The Beginnings
Armed with an MBA from University of Leicester, UK, Jenny Yeo spent a good number of years climbing the corporate ladder, and established herself as a experienced HR Director overseeing HR Operations in many big corporations. Though having achieved much in the corporate world, she felt this inner calling to follow her Peranakan roots. Armed with many of the traditional Peranakan recipes passed down by her mum, Jenny embarked on her culinary journey as a Chef and in 19 Sep 2009, started Woody Family Cafe together with her husband Sam as Co-Founder.
It was a dream come true for both Sam & Jenny as they both long wanted to run their very own PUB Restaurant. Sam is skilled in operations and loves to create ideas for its exterior & interior decorations & ambience settings. As for Jenny, she loves to cook and being a Peranakan by birth she has acquired skills from her late mother. Woody Family Cafe first started off with a Fusion Peranakan Cuisine with both Western & Peranakan cuisine fusion blended.
Whilst Jenny takes care of the software: Woody Family Cafe's website, Woody Family Cafe's online presence, the Peranakan & Fusion recipes, the Pernankan & Fusion Cuisine, the Cafe's kitchen, the raw ingredients, the procurement; Sam handles the hardware at the cafe: the fittings, furnishing, electrical fittings, mechanical, technical aspects as well as the creative decor.
Sam had been a talented musician in his younger days, specializing in keyboard and the guitar. He played popular contemporary songs from the 1960's to the 1980's, and had performed in public in many renowned Singapore nightclubs, hotels and pubs as well as in gigs and road shows.
Jenny was in the Financial Sector majoring in Human Resource & Accounting for more than 35 years in MNCs. Her scope is wide as she majored in Franchising, as well as structuring & setting of businesses of wider scopes in terms of Human Resources, Administration and Accounting.
Jenny, being the go-getter, meticulous, thorough, well-organised personality, whilst Sam is the quintessential gentleman, always patient, very creative, very resourceful, flamboyant, easy-going, sociable, and extremely musically talented. It is these contrasting personality types that enables this husband and wife team to complement each other beautifully.
Jenny was in the Financial Sector majoring in Human Resource & Accounting for more than 35 years in MNCs. Her scope is wide as she majored in Franchising, as well as structuring & setting of businesses of wider scopes in terms of Human Resources, Administration and Accounting.
Jenny, being the go-getter, meticulous, thorough, well-organised personality, whilst Sam is the quintessential gentleman, always patient, very creative, very resourceful, flamboyant, easy-going, sociable, and extremely musically talented. It is these contrasting personality types that enables this husband and wife team to complement each other beautifully.
The Ambience
When I first step into Woody Family Cafe at 12F Andrews Avenue, the Cafe's rustic charm setting gives a cozy warm feel. There is no table number allocated to each table, instead the tables are each given a name based on the decor theme. So there is the India Corner (below)
The Breezy Corner
The Bibi-Baba Corner
The Relax Corner
The Rustic Corner
The Adam Corner
The Eve Corner
The ceiling is lined with Peranakan inspired weaving cloths, interspersed with small bright light bulbs, giving the dining section a warm cozy feel.
The Chef - Jenny Yeo
The Signatures
Some of the must try Signature dishes are :
Mini loaf Mushroom Soup (below) - The mushroom soup is made using core ingredients: fresh Shiitake mushroom, some Button Mushroom, plus a special type of mushroom.
How it is prepared : Chef Jenny Yeo first cooked the fresh mushrooms for 1 hour, then blend/pureed it. Besides that, she still add fresh mushrooms, then whip it with some fresh milk to lend a creamy texture to the soup. So essentially, the fresh mushrooms are first sweat with olive oil and garlic for 1 hour, pureed, then to it is added more fresh cooked mushroom. The mushroom is pureed with added pepper but no salt for a healthier taste, then to it is added fresh cream, which is whipped into the soup, to make it creamy. Husband Sam suggested to Chef Jenny Yeo - to serve the mushroom soup using freshly baked mini French loaf. Chef Jenny Yeo gets her mini loaf from her regular Bakery supplier. When the bun is warmed up together it becomes crispy.
Food Tasting Notes : The taste is creamy, mushroomry, savory. A little unsalted butter is added only to taste. You can taste bits of the mushrooms in the soup.
Curry Pork Ribs - The rempah paste is made using special secret recipe from Jenny's late Mum. The core ingredients include: chili padi, dried chili, fresh chili, garlic, shallot, lemongrass, ginger, coriander, some ordinary curry powder, but no coconut. Chef Jenny Yeo uses fresh chilled Baby Back Ribs from USA.
How it is prepared : There is no need to marinate the meat, just need to simply fry the rempah for about 20 mins until there is a fragrant aroma, then stir constantly for about 2 hrs on low fire till rempah flavor is fully absorbed into the meat. As Baby Back ribs usually does not have much fat, hence it is more healthy. This dish is prepared in advance, then served warm as per order. Chef Jenny Yeo shared that the rempah is prepared in bulk once a month, then packed in several individual large ready to use packs, then frozen in the freezer for convenient use in the entire month. The curry powder is added later when cooking the rempah.
Food Tasting Notes : Only 4 words to describe : spicy, aromatic, lemak, flavorful. The meat is tender and tears off from the bone easily. This dish is best eaten when served hot.
Buah Keluak Omelette $12.90 - made using a special recipe & core ingredients: onions (sweet), mushroom, chicken sausage(salty flavor), chili padi, buah keluak(bitter taste) , 3 eggs, and a special flour from Australia. Comes served in thickness 0.5 inch, 3 inch diameter omelette.
Tasting Notes : Spicy flavor, sweetness from the onions, fragrant aroma because of the richness coming from the 3 eggs.
Fresh Onion Rings - Here at Chef Jenny Yeo's kitchen she uses fresh onion rings, rolled in flour batter made using her own Chef's Special Flour Batter recipe, deep fried in oil, then served with her home made Special wasabi sauce.
How it is prepared : Chef Jenny's special flour recipe consists of 6 different types of flour, the special flour mixture is prepare in advance in big quantity, only when she needs the flour mix to make the batter will she scoop up some of it to use. The flour batter cannot be too dilute. The flour batter is made using 6 types of flour, salt, a little sugar, pepper, no MSG, no breadcrumbs. Fresh onions sliced daily, prepared ala minute. The flour coats onion ring well, due to consistency of flour batter, made fresh, oil must be just nice. The wasabi lends a sprightly taste, and is concocted, grounded, then mix with mayo, olive oil, then sweeten it to have a sweet taste. Sprinkle with bits of carrots diced at kitchen here.
Food Tasting Notes : The onion rings lends a sweet juicy bite because fresh onion is used here, whilst the wasabi sauce lends a sprightly flavor.
The Promotions
WOODY FAMILY CAFE is located at :
12F ANDREWS AVENUE
SEMBAWANG STRAITS ESTATE SINGAPORE 759930
Tel: 67581185
Mobile: 98356126
email: events@woodyfamilycafe.com.sg
email: yeojenny@woodyfamilycafe.com.sg
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