THE GARAGE

Cafe, bistro and bar.

Portrait of Tammy Strobel

Cafe, bistro and bar.

My Reading Room

ABOVE Botanico was designed with an open-plan concept to serve as an event space and wedding venue.

BOTTOM LEFT The casual ambience in the Bee’s Knees cafe is complemented by views of lush greenery.

BOTTOM RIGHT The original arches in the architecture were retained, and black-framed window designs were fitted for a fresh look.

My Reading Room

Nestled in the lush Singapore Botanic Gardens is 1-Group’s newly opened The Garage – a dining concept that comprises a cafe, bistro and bar. Built in the 1920s, this heritage building boasts a rich history, from being a car garage – which inspired the name – to the National Parks Board’s horticulture department office in the 1990s.

The two-storey space has since gotten a new lease on life, along with fresh interiors designed by Wei Tan, director of Suite Interior Design. On the first floor, guests can catch a glimpse of chef Antonio Oviedo cooking up a storm, through one of the seven arches of the original architecture.

The group’s cafe, Bee’s Knees, is also located on the ground floor. One of the walls here is cladded with green hexagonal tiles, from An Huat Trading, for visual effect.

To complement this, marble mosaic tiles were used on another wall as a backdrop to a bar table that accommodates extra seating. Plants placed throughout the room create a sense of visual continuity with the greenery outside.

Upstairs, the Botanico bistro has a warm and cosy ambience, despite its open-plan space. Wei used accent, recessed lighting to accentuate the original structure of the roof trusses. Wood-look tiles underfoot were laid in a herringbone pattern, and black tiles were aligned to sit directly under every roof truss to break the uniformity of the layout. Outside, an al fresco dining and bar area is hidden from sight at street level thanks to the dense foliage from mature trees.

The Garage’s menu boasts an extensive range of food items that promise a smorgasbord of flavours, such as Calamaritos – a bed of tempura baby squid paired with seaweed aioli – and desserts like Tropical Fruits, where you’ll be delighted by an interesting pairing of jackfruit, longan and sea coconut with laksa-flavoured ice cream, available in Botanico’s dinner menu.

THE GARAGE IS LOCATED AT SINGAPORE BOTANIC GARDENS, 50 CLUNY PARK ROAD. VISIT WWW.THEGARAGE.SG.

Text DOMENICA TAN photos THE GARAGE.

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