Pasta bar Scarpetta debuts new burger bar Smash Street on April 3 in Amoy Street

SINGAPORE – You may be familiar with pasta bar Scarpetta, known for its long queues for handmade pasta since it opened in February 2025 at 47 Amoy Street. 

Now, get in line for its new sister concept Smash Street – opening on April 3 – a few doors down at 50 Amoy Street. 

Like Scarpetta, the 14-seat space – with an open kitchen – will operate on a no-reservations system that focuses mainly on takeaways. 

As its name suggests, the 800 sq ft contemporary burger bar specialises in smash burgers – where a ground beef patty is smashed with a burger press on a hot griddle to form a thin patty with crisp, caramelised edges. 

Smash Street’s menu is concise – a signature Classic burger ($14) with two smashed beef patties, melted cheese and a soft, toasted potato bun made by a local supplier; and a House burger ($17) with three patties instead. Sliced pickles are an optional free add-on. 

Sides comprise twice-fried crispy thin fries ($6), onion rings ($6) and chicken poppers ($10) paired with an addictive housemade chilli crunch aioli. 

Besides soft drinks and beer, the recommended pairing is a cornflakes milkshake ($8), a nostalgic creation inspired by the familiar flavours of the childhood breakfast. 

To mark its debut, Smash Street will give away 1,000 free smash burgers on April 3 and 4, 250 each for lunch and dinner on both days, on a first-come, first-served basis. Fries, chicken poppers and onion rings will be sold alongside the free burgers.

In an exclusive interview with The Straits Times, Mr Aaron Yeunh, the Malaysia-born founder of home-grown food and beverage company Open Concept Group which owns both Scarpetta and Smash Street, says he had toyed with the idea of opening a burger bar since Scarpetta made its debut. 

The big burger fan who misses buzzy burger spots in London, Paris and Copenhagen wanted to create something similar in Singapore that does not break the bank. This keeps in line with Scarpetta’s price points – its six pastas are priced at no more than $26 each. 

To create the perfect burger, the team went through more than 30 iterations – doing research and development with 11 blends of meat and 16 different sauces over three months. 

This included eating about 17 burgers in a few days across Jakarta and Bangkok’s burgers joints with Smash Street’s Singaporean head chef Reisuke Kiyose, who had been with Scarpetta since it opened.

Mr Yeunh, 32, counts Dan’s Burgers in Jakarta and Barney’s Burger Joint in Bangkok – which specialise in smash burgers – among their top picks. 

The final version at Smash Street is a simple, unadorned smash burger – instead of those with thicker patties and several toppings – as it is “all about the taste, texture, balance and bite for a satisfying burger”.

The burger’s sauce was equally considered, he adds, built from an aioli base with a touch of heat and acidity from pickled jalapenos. 

Following Smash Street, Mr Yeunh will launch a bar on its second floor called Blind Tiger in the second half of 2026. 

The Singapore permanent resident says: “I wanted to open a concept that feels like a staple, nothing chasing trends, nothing viral. Burgers are a simple vessel and we want to share our take, our version of the best burger.”