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Partying begins in the afternoon at upcoming 'clubstaurant' at Marina Bay Sands

The interior of LAVO Singapore. (Photo: LAVO Singapore)
The interior of LAVO Singapore. (Photo: LAVO Singapore)

A new dining experience is set to arrive in Singapore next year, and it is very Instagrammable and offers all the highlights of a night about town in one place.

LAVO Singapore Italian Restaurant & Rooftop Bar is opening its doors to the public in January 2018 at the iconic Marina Bay Sands SkyPark.

Inspired by the original New York and Las Vegas LAVO locations, diners can expect parties that make 3pm on a Saturday afternoon look like 4am in a club and themed Sunday night dining experiences that make you feel like you just walked into a party straight out of Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby”.

LAVO Singapore is a collaboration between Marina Bay Sands and TAO Group. The latter is known as the granddaddy of New York City “clubstaurants”, mega spaces that are both a high-end dinner spot and dance club, which made a comeback in 2016 more than a decade after they first heated up the dining scene. TAO hopes to create the same one-stop nightlife experience for Singapore.

“We want people to feel like if they go to LAVO they can have a full night out. They can come for early drinks, then move into the restaurant, then move back to the lounge, spend the whole night there without ever having to get in and out of the car,” Noah Tepperberg, partner of TAO Group, told Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore.

The crowd that turns up for the parties in LAVO New York is fascinating and lively – Kim Kardashian knock-offs get up on the tables to dance the afternoon away while restaurant patrons celebrating a birthday or bridal shower go from seated to dancing with glow sticks as the DJ turns up the live music.

Restaurant patrons at LAVO New York go from seated to dancing as the DJ turns up the live music. (Photo: Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore)
Restaurant patrons at LAVO New York go from seated to dancing as the DJ turns up the live music. (Photo: Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore)

It is not all millennials or yuppies either – there are older diners who come in to enjoy the revelry even at the audacious Riviera Sundays at LAVO where dancers on stilts, sword-swallowing, tap dancing and burlesque performances set against music from expert live DJs are par for the course.

Can Singapore ever be as exciting? Tepperberg certainly thinks so.

“LAVO is so many different things – it’s a restaurant, it’s a bar, it’s a lounge, it has parties. Singapore has all these different (things) – it has a big dining room culture, a big cocktail culture, a club scene and there’s not that many markets where you can find that many people with all those types of interests,” said Tepperberg.

“We went out on our last few trips (to Singapore). Restaurants were full, bars were full, the few clubs were full, people like to drink and party in Singapore,” he added.

The exterior of LAVO Singapore. (Photo: LAVO Singapore)
The exterior of LAVO Singapore. (Photo: LAVO Singapore)

The new LAVO Singapore has a similar vibe to the New York venue with antique mirrors, reclaimed subway tiles and bricks repurposed from old factories, channeling a nineteenth century Italian bistro.

“Everything that we do is very photogenic, we really feel that people like to go out and have an experience that is fun to share on social media,” Tepperberg said.

“(People) want something you can’t get from the internet, you can’t experience sitting at home. I think we have created a very social media friendly place,” he added.

According to Patrick Lang, vice-president of Global Restaurant and Nightlife Development of Las Vegas Sands, Marina Bay Sands’ parent company, there will be “a lot of unique touches from LAVO New York.”

A “priceless décor” at the new place is the view of the Singapore skyline from the SkyPark. There is an outdoor component that makes patrons feel as if they are on someone’s private roof and the space inside is very open where people can see across the room.

There is also an authentic Italian gelato cart where people can buy gelato. The menu, by Tao Group partner and acclaimed chef Ralph Scamardella, promises authentic Italian American cuisine.

LAVO Singapore will celebrate its grand opening on New Year’s Eve, where there will be live music by a famous and as yet unannounced DJ who has never performed in Singapore before. According to Tepperberg, this is LAVO’s way of setting the “tone for what we plan to do, bringing firsts to the market (here).”

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