From day till night at Sol & Luna

DURING the Covid-19 pandemic, bars have had to serve food to even be allowed to open, while competing with full-service restaurants for the pre-10.30 pm crowd.

Some have taken the chance to expand their food offerings or rebrand; new entrants now choose to position themselves as restaurant-bars from the start.

With the separation between dinner and drinks having blurred over the past 2 years, it is perhaps no surprise to find signature cocktail menus even at all-day dining outfits such as Sol & Luna.

The bistro is open from day to night, as its sun-and-moon name suggests. Part of 1-Group, and reflecting the latter's penchant for high-rise dining, Sol & Luna is located on the 17th floor of CapitaSpring, at the base of the 4-storey Green Oasis garden.

"We took inspiration from the cool and breezy Mediterranean landscape and culture," said Christopher Millar, culinary director of 1-Group, explaining Sol & Luna's focus on the four Latin European countries of Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal.

The menu runs from breakfast and brunch through lunch, tea, tapas, dinner - and of course, drinks. Apart from indoor and alfresco seating at Sol & Luna itself, customers may also dine at any of the work and social spaces within the Green Oasis.

The cocktails, too, are meant for all-day drinking, said 1-Group's group bar manager Hyrul Aslam: light, refreshing, and fit for a garden setting.

Each one is inspired by a Latin-European country, from the Spanish sangria-esque Cidra Morada Y Vino - with white wine, blood orange, Licor 43, sugar, lemon, and house-made red cabbage soda - to the Sensation De Poire, which blends cognac with Williams pear liqueur, an apple-pear-and-fennel syrup, lemon juice, and egg white.

Besides providing a convivial setting, the garden contributes directly to the drinks, in the form of ingredients from 1-Arden Food Forest, the group's urban farm.

Hibiscus flowers, for instance, are used to infuse tonic for the Italian-inspired, Aperol-involving Dolce Ibisco, as well as gin for the bright pink Lisbon Lips.

Besides cocktails, Sol & Luna offers a range of wines, beers, ciders, and spirits, with a focus on the Latin European countries - for wine, of course, but also gins from France, Italy, and Spain, and ciders from Spain and Portugal, among others.

Lisbon Lips

45 ml hibiscus-infused gin 20 ml Bellambre bitters 15 ml beetroot syrup 10 ml fresh lemon juice 10 ml egg white 4 ml raspberry puree