Singaporean-inspired Sing to open in Garden Oaks/Oak Forest area

Restaurateur Jerry Lasco, left, is collaborating with Cuc Lam, right, to open Sing, a new Singaporean-inspired restaurant opening in the Garden Oaks/Oak Forest neighborhood in spring 2018. The restaurant also will feature dishes from China, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Malaysia. less Restaurateur Jerry Lasco, left, is collaborating with Cuc Lam, right, to open Sing, a new Singaporean-inspired restaurant opening in the Garden Oaks/Oak Forest neighborhood in spring 2018. The restaurant also ... more Photo: Sing Photo: Sing Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Singaporean-inspired Sing to open in Garden Oaks/Oak Forest area 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

Former Houston Press restaurant reporter and critic Cuc Lam has a new gig, and it's the very industry she covered while at the alt-weekly.

Lam is collaborating with longtime Houston restaurateur Jerry Lasco to open Sing, a casual, Singaporean-inspired restaurant opening in the Garden Oaks/Oak Forest neighborhood (lease negotiations are pending) in spring 2018. The restaurant also will feature dishes from China, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Malaysia.

Lasco is the founder and CEO of Lasco Enterprises that owns and operates the popular restaurant brands Max's Wine Dive and the Tasting Room, as well as the Boiler House in San Antonio. The Tasting Room has stores in Uptown Park and CityCentre in Houston while the Max's Wine Dive brand has two locations in Houston as well as Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth and Denver. Lam, who will be operating partner and run the day-to-day operations, has presented her food at pop-up events in Houston; she said she has cooked Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai cuisine for more than 20 years.

Sing's menu, Lam said, will feature dishes such as Bak Kut Teh (pork bone noodle soup traditionally served in Singapore and Malaysia), laksa (spicy curry coconut noodle soup found in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand), Indian chicken tikka masala , Char Kway Teow (flat rice noodle stir fry popular in Malaysia and Singapore), as well as small bites such as lemongrass pepper ribs, mango shrimp spring rolls and roti prata (fried Indian flatbread).

"Throughout my life I've had a love affair with Asian food with its exotic flavors and intense spices," Lasco said. "When I visited Singapore, I felt like I had reached foodie nirvana. All of the dishes that I crave from China, Vietnam, Thailand, India and Malaysia were brought together in one beautiful place. Sing is our tribute to Singapore, the great melting pot."

Sing will serve Thai iced tea and Vietnamese iced coffee in addition to wine, beer and sake on tap.

Lam said that more than 90 percent of the menu items are gluten free. The restaurant will seat 20-30 inside with an addition dozen seats on the patio.