The Beginning
Flee Away Cafe located at 70 Dunlop Street is started by 3 Founding partners who bring with them totalling 60 years food & F&B industry experience: Fan Ling, Dickson, Wendy.
Ms Fan Ling ( Ling for short), 40, my host for this review herself started in F&B industry at a tender age of 20, & has accumulated a wealth of experience spanning from Operations, Costing, HR, Recruitment & Finance, Marketing & PR, Social media management, inventory control, Business Development. Dickson is her husband & Co founder & has been in Consumer products industry for many years. Wendy is Ling's former colleague turn BFF from her days at Chjimes.
The Founders being veterans in F&B industry had the vision to create a cafe culture that encourages people to unwind, 'flee away' to a time & space that is nostalgic with an ambience that is reminiscent of their childhood days that enables them to relax & be at home. With this in mind they actively scour Singapore for a place to launch Flee Away & settled upon 70 Dunlop Street which is an area fast becoming an indie space like Haji Lane & Kampong Glam's equivalent in Little India.
To bring a nostalgic vintage atmosphere to the cafe the partners found much treasures through working with online vendors of vintage retro products & purchase many retro furnishings & fixtures.
The Flee Away Cafe Signage is prominently displayed at the top right corner of the glass panel walls as you approach the entrance.
Even if you were lost walking along Dunlop Street you should not miss this "FLEE AWAY CAFE MEETS SHOP" Wooden Panel Signage hanging along the five foot walkway.
Flee Away Cafe occupies the level one shop house space at 70 Dunlop Street.
The entrance on the right as you enters Flee Away Cafe sports three tables made from actual sewing machines.
These mini men are toys which once holds an important position in the hearts of many a young boy.
On the left of the entrance hanging on the left of the wall are a total of 12 clear plastic cubes each displaying creations by 12 vendors who lease the cubes showcasing their own creations on consignment to the cafe.
These mini men are toys which once holds an important position in the hearts of many a young boy.
On the left of the entrance hanging on the left of the wall are a total of 12 clear plastic cubes each displaying creations by 12 vendors who lease the cubes showcasing their own creations on consignment to the cafe.
This wooden zebra and wooden train lends an added level of nostalgia and is a timely reminder of our childhood days bygone era and a sharp contrast to the otherwise high tech games which today's children indulge in.
The sewing tables are paired with some retro chairs you can easily recognise if you grew up in the 60's to 70's era.
The cafe retails some of these lovely canvas sling bags with pretty cute adorable prints & messages like those below that adds a nostalgic flavor. Pagers which happened to be one of the most widely used communication tools in the 1990's had to give way to handphones running on iOS or android system, and it certainly brings back rather fond memories of bygone days.
The Dining Space
Seating Capacity - Flee Away Cafe seats about 33 pax indoors air-con comfort. Note there is no al fresco dining.
A vintage TV console equipped with vintage Black & White television set from the 60's & 70's double up as a serving counter table top and flanks the front of the Barista cum Ordering Counter.
Facing the Ordering Counter is a large poster depicting 72 double decker buses hung on the wall.
Flee Away Cafe's service staff busy preparing for customer's smoothie order.
The Flee Away Cafe logo depicting a hot air balloon with an oriental coffee cup (found commonly in a local coffee shop) is the brainchild of Ling (one of the Co-Founders of the cafe). Ling shared that she chose the hot air balloon as it is an epic representation of a holiday getaway, and since it rides on air gives an image of getting away, rather flee away from your current situation to unwind. She adds the coffee cup to replace the usual wicket basket used in hot air balloon to lend a local twist tot he design.
Even the table tops are not spared from the creative instincts & influences of Ling - the salt & pepper shakers used are not your conventional metallic stainless steel shakers but comes in ceramic material shaped as limousines & ambulances.
On boths sides of the walls of Flee Away Cafe are total of 6 rectangle mirrors with their perimeters flanked with teak wooden panels where Ling decorated them with various vintage paraphenalia she managed to scour from online vendors.
To add to the concept of Flee Away, the cafe owners added an orange color model plastic airplane hanging from the ceiling in the dining area, with a number of parachute jumpers surrounding it.
70 Dunlop Street S(209398)
Tel : 62916778
Email : come@fleeawaywith.me
www.fleeawaywith.me
Nearest MRT - Little India MRT, Bugis MRT.
Opening Hours :
Mon - Thurs 11am to 9 pm
Fri - Sat 11am to 10 pm
Sun 10am to 5pm
Serves Lunch, Brunch, Dinner
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