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Riders Cafe in the Bukit Timah area will be closing in early 2023.

The closure of the cafe is expected to happen by end February 2023, to accommodate a worksite that supports tunnelling works for the Cross Island Line, reported The Straits Times.

"Short fling"

In a statement posted to Instagram, co-owner Jan Yeo shared that the news had been a matter of time since the cafe received its first lease for three years in 2007.

She wrote: "I took the three years as a short fling, a distraction from my work at the time. I never would have thought that three years would turn into 15 years and a career change."

Riders Cafe is a tenant of Bukit Timah Saddle Club, which also has to vacate its premises by the first half of 2023.

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Riders Cafe (@riderscafe)

According to a Sep. 23 press release by the Singapore Land Authority, the Turf City site, on which the Bukit Timah Saddle Club and Riders Cafe is located on, has been safeguarded for future residential use since the Master Plan 1998.

Subsequently, one of the six stations in Phase 2 of the Cross Island Line will also be situated at Turf City, to improve accessibility and connectivity of the area.

As a result, since 2019, tenants have been reminded of the need to vacate the site due to future development plans for Turf City, and were given up to Dec. 31, 2023 to give more time for tenants to firm up their transition and winding down plans.

Popular brunch spot to dine with the horses

Riders Cafe is perhaps best known for its lush greenery and stable-side view of equestrians from the Bukit Timah Saddle club.

In the Instagram post, Yeo shared that the years of running the cafe have been a fulfilling one, as she had achieved the one goal she had for Riders Cafe, which was to "introduce the scenic space" to as many people as possible before it was gone.

Yeo added that she would be sharing stories of the restaurant’s 15-year journey, and the “joys and tears of the roller-coaster life of a restaurateur”.

For those keen on checking it out before its closure, Riders Cafe will continue its operations until early next year.

It will continue to take event bookings until January 2023.

Details

Address: 51 Fairways Drive, Singapore 286965

Opening Hours: 8am-9pm, Tuesdays to Sundays

Top image via Riders Cafe Facebook