IT is only natural to assume that the focus of a place named Say Cheezecake would be cheesecake. But there's more, because the establishment in question is actually a full-service family restaurant as well, with everything from baked oysters and laksa chowder to burgers, pastas and curry rice on the menu.

And, yes, there's plenty of cheesecake to choose from - currently, there are seven varieties on the menu.

Say Cheezecake opened several weeks ago at Great World City, with Cook Book Asia, an adjoining cafe specialising in local food. Both are owned and operated by Stamfles International, a local company in the corporate catering business that serves some 50,000 meals daily.

The plan was always to set up a retail arm, says Stamfles chief executive Alson Teo. 'These two babies have been incubating for three years. We realise that there's a lot of cafes selling desserts that target teenager and the yuppie market, but there isn't one that offers a wider choice of menu for adults and families.'

Mr Teo worked for Swensen's previously and has long been fascinated by the concept. 'They use ice cream as their dessert and we use cheesecake - there's a niche to be filled.'

The difference with Say Cheezecake's market positioning, says Mr Teo, is that many of the recipes were developed in conjunction with the late Toh Thian Ser, a master chef formerly from the Shangri-La hotel group. He died last year.

'We recruit our chefs from five-star hotels, and our focus is on quality and price point,' says Mr Teo, who adds that the secret to the business is to make use of developments in food technology and to have a solid operating system. 'The back-end is like McDonald's, where everything is about the system, while the dishes are developed to our own taste.'

He adds: 'We want to make the food affordable to 80 per cent of the market that we are targeting.' While Mr Teo concedes that there are major differences between institutional catering and the restaurant business, he is confident that he is on to a good thing by turning food preparation into a science as well as an art. For instance, he has already devised and patented a chicken rice machine that is able - at the mere push of a button - to cook different parts of a whole chicken at varying temperatures and for different durations.

At Say Cheezecake, customers can dig into Wacky Rambutan, rambutan stuffed with minced chicken ($8.90), Laksa Chowder ($8.90), Chrysanthemum Prawns ($8.90), Miso Salmon ($17.90) and Coffee-flavoured Pork Ribs ($18.90) before savouring the restaurant's signature cheesecakes (from $5.90 to $6.50). Other desserts are also available.

Mr Teo, who helped fund Say Cheezecake and Cook Book Asia with proceeds from the sale of a majority stake in the institutional catering business to UK-based food service group Compass, has high hopes that his new venture will have plenty of franchise potential.

The main idea is to get the core product right and it's a positive sign that after five weeks, about three-quarters of the business is repeat customers, he says.

'It makes a lot of sense for me to follow my passion - it's a tough journey but you have to stick to what you believe in.'

Say Cheezecake
1 Kim Seng Promenade,
#01-22 Great World City.
Tel: 6733-227