by Jaime Ee

SINGAPORE has been good to me, says Roberto Perlini, the 43-year-old Italian entrepreneur who arrived in Singapore some 20 years ago with no idea that he would go on to create Perlini's Silver - an empire of over 20 stores specialising in trendy and affordable silver jewellery. So good, that even though he sold his business to Dubai group Al-Futtaim in July last year and moved back to Italy with his family, he is back in Singapore with a new investment. Only this time, the savvy retailer has now turned restaurateur.

He's quick to say he is merely a partner in Otto - an elegant fine dining Italian eatery in the Red Dot Building in Maxwell Road - with three other Italians who are also his good friends. It was something that they had been wanting to do for a long time but because each of them was preoccupied with his own work commitments, the timing was never right. Until now.

Even though the Dubai-based company approached him to buy over the company, it was not an easy decision to give up a company he spent half his life building. 'I put a lot of passion into the business but I wanted the opportunity to do other things,' he says. The main thing was to go back to Italy, because 'I want my kids to be more exposed to European culture'.

Being a hands-on entrepreneur, he was very involved in Perlini's Silver's day-to-day business and there was no way he could return to Italy and still run the company. 'I wasn't burnt out, but I wanted to spend time with my family, my parents,' he adds. 'People say it's the quality of the time you spend that is more important but that's nonsense if the quantity of time you spend is like half an hour.' So while he is now based in Rome, he still maintains strong links with Singapore - after all, his wife is Singaporean - through investments like Otto and his new retail consultancy company through which he hopes to help Singapore brands gain a foothold in the Italian market. The family man has even named his new company Peralma - derived from his children's names, ie Perla, Allesandro and Marco.

'The new business in Italy lies in the mid to low-price segment, that is why Spanish brands like Zara do very well,' says the ever-passionate retailer. 'In Europe now, despite the strong euro, people have lower spending power, hence there is room for Singapore brands to compete there.' And because the Italian market is not an easy one to penetrate, the idea is that Mr Perlini's contacts and business savvy will help to pave the way.

While he hasn't started to market his services seriously yet, he can certainly conduct negotiations in Otto - Italian for 'eight' - named for its Asian significance and its symmetrical spelling. Despite its potentially tricky location at Red Dot - taking over from the defunct Le Papillon (there is also a separate bar and outdoor courtyard) - he's more than confident that the vibrant dining scene in Singapore has enough room for a fine dining Italian eatery.

That confidence no doubt comes from the heavy artillery he has in the kitchen - Giacomo Gallina was the head chef of the original Bice restaurant in Goodwood Park Hotel before it folded, and is well known as the mentor of many of Singapore's top Italian chefs, including Roberto Galetti of Garibaldi. Chef Gallina is a good friend of Mr Perlini and one of Otto's four partners, along with executive director Carlo Passino. Both are now based in Singapore, while the fourth partner remains in Italy as a silent partner. After Bice closed, chef Gallina had returned to Italy and was most recently the executive chef at Gold in Milan, which was owned by designer duo Dolce and Gabbana.

Their loss is Singapore's gain, especially as a tasting yesterday showed that he is at the top of his game with pitch-perfect dishes like pasta with bottarga and sea urchin and osso bucco with risotto Milanese. It has only been soft-opened a couple of days, so there are still kinks to be ironed out in the service - plus the alfresco courtyard isn't ready yet. But the stamp of quality is there, and given Mr Perlini's retail leanings, the long-term plan is to build the Otto brand name for possible spin-offs like more restaurants or its own line of products. Already, he has nailed down exclusive rights to artisinal Italian coffee brand Gianni Frasi - incidentally, he's not exaggerating when he waxes lyrical about the coffee quality.

Whatever his plans are, this newly minted F&B entrepreneur and retail veteran is making sure his Singapore link remains strong. 'Singapore gave me opportunities I would not have had anywhere else,' he declares. 'I owe it one more investment.'

Otto Ristorante, #01-02 Red Dot Traffic Building.
Tel: 6227-6819

This article was first published in The Business Times on June 14, 2008.