Our Community: BYGB
In our latest Our Community feature, we’re chatting with Accela Finance client Gibran Baydoun - “the GB in BYGB.” Perhaps best known for their first venture, beloved Brooklyn pizza export, Lucali BYGB, the company has expanded to a mini empire of restaurants and bars across Singapore. Read on to learn more about Gibran’s journey, what the company has been up to in the market, and what’s to come.
How did you find yourself in Singapore, and where did you start off here in the hospitality industry?
I took a big risk that I thought would be temporary as the General Manager of Adrift by David Myers at Marina Bay Sands. I had a long career in New York and the US previously but wanted to see and experience another side of the world.
How did you decide to take the leap and start your own business?
When I moved to Singapore I quickly saw there was something special happening in the world of hospitality here. More and more young and passionate people were taking the bull by the horns and creating really special things and I could see easily that the Singapore community were really embracing and craving new, electric restaurants that were breaking the mold. Seeing that, I knew I wanted to be apart of it and help encourage that unique fabric that is the food and beverage scene in this region.
You started with Lucali BYGB - did you always plan on expanding to open additional venues around Singapore?
Lucali BYGB was one of a few ideas I had that I felt like I needed to get off my chest. The idea of an intimate yet energetic space where people could truly engage and come together over a meal was incredibly important to me and from there I felt like I still wanted to continue telling that story just in a few different ways. I never thought we would have grown this fast but as time went on, there were just some opportunities that we couldn't pass up.
Can you give a quick snapshot of each of your venues?
Lucali BYGB is that electric yet intimate restaurant that happens to serve pizza, pasta, salads and a whole lot of wine over candlelight and a great vibe. Corduroy Palace is an unorthodox wine hall in the body of a midcentury midtown dining room that focuses on a diverse vast collection of wine, classic cocktails and classic American fare like Prime Rib, oysters and caviar. Proper Slice BYGB is our NY style pizza-by-the-slice joint that's down-and-dirty and open late. ETTA is a loft penthouse space that doubles as both a private-event space and cocktail lounge. It is a post-modernly designed loft space that showcases art, music, design, cocktails and bites. Our most recent acquisition, Monument Lifestyle's two locations are cafes that serve coffee, bagels, sandwiches and a cool collection of retail that will become Monument BYGB and will be just another extension of the BYGB brand.
What’s next for the company?
We want to have a cultural impact in the way people dine, drink, shop, have fun and connect. We hope to keep looking for ways to do that well, with meaning in a substantial and authentic way and are now looking for ways we can do that on a larger more immersive scale both here in Singapore and abroad.
What challenges or benefits have you seen from operating in Singapore? Singapore provides a very useful blueprint for operating a business in Singapore and that takes a lot of the stress and dealing with red-tape out of our daily lives. It is always a challenge presenting something new in terms of the way in which people dine and live but we are up for the challenge and humbled by the excitement thus far.
Any plans to expand to other markets outside Singapore? Why/why not?
Singapore will always be home base for myself personally and for BYGB Hospitality but we will always have our eyes open at the region and the possibility of bringing the work we have done here home one day to the US.
Can you share a bit about your experience working with Accela?
Working with Accela has given us the ability to think like a big company in a smart and intelligent way even though we are quite small. Systems are everything for us and the team at Accela provides us with information and vision that can allow us to really grow and excel. We wouldn't be where we are, without them.