Drew Nocente goes back to his roots with new restaurant

COOKING is Drew Nocente’s first love. It may seem strange to say that of a chef who cooks for a living, and who has spent the last 6 years at the helm of sustainability-focused eatery Salted & Hung. But just cooking for the love of it, in a homey space where it’s hard to tell customers from friends, serving anything he feels like cooking, is the philosophy of his soon-to-open restaurant simply called Cenzo.

It’s an about-face from the more fine dining, structured, tasting menu-centric set-up of Salted & Hung, which he was passionate about. But after finding himself at a creative crossroads when the lease of the Purvis Street premises was up for renewal, he decided it was time for a fresh start.

“Closing Salted & Hung was a hard decision,” says Nocente. “I accomplished a lot there and managed to drive some trends as well as push minimal waste – I hope to have changed some mindsets in Singapore. But after 6 years, I felt it was time to explore a new phase in my career.”