For an establishment that is located at Big Splash at East Coast Park, 1 TwentySix does seem out of place at first. After all, the area is usually associated with teenagers and family types who come here for their afternoon stroll in the park or are looking for a quick economical bite at the fast food chains here.
Standing Out from the Crowd
But alfresco bar and fine dining restaurant 1 TwentySix, brainchild of Joseph Ong, the man responsible for gastrobar One Rochester, seems to have no problems packing in the crowds both for lunch and dinner, and especially during weekends. After all, the place does take itself rather seriously, juggling a restaurant serving European cuisine with an Asian twist, and a lush alfresco bar playing smooth and inviting downtempo music. 1 TwentySix‘ theme is maritime from its plush interiors to its lounge sofas aplenty outside to create a seaside bar / restaurant with a club-like atmosphere.
For Ong to realize this latest vision, it took him “eight months from the moment that I saw the place to get it up and running,” he says. “The main problem was with the land areas at East Coast Park which is near the beach … as the landlord had to raise the area before we could design and build the building and start work on our garden area.” Certainly, Ong’s hard work has paid off – 1 TwentySix is one of the most contemporary seaside bar/restaurants in Singapore. Just check out the alfresco bar with its retro-pink light trimmings the style is reminiscent of Madonna’s Confessions on a Dancefloor, but subtler.
“The place oozes a very casual and relaxed vibe simply because we are near the beach too,” says Audrey Raharot, 1 TwentySix’s marketing manager. “Especially the alfresco area, where customers are supposed to feel right at home … away from their work stress. Joseph’s original intent was to create a restaurant right in front of the sea that enables one to relax … a totally different concept from One Rochester.” Ong adds “I had all along wanted to do something on East Coast Beach, and saw several locations that I was aiming for. At the end of the day, we decided that Big Splash was the best place due to its pristine beach and proximity to town.”
Looks Matter
Its chilled vibe aside, we couldn’t help but notice that its attractive decor also helps with the place’s draw. We especially like the heavy and robust dining chairs and bar stools that add a touch of regality and masculinity to the venue, which were designed or sourced, mostly from China, by Ong himself.
“Bearing in mind that we have a full see-through dining areas we were looking for chairs that were unique and artistic, rather than the typical boring functional chairs that most places have today,” explains Ong of his eclectic selections. “Unfortunately, we could not find any in the region despite the valiant effort of our entire research and design team. We therefore decided to travel to a furniture fair in a remote part of China to look for inspiration. It was there that we were introduced to a large Macau-ian art house that was able to help design and make our furniture. In its showroom, we worked with their designers and drew out the designs for the chairs. We got so carried away with designing the chairs and tables that in the end, we had to redesign our dining area to fit the chairs as the entire place would have been too cluttered!” Ong further quips, “The bar stool was much easier to design as we did not want a repeat of the dining chairs. However, we knew that it must look really good from the back, and therefore we put emphasis on getting a design on the back of the bar stool.”
To complement the furniture, Ong also selected and designed attractive Asian-inspired wall fixtures, wine holders and garden statues as part of his design strategy. The alfresco bar area was also graced with Ong’s eye for detail the comfy lounge chairs and sofas were flown in directly from Philippines. “Some of the designs are contemporary, while some are meant to be radical and are supposed to form an eclectic mix to the place,” he says.
More than being just a leisurely seaside bar or restaurant, 1 Twenty Six has managed to straddle the two identities of a sophisticated bar and an even more sophisticated restaurant well. This is no mean feat as establishments that have both are normally better at one or the other, but seldom good at both. In this respect, 1 TwentySix is setting the bar high for anyone who aspires to follow. [Text by Terry Ong]
1 TwentySix
#01-26 Playground @ Big Splash
902 East Coast Parkway
Tel: +65-6348-2126
www.1-twentysix.com
Related Articles
pupuweb feed
Latest Seaside Restaurant and Bar 1 TwentySix
For an establishment that is located at Big Splash at East Coast Park, 1 TwentySix does seem out of place at first. After all, the area is usually associated with teenagers and family types who come here for their afternoon stroll in the park or are looking for a quick economical bite at the fast food chains here.
But alfresco bar and fine dining restaurant 1 TwentySix, brainchild of Joseph Ong, the man responsible for gastrobar One Rochester, seems to have no problems packing in the crowds both for lunch and dinner, and especially during weekends. After all, the place does take itself rather seriously, juggling a restaurant serving European cuisine with an Asian twist, and a lush alfresco bar playing smooth and inviting downtempo music. 1 TwentySix‘ theme is maritime from its plush interiors to its lounge sofas aplenty outside to create a seaside bar / restaurant with a club-like atmosphere.
For Ong to realize this latest vision, it took him “eight months from the moment that I saw the place to get it up and running,” he says. “The main problem was with the land areas at East Coast Park which is near the beach … as the landlord had to raise the area before we could design and build the building and start work on our garden area.” Certainly, Ong’s hard work has paid off – 1 TwentySix is one of the most contemporary seaside bar/restaurants in Singapore. Just check out the alfresco bar with its retro-pink light trimmings the style is reminiscent of Madonna’s Confessions on a Dancefloor, but subtler.
“The place oozes a very casual and relaxed vibe simply because we are near the beach too,” says Audrey Raharot, 1 TwentySix’s marketing manager. “Especially the alfresco area, where customers are supposed to feel right at home … away from their work stress. Joseph’s original intent was to create a restaurant right in front of the sea that enables one to relax … a totally different concept from One Rochester.” Ong adds “I had all along wanted to do something on East Coast Beach, and saw several locations that I was aiming for. At the end of the day, we decided that Big Splash was the best place due to its pristine beach and proximity to town.”
Looks Matter
Its chilled vibe aside, we couldn’t help but notice that its attractive decor also helps with the place’s draw. We especially like the heavy and robust dining chairs and bar stools that add a touch of regality and masculinity to the venue, which were designed or sourced, mostly from China, by Ong himself.
“Bearing in mind that we have a full see-through dining areas we were looking for chairs that were unique and artistic, rather than the typical boring functional chairs that most places have today,” explains Ong of his eclectic selections. “Unfortunately, we could not find any in the region despite the valiant effort of our entire research and design team. We therefore decided to travel to a furniture fair in a remote part of China to look for inspiration. It was there that we were introduced to a large Macau-ian art house that was able to help design and make our furniture. In its showroom, we worked with their designers and drew out the designs for the chairs. We got so carried away with designing the chairs and tables that in the end, we had to redesign our dining area to fit the chairs as the entire place would have been too cluttered!” Ong further quips, “The bar stool was much easier to design as we did not want a repeat of the dining chairs. However, we knew that it must look really good from the back, and therefore we put emphasis on getting a design on the back of the bar stool.”
To complement the furniture, Ong also selected and designed attractive Asian-inspired wall fixtures, wine holders and garden statues as part of his design strategy. The alfresco bar area was also graced with Ong’s eye for detail the comfy lounge chairs and sofas were flown in directly from Philippines. “Some of the designs are contemporary, while some are meant to be radical and are supposed to form an eclectic mix to the place,” he says.
More than being just a leisurely seaside bar or restaurant, 1 Twenty Six has managed to straddle the two identities of a sophisticated bar and an even more sophisticated restaurant well. This is no mean feat as establishments that have both are normally better at one or the other, but seldom good at both. In this respect, 1 TwentySix is setting the bar high for anyone who aspires to follow. [Text by Terry Ong]
1 TwentySix
#01-26 Playground @ Big Splash
902 East Coast Parkway
Tel: +65-6348-2126
www.1-twentysix.com
Related Articles