IF there's one thing Gordon Ramsay learnt from his mega-hyped cook-off with Singapore hawkers last year, it's this: he may not be able to cook laksa, but he sure can draw the crowds even as far away from home as South-east Asia. And that people-pulling magic will be put to the test when he opens his first restaurant in Singapore early next year at Marina Bay Sands (MBS).

The restaurant, Bread Street Kitchen, will take up space in the shopping mall section of the integrated resort which already has a celebrity chef presence in the form of Daniel Boulud's db Bistro, Mario Batali's Mozza and Wolfgang Puck's Cut. Stuart Gillies - Ramsay's partner and managing director of the Gordon Ramsay Group - says that they are in final talks with MBS, which will be their partner in the project. He explains that Bread Street Kitchen will be modelled after its successful London restaurant, which currently packs in an international crowd of some 15,000 people a month in its vibrant, theatrical space featuring multiple concepts from raw bar to grill to cocktails.

The concept is such that it can be scaled to be as upmarket or as casual as the market dictates. "You can eat light and quick, or you can really indulge," says Gillies. So while the plan is to open one in Hong Kong first and then in Singapore, they will not be carbon copies. "There'll be a 60 per cent to 70 per cent template, but the rest will be adapted according to the local market."