Only F&B tenants Odette, National Kitchen by Violet Oon stay on

National Gallery Singapore's 'holistic refresh'

- Eunice Quek

Amid the flurry of restaurant closures so far in 2025, several of them are from National Gallery Singapore, as part of the museum's "holistic refresh" of its food offerings.

Last week, Smoke & Mirrors bar and Cantonese restaurant Yan announced their upcoming closures on March 15. They follow the shuttering of Italian restaurants Gemma and one-Michelin-starred Art di Daniele Sperindio, which ended their nine-year leases on Nov 30, 2024.

While Smoke & Mirrors and Yan are exploring potential opportunities to reopen, chef Daniele Sperindio has plans to relocate Art, as well as set up an Italian pastry and bread shop called Mazzini di Daniele Sperindio, slated for the third quarter of 2025.

More changes are afoot for other tenants. Courtyard Cafe is likely to stay till mid-April, says owner Michelle Teng, 37.

After being at the gallery for almost eight years and weathering the Covid-19 pandemic there, she tells The Straits Times that the direction to close "really caught us off guard".