SINGAPORE — Yesterday (July 28), the National Gallery announced its line-up of food and beverage establishments, all of which are brand new concepts that will be unique to the Gallery when it opens in November. But just what can you expect?

NATIONAL KITCHEN BY VIOLET OON

Singapore food ambassador Violet Oon will open National Kitchen on the second floor, serving a menu that reflects Singapore’s rich culinary heritage. Oon describes her upcoming space as “laidback” and said it would feature “foliage decor of herbs and spices like curry and turmeric leaves”. Located adjacent to the DBS Singapore Gallery, National Kitchen by Violet Oon will feature a private dining space and an outdoor terrace with a view of the city skyline.

“Our menu will be created the way art is curated in a museum,” said Oon. “Our food craft is part of Singapore arts and it should be curated and preserved as such.”

That means you can expect dishes such as traditional Hakka abacus beads as well as more modern creations such as her own Roti Violet — crisp prata topped with a piquant chickpea masala and tomato chutney.

SAHA AND THE ALTIMATE

Modern Indian restaurant Saha will move from its current Duxton Hill address to Level One at the Supreme Court Wing. Helmed by renowned chef Abhijit Saha, the restaurant is well-known for its brand of regional Indian cuisine given a modern European spin, such as the Kerala vegetable stew (the Indian answer, you could say, to Ferran Adria’s Spanish potato frittata). The stew is first made the traditional way and then pureed and put through a siphon, which turns it into a light mousse with all the traditional flavours of the dish firmly intact.

“But if guests want the stew the traditional way, they can have it that way as well,” said resident executive chef Preetam Singh Sodi.

Complementing Saha is sister bar The Altimate, which will be the first Asian bar showcasing wines from Asia. The fully stocked bar will also serve Asian-inspired fruit cocktails and a menu of bar food such as chicken tikka and chapatti wraps, rendang sliders, dim sum and Japanese maki.

YAN AND SMOKE & MIRRORS

The Park Hotel Group’s first F&B foray outside of its hotels will encompass Chinese restaurant Yan on the fifth level of the Gallery’s City Hall Wing; and rooftop bar Smoke & Mirrors. Yan will serve traditional Cantonese food “presented in a modern setting”. These include fried noodles fashioned into a ball and served with prawns in a rich superior stock; crab claws wrapped in noodle-like strips of fried pastry and served with a chilli crab dipping sauce; and suckling pig “served three ways”.

Smoke & Mirrors, meanwhile, will boast an indoor lounge and outdoor terrace with a view of the Padang and Marina Bay (with a sculptural “mirror bar”, reminiscent of Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago’s Millennium Park).

AURA AND AURA SKY LOUNGE

Also on the rooftop is Aura Sky Lounge, a chic all-day establishment that will serve a raw bar at lunch and tea in the afternoons; before transforming into a lounge in the evenings.

Prices at this sprawling 200-seat space will be kept very affordable: S$18 per person. “We want people to come here throughout the day,” said owner Beppe De Vito, who is also behind popular restaurants ilLido Italian Dining + Lounge, &Sons and Osteria Art. The lunchtime raw bar features a buffet of Mediterranean salads and roasted vegetables; while the European High Tea set, comprises a basket of sandwiches and pastries served with Italian teas and coffees.

Meanwhile, the 96-seater Aura on the fifth level will serve “a menu of classic Italian dishes”. “Location has always played in big part in inspiring our concepts and we have made sure to honour the heritage and history of the Gallery into Aura,” said De Vito. (A feature: Aura will have the distinctive Uragano chairs by Italian industrial designer De Padova, which are themselves part of the permanent exhibits at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.)

ODETTE

This modern French restaurant on the first floor of the Supreme Court Wing is helmed by former Jaan chef Julien Royer in partnership with the Lo & Behold Group. It will no doubt be the star attraction. Named after Royer’s grandmother, whom he credits with “teaching me to cook and the value of joy you get from feeding other people well”, Odette is his first foray as chef-owner of his own restaurant. Royer said it will serve “a French fine dining experience” using produce from the region, including Japan, New Zealand and Australia. “The best way to describe the cuisine is to say that it will be alive, ever-changing, using whatever produce is best at the time,” said Royer. “I want it to be very much like Japanese omakase, where it changes every day depending on what is best.”