Your favorite bar’s favorite bar: Native’s Vijay Mudaliar, where you can get the best Negronis in town

SINGAPORE – Bar industry veteran Vijay Mudaliar has made a name for himself by helming two of Singapore’s most acclaimed and unusual bar concepts: Native and Analogue Initiative.

“When we started, there wasn’t really a bar that wanted to emphasize local and regional characteristics – things that are familiar to us,” the 35-year-old says of Native and the story behind it.

“Even now it always concerns imported products and ideas. We wanted to be a little more raw and authentic and represent this time and place, where we come from and who we are.”

Located on Amoy Street and launched in 2016, Native stands out in the local nightlife scene with its focus on Southeast Asian ingredients and flavors.

Mr Mudaliar’s other venture, Analogue Initiative, founded in 2021, specializes in sustainably sourced decorations and ingredients.

His journey was not without challenges. “We faced a lot of adversity in the beginning, especially in the first two years of running Native,” says the industry veteran of more than 17 years.

“Sometimes our ideas may have started too early. It took a while for people to get used to it. After a lot of international bartenders came and really liked it, word spread and we started to get a little recognition.”

That recognition is now clearly visible. Native ranked 67th on the 2024 list of the World’s 50 Best Bars, up 16 places from its 2023 position.

Meanwhile, Analogue Initiative ranked 35th in the list of Asia’s 50 best bars for 2024. However, it will close in November as it looks for a new location after the expiry of its lease in Chijmes.

Signature drinks at Native include the Peranakan ($28), a Kueh Salat-inspired cocktail featuring a blend of clarified milk punch made with local goat’s milk, along with jackfruit rum, laksa leaves and gula melaka. As a finishing touch, jackfruit seeds are grated over the drink.

Another highlight is the Pineapple Arrack ($28), which uses pineapple peels, coconut, Sri Lankan spices and Ceylon Arrack, a Sri Lankan spirit made from distilled coconut palm sap.

A guiding principle behind Mr. Mudaliar’s efforts is that customers walk away with new knowledge or lingering questions, whether it’s learning about regional spirits or seeing how plastic waste can be reused in decor at Analogue Initiative.

Native itself features an expansive, hand-sculpted bar top made from a single piece of concrete and copper that resembles the hull of a ship, harkening back to the seafaring roots of the Amoy Street area.