IT was like a clarion call for the foreign-born chef - go East and you will be rewarded with a cushy expatriate package and a chance to spearhead a new restaurant in Singapore. But for those who heeded that call, a new reality has set in.

With almost as many restaurants closing as there are opening (575 new restaurants versus 435 restaurants which closed down in the first 11 months of last year) - big names included - an increasing number of foreign chefs are finding themselves sidelined with an uncertain future ahead.

Rather than pack their bags in the wake of a dream gone sour, more chefs are staying put, either striking out on their own or doing consultancy work even as their original employers go bust.