinct that’s kept Artichoke alive through recessions, a relocation from Middle Road to New Bahru and even a S$300,000 loss when the move was delayed. While other restaurateurs might consolidate during tough times or try to wait them out, Shen said he doubles down.
Perhaps the funniest twist? Artichoke has always kind of looked like a pizza joint. “The terracotta floors, the 'Swensen's' lights, the wooden panels… It was destined,” Shen laughed. “We didn’t even have to renovate. We just leaned into our final form.”
Will this ensure Artichoke’s survival for another 15 years in Singapore’s volatile F&B climate? Well, the restaurant's tagline has changed from “Still not dead” to “Let’s hope this is a good idea”, Shen said.
He shrugged: “If I go bankrupt and end up delivering McDonald’s on a Grab bike, I’ll still be smiling, because at least I had a pizza place.”
Artichoke is at 46 Kim Yam Road, New Bahru #01-02.
Continue reading...