Eye Candy: We Speak To Nick Haas, Bossman of Skinny’s Lounge in Singapore

PUBLISHED July 29th, 2016 05:04 pm | UPDATED February 6th, 2020 05:55 pm

Hailing from Philadelphia, USA, owner-bartender of Skinny’s Lounge’s Nick Haas started the American KTV bar because he wanted a place for after-hours drinks for those in Singapore F&B industry. Before venturing out on his own, Nick was head bartender at Latin American cocktail den Vasco and Keong Saik stalwart The Cufflink Club.

In this edition of Eye Candy, we speak to Nick on why he on Skinny’s and his favourite local dish.

Prior to bartending, you had a career in the banking and finance sector. Why, and how, did you make the switch to bartending?

When I was 15, my first-ever job was as a part-time food runner in a restaurant back home in Philadelphia. One night, I was allowed to bar back and I remember watching these two guys and the way they were moving behind the bar and interacting with guests. I was blown away at how smoothly they worked. Not only were they making drinks, they were lighting cigarettes for the ladies seated at the bar (when you could smoke in Philly), clearing shit off the bar, and still managing to have great chemistry together.

I was like, “Man, these guys are rock stars! And they get paid to be!” I couldn’t wait to be old enough to legally work behind a bar, but by that time, I was in college and volunteering full-time. I missed working in the F&B world and that dream of bartending never went away.

As a result of having studied Japanese in the past, I was able to get a job that moved me to Singapore with a big American firm. During this time, I discovered The Cufflink Club on Facebook and thought that it was a good opportunity to not only make good drinks, but also to learn from this young Brit, Joel Fraser, on how to run a successful bar. Thankfully, my work pass was approved the next day, so I resigned and haven’t looked back since.

You were previously head bartender at Vasco and The Cufflink Club. How did the decision to open Skinny’s Lounge come about?

From the first moment I started work at The Cufflink Club, Joel always knew that my goal was to open my own bar. As I got more exposed to the industry in Singapore and internationally, I started to miss the type of bars I loved frequenting back in the States. These include places like Mother’s Ruin, Holiday Cocktail Lounge and Sweetwater Social. These bars aren’t posh cocktail joints: Sweetwater shows college sports, and Mother’s and Holiday are both pretty rough around the edges.

But when you do go to Mother’s on a Sunday night, the place was completely packed with local neighbourhood folks, while Holiday is packed at 2:30am with industry, the whole bar singing along to whatever 80s hit they were playing. I loved how I could get solid cocktails, or even just a beer, and still feel totally welcome.

I felt it was about time Singapore had something similar, so I started working on the business plan after a few months of travelling around the region and the world. Joel and Christian Hartmann from Vasco, were kind enough to keep me on at Vasco as Assistant Manager, so I could still stay in touch with the scene here, while being able to pay rent.

Of all the concepts that you could have realised, why did you go with an American KTV bar?

Actually, the concept of Skinny’s was entirely different at first. The market, available real estate and the police department all helped shape what it is is now. The first space I tried to get had a full kitchen and had held a late night license previously, but the SPF didn’t grant me a liquor license after midnight (even though it was the same space!), so I had to get back to the drawing board.

I think a lot of bar owners had thought about taking over a KTV business but no one had tried, yet. The more I thought about it, the idea seemed really different to everything else that had opened. I looked at so many KTVs, as some of the spaces were small and narrow and others were three stories and even had rooms with bunk beds. When I saw the space at Boat Quay, I knew right away that this was the one. Of course, the takeover fees for these places are crazy, so I made a choice to ditch the idea of renovating a space from square one.

I think that the choice has paid off, because when you walk into Skinny’s, it doesn’t feel two months old. It has character, it isn’t perfect or pristine, and it has history. I was also lucky to have EDG help plan the design of Skinny’s – I even told them I couldn’t pay them very much – and that they would need to design a space that didn’t look designed, all for a budget that would normally only cover buying furniture. They took on the challenge and delivered exactly what I needed.

When thinking about the menu and the concept of the space, the idea was to keep the karaoke. At its core, most of these KTVs fill the after-hours, affordably priced segment where local bartenders go to after work. Ultimately, Skinny’s turned into this hybrid that I call an American KTV.

Tell us two must-try drinks or cocktails at Skinny’s Lounge.

When it comes to our menu, my favourite drink is the Penicillin, which is Sam Ross’s drink from Attaboy. It’s smoky, spicy and strong. The other thing that is a must-try is our hotdog. Not a lot of people realize our kitchen is open till closing every day. This all-beef hotdog is a proper meal—nine inches of meat, with chips and a pickle. Nothing fancy here, just a proper, simple hot dog.

What’s one thing people don’t know about you?

I spent four years as a Lieutenant in a volunteer fire department. I miss it like crazy and, one day, I plan on getting back into firefighting. Do you think I can volunteer in Singapore?

What’s your favourite local dish?

This is a really tough question. It has to be a tie between the beef hor fun at Bee Kia Coffeeshop in Balestier Hill Shopping Centre and the har cheong gai at Ah Sam Cold Drink Stall, down the road in Boat Quay. I would do horrible things for that chicken, it’s almost too tasty.

Is Nick Haas here to stay in Singapore?

I usually move every two years, but I’ve been in Singapore for five years and counting now. Eventually, I see myself back in the States, but who knows?

Catch Nick at Skinny’s Lounge, 82 Boat Quay, Singapore 049870. Open Mon-Fri 5pm-3am, Sat 7pm-4am.

All photo courtesy of Skinny’s Lounge.