On a quiet street in Singapore, a red storefront that had once drawn hopeful queues went dark after nine months — not for lack of vision or effort, but because the economics of hospitality had grown heavier than the concept could carry. Mamma Mia Focaccia and its hidden champagne bar, The Champagnery, closed on September 23, 2026, their operators citing rising operational costs with a candor that has become its own kind of signature in the city's food sector. Their story is less about failure than about the widening gap between what a restaurant can offer and what the current climate will allo
Mamma Mia Focaccia closes after less than a year, citing rising costs
Rising costs made it impossible to stay open
Mark
So they had momentum from day one—queues, media coverage, experienced owners. What went wrong?
Mimi
The costs just kept climbing. They didn't specify which costs, but in Singapore's F&B world right now, it's usually rent, labor, ingredients, or some combination. Nine months in, the math stopped working.
Luke
Right, but we don't actually know the specifics. Was it a rent spike? Did ingredient prices jump? Were they overstaffed? The Instagram post just says "rising costs"—that's real, but it's also vague.
Mark
They had two revenue streams though—the deli during the day, the bar at night. Shouldn't that have helped?
Mimi
You'd think so. The Champagnery was clever—same space, different hours, different customer. But maybe the overhead of running both was higher than the incremental revenue justified.
Luke
Or maybe the bar never took off the way they hoped. We don't know foot traffic numbers for either concept. "Queues" at opening doesn't tell us if that sustained.
Mark
The owners have other restaurants that are still operating. Does that suggest this was a location problem rather than an operator problem?
Mimi
Possibly. Asador and Next Door Spanish Cafe are established. But those might have different economics—different rent, different customer base, different menu costs.
Luke
We also don't know how long those other restaurants have been running or whether they're profitable. The closure of Mamma Mia doesn't tell us much about the health of the rest of their portfolio.
Mark
What does this say about Singapore's F&B scene right now?
Mimi
The owners themselves said they hope things improve for the sector. That suggests they see this as part of a broader squeeze, not just their own miscalculation.
Luke
That's fair. But one closure, even a high-profile one, is anecdotal. We'd need to know how many other restaurants have closed in the same period to say whether this is a trend or an outlier.
The Pulse
- A beloved Italian deli on Amoy Street, celebrated at launch and consistently busy, shuttered after just nine months — proof that popularity alone cannot absorb the weight of rising costs.
- The closure took both concepts at once: the daytime grab-and-go deli and the after-dark champagne bar hidden behind its red door, erasing a layered operation that had been designed precisely to spread its risk.
- The operators — experienced restaurateurs with established venues elsewhere in Singapore — named rising costs directly in their farewell post, offering no deflection and no drama.
- Their parting words expressed hope that conditions would improve for the broader F&B and nightlife sectors, framing their own exit as part of a larger, unresolved struggle across the industry.
- The closure adds to a pattern that is becoming harder to ignore: well-conceived, well-run restaurants in Singapore are finding that the numbers simply no longer work.
On a quiet street in Singapore, a red storefront that had once drawn hopeful queues went dark after nine months — not for lack of vision or effort, but because the economics of hospitality had grown heavier than the concept could carry. Mamma Mia Focaccia and its hidden champagne bar, The Champagnery, closed on September 23, 2026, their operators citing rising operational costs with a candor that has become its own kind of signature in the city's food sector. Their story is less about failure than about the widening gap between what a restaurant can offer and what the current climate will allow it to sustain.
On Amoy Street in Singapore, the bright red storefront of Mamma Mia Focaccia went dark on September 23, 2026 — less than a year after it had opened to media attention and customer queues. The hidden champagne bar inside, The Champagnery, closed at the same time. In a joint Instagram post, the team offered a plain explanation: rising costs had made it impossible to continue.
The deli had launched in October 2025 with real momentum. Its menu was focused and well-executed — fresh focaccia made daily, filled with Italian ingredients. The signature sandwich combined mortadella with stracciatella and pistachio cream; there was porchetta with Italian greens, a vegetarian option, and a Nutella version for the sweet-toothed. Behind the operation were Houssein Haffian, a Spanish chef-owner with an established F&B group in Singapore, and Nico, an Italian chef. This was not a casual experiment.
