From a financially crippling legal battle to building a $30 million business: Singaporean father of four and Cut Butchery founder Ryan Ingkiriwang opens Woodsmen at Thomson Plaza—a homegrown concept built on resilience, family and a mission to make premium food accessible to all.
Every great Singaporean business story does not necessarily begin with a troubled past, but many are shaped by failure, sacrifice and the determination to try again. For Ryan, that journey began in 2013, when his love for his Jack Russell, Champagne, who was battling cancer, inspired him to start Singapore’s first fresh pet food company with a close friend. There was no venture capital behind the business; the initial funding came from savings earned through earlier micro-businesses, including T-shirt printing and trading. Like many small business owners, Ryan was chasing a distinctly Singaporean dream: to build something of his own from the ground up.
Keeping the factory running eventually required the hardest decision of his life — selling the family’s matrimonial home. Ryan, his wife and their two-year-old firstborn moved in with his in-laws, leaving no fallback plan if the business failed. For a time, it worked. By late 2019, with the company generating millions in revenue and plans to expand overseas, Ryan sold 60% of the business to a private equity firm. The period that followed proved far more challenging than expected, eventually leading to a dispute and legal proceedings involving the company and its stakeholders. The matter continued through the COVID-19 lockdowns, while Ryan faced significant legal expenses in dealing with the proceedings. The case was subsequently withdrawn, but the financial impact had already been substantial. With his savings depleted and his previous business chapter behind him, Ryan and his family had to start again, with his wife’s income helping to keep the household afloat.
Rebuilding began not with capital, but with relationships built over years. Ryan’s reputation as a committed and prompt paymaster had earned the trust of his meat supplier, who eventually became his business partner. Together, they opened the first Cut Butchery outlet at myVillage in Serangoon Garden. Experienced butcher Ye joined the team and taught Ryan the craft of meat cutting from the ground up, while Ryan drew on cooking experiences with his grandmother and mother to shape the way he approached the business and its products. The two worked without a single day of rest for almost a year, building the operation through consistency and perseverance. From that first store, Cut Butchery has since grown into five outlets and several quick-service concepts, with the group now approaching S$30 million in revenue. Ryan credits the turnaround not only to strategy, but also to his faith and the people who supported him through the most difficult years.
Today, Cut Butchery remains firmly rooted in the local market, even as Singapore’s F&B landscape becomes increasingly dominated by large international and foreign-owned chains. With more than 120,000 members and at least 90% of its customers being local, the group has developed a model that connects retail butchery with approachable dining. At Grill by Cut in Bukit Timah Plaza, diners select steaks directly from the butchery counter before having them grilled at no additional cooking charge. The butcher-to-table concept has become a popular neighbourhood destination, with the restaurant regularly drawing crowds in the evenings. For Ryan, its success has reinforced the belief that homegrown concepts can still find a place in Singapore by understanding the market and staying close to the community.
That belief has now led to Woodsmen, Ryan’s newest concept at Thomson Plaza. Created as something distinctly Singaporean rather than another imported dining idea, Woodsmen brings together retail butchery and wood-fire cooking in a heartland setting. Ryan spent months persuading Executive Chef Eugene Chan to join the project, seeing in him a chef with the experience and talent to bring the concept to life. Chan has more than a decade of culinary experience specialising in wood-fire and live-fire cooking, having graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York and worked at establishments including Panamericana and Mama Shelter Singapore. His career has also included training under Michelin-starred chefs at Per Se and the James Beard House, as well as contributing to teams at Morsels and Bacchanalia.
Together, Ryan and Eugene have created what they describe as Singapore’s first retail butcher-to-table concept centred on wood-fire cooking. Guests can select steaks, fish and sashimi directly from the counter before having them prepared by the culinary team. Ingredients are fresh and directly air-flown, with selected produce sourced as hormone-free and non-GMO, while locally grown greens come from fellow Singaporean brand Greenloop, which uses hydroponic, pesticide-free farming. True to its Upper Thomson location, Woodsmen is designed around everyday dining — fuss-free, accessible and flavour-driven, with an emphasis on quality ingredients and no service charge.
From selling his home to fund a business, navigating a difficult business dispute, and eventually rebuilding a multimillion-dollar homegrown group, Ryan’s journey has been shaped by resilience, relationships and a determination to keep creating locally. Woodsmen represents the latest chapter in that story: a heartland restaurant built by Singaporeans, for Singaporeans and anyone looking for a place at the table. Alongside Cut Butchery, Grill by Cut and Moni Ika, it forms part of Cut Butchery Group, a Singapore-founded retail and F&B business connecting carefully sourced meats and seafood with approachable dining concepts across the island.
About Woodsmen
Woodsmen is a woodfire butcher-to-table restaurant at Thomson Plaza, developed by Cut Butchery founder Ryan Ingkiriwang and Executive Chef Eugene Chan. Combining an adjoining butchery and seafood counter with an open kitchen, it brings produce selection and live-fire cooking together in a casual neighbourhood setting, with no service charge.
About Executive Chef Eugene Chan
Eugene Chan is a Singaporean chef with over a decade of culinary experience specialising in wood-fire and live-fire cooking. A graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York, he trained under Michelin-starred chefs at Per Se and the James Beard House, and previously served as Head Chef at Panamericana and Mama Shelter Singapore. He was part of the opening team at Morsels in Dempsey, winner of World Gourmet Summit Restaurant of the Year, and contributed to the Bacchanalia team during its first Michelin Star recognition.
