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What is it like to dine inside National Gallery Singapore at Odette Singapore?
Stepping into Odette inside the National Gallery Singapore begins with the journey itself. Walking through the historic corridors of the former Supreme Court—where grand stone architecture whispers of the past—gradually sets a contemplative mood. Crossing the threshold into the restaurant feels like stepping into a sanctuary where time slows down.
The Atmosphere and Interior
The dining room rejects traditional notions of stuffy luxury in favor of a quiet, contemporary elegance. Dominated by muted blush tones, curved structural forms, and suspended mobile sculptures that drift almost imperceptibly, the room radiates tranquility. Distances between tables are generous, ensuring that conversations remain entirely private amidst the gentle hum of the room. Every detail—from the way natural daylight filters across delicate glassware to the precise alignment of plush seating—is engineered to encourage lingering rather than rushing through a tasting menu.
What is on the Odette Singapore tasting menu?
At present, Rodrigo is, in a word, busy. It’s been nearly two months out from the launch, and she can’t seem to keep static; in July alone, she was sighted in New York City, then Portland, then Reykjavík, then New York again, and two days ago, Los Angeles. It’s not atypical for a global pop star, only it was getting increasingly difficult to peg down a time to chat. (“Would you be free to call tonight?” her publicist had texted me. Just as I type out the word Yes, a follow-up: “Just kidding.”)
For someone who’s just marathoned a hurricane of a press tour and crossed continents only within a handful of days, she’s warm and pleasantly upbeat. Opposite Manila’s drizzly night, it’s high noon and peak sunny where she is. Rodrigo says she’s freshly caffeinated, but there’s still a hint of sleep in her voice as she recaps her “cute” morning: got up slowly, walked around the city for a little bit, bought herself a coffee, and later, “playing, like, a little show,” she says modestly. (It’s technically confidential, but I’d be catching sight of her set later at the time of writing, via sneakily caught short snippets uploaded to social media.)
In just a few hours, she’ll be performing all but one of the songs off you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love live for the very first time (only missing “what’s wrong with me,” her featured track with The Cure frontman and one of her personal heroes Robert Smith) for a taping of Austin City Limits, the longest running music series in the history of American television. ACL’s venue, the Moody Theater, sits 2,750. By Rodrigo’s standards, it is little. But only if you don’t count the upward of 60,000 other people who tried their hand at lucking out in the ticket lottery.
She first played a sold-out show here when she was 18 in 2021 after the release of Sour, barefoot and baby-faced, bouncing around onstage as she belted her anthemic, power-chord hits “good 4 u” and “brutal” with all the full-bodied angst of someone who fully believed in its lyrics. Backed by an all-female band, it was her first full-set performance in front of a live audience.
After that, everything exploded. The following year she’d win three out of seven nominations at the 2022 Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album for Sour, and Best Pop Solo Performance for “drivers license.” The year after that, she’d release Guts, which shot straight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, earned six Grammy nods, and kicked off her first long global arena tour that at that time would rank as the highest-grossing concert tour for an artist born in the 21st century. This, only in the last five years.