A month after the deli opened, The Champagnery launched from behind a red door inside the shopfront. From 5pm onward, the space transformed into a champagne bar with wine, cocktails, and focaccia sandwiches, with deejays playing into the night. The dual concept was designed to hedge against the unpredictability of a single revenue stream. Nine months proved not to be enough.
In their farewell post, the team thanked the people who had made the corner of Amoy Street feel alive, and expressed hope that conditions would improve for Singapore's wider food and nightlife sectors. They did not cite staffing problems or supply chain disruptions — they named rising costs directly. What their closure leaves open is whether the difficulty was specific to their situation or a sign of something more systemic in the environment restaurants are now trying to survive.
On Amoy Street in Singapore, a bright red storefront that had drawn crowds since October 2025 went dark on Wednesday, September 23. Mamma Mia Focaccia, the Italian deli that opened to considerable media attention and customer queues, closed its doors less than a year after its debut. The hidden champagne bar tucked behind a red door inside—The Champagnery—shuttered at the same time.
In a joint Instagram post, the team behind both ventures offered a single, stark explanation: the rising costs of doing business had made it impossible to stay open. The message carried no drama, no recrimination. It was the kind of statement that has become familiar in Singapore's food and hospitality sector over the past year—a quiet acknowledgment that the economics no longer worked.
When Mamma Mia opened in October 2025, it arrived with the kind of momentum that restaurants dream about. The grab-and-go deli, with its bright red shopfront and counters, drew lines of customers from the start. The menu was straightforward and appealing: focaccia made fresh each day, filled with Italian ingredients. The signature sandwich paired mortadella with stracciatella, pistachio cream, and pistachio shavings. There was porchetta with Italian greens for those who wanted something savory and substantial, a vegetarian option built around grilled vegetables, and a sweet Nutella version for those with a different appetite. It was the kind of simple, well-executed concept that should have had staying power.
The deli was run by Houssein Haffian, a Spanish chef-owner, and Nico, an Italian chef. Both had lived in Singapore for roughly a decade and brought real experience to the venture. Haffian's F&B group, Two S Creatives, also operates Asador and Next Door Spanish Cafe—established names in the city's dining landscape. This was not a first-time operation or a casual experiment. It was a calculated move by people who understood the market.
In November 2025, just a month after the deli opened, The Champagnery launched from behind that red door. From 5pm onward, customers could step through into a different space entirely—a champagne bar where they could order wine, cocktails, and Mamma Mia's focaccia sandwiches while deejays played into the night. It was a clever layering of concepts: a daytime grab-and-go operation that transformed into an evening destination. The model seemed to hedge against the unpredictability of any single revenue stream.
Nine months proved not to be enough. In their farewell post, the team thanked the staff, partners, and guests who had come for lunch or a drink. "You gave this little corner of Amoy Street its soul," they wrote—a line that suggested something had worked, at least in the ways that mattered beyond the spreadsheet. They also expressed hope that conditions would improve for Singapore's broader food and nightlife sectors, a gesture that pointed beyond their own closure to a wider struggle in the industry.
The closure is one more data point in a pattern that has become difficult to ignore. A restaurant that opened with genuine momentum, that executed its concept well, that had experienced operators behind it, could not make the numbers work. The team did not blame staffing shortages or supply chain disruptions or changing customer behavior. They named rising costs directly. In Singapore's current economic climate, that explanation carries weight. What remains unclear is whether this was a problem specific to the Amoy Street location, the particular cost structure of running both a deli and a bar, or something more systemic about the environment in which restaurants are trying to operate.
Notable Quotes
You gave this little corner of Amoy Street its soul— Mamma Mia Focaccia team, in farewell Instagram post
It had become increasingly difficult to keep afloat amid rising costs— Mamma Mia Focaccia team, explaining closure
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