SINGAPORE -- In Singapore's vibrant Chinatown district a line of cheerful plastic pigs was installed ahead of the Lunar New Year, facing a row of shop windows garlanded with bak kwa -- a type of sweet pork jerky so wildly popular at this time of year that long queues form outside the better-known outlets.
Chinatown is the epicenter of Singapore's largely carnivorous food culture. In its concrete hawker centers, stalls are hung with whole roasted ducks and chickens; in the back streets, curb-side restaurants serve every part of the pig. It is a bold place to start an experiment in eating differently, but here, just off South Bridge Road, the founders of one of Singapore's handful of vegan restaurants have chosen to establish a beachhead.
