A Symbiosis Of Melodies & Cuisine

Despite the restrictions that govern Singapore, F&B establishments Naga House, Nothing Fancy, and Offtrack have hit the right notes by melding music and food to create a unique multi-sensory experience for anyone who winds up in this little city.

- Cheryl Ong

Restaurants are built on their culinary expertise, aiming to develop novel flavour profiles and deliver the utmost service to their patrons. These are the prerequisites of a dining experience, but a few have adapted and revised the foundations. Of many, Naga House, Nothing Fancy, and Offtrack broke this chain. The three share two primary pillars: food and music blending harmoniously, where eclectic music incentivises customers to visit or dine in longer. They boldly opened their doors amid the pandemic in 2022, defying the uncertainty that had caused a domino effect of F&B businesses shutting down.

During the trying times of the pandemic, the F&B sector was not the only one that went through a metamorphosis. Music did too. In the post-pandemic reality that we live in now, the landscape of music appreciation and engagement in Singapore is departing from “cultural cringe”, a deeply ingrained mindset that fostered a sense of inferiority toward local talents. “Foreign is better” was a biased admiration for them, but what catalysed the current seismic shift of including local talents?

Isolation nurtured a yearning for authenticity and a new wave of recognition for the burgeoning local music scene. “More people are looking inward for inspiration; this is influencing and giving people the confidence to start new collectives because we are realising now that we don’t need to rely on external forces to make good things happen here,” says Daniel O’Connor, co-founder of Offtrack.