Vijay Mudaliar

Co-Owner, Native

Singapore

Vijay is a rising star in the Singapore Cocktail Scene. His career started in 2008 as a student looking for spare cash. An opportunity came knocking when Michelin Starred Chef Jason Atherton was expanding in Singapore. Vijay was part of the opening team for pollen Singapore before heading on to set-up The Library Bar a fun quirky bar in Keong Saik Road. Whilst still under the group, Vijay was sent to London to stage at The Blind Pig which won worlds best restaurant bar in The Tales of The Cocktail award ceremony in New Orleans 2015.

Vijay then moved on to work with Luke Whearty at Operation Dagger, a progressive bar that explores distillation, fermentation and other forward-thinking techniques. Operation dagger won the best new bar at Singapore Bar awards in 2015 and in 2016 won the best creative cocktail bar. On the world stage, Operation Dagger was credited 57th Best Bar in the world by Drinks International and Asia's 7th Best Bar 2016.

Vijay is also a pioneer in Singapore for a modern form of foraging coined as 'urban foraging' which involves searching for wild food resources and incorporating them into cocktails. Also a firm believer in using local produce that is close Asian roots.

Vijay has also participated in countless competitions and placed in many finals. In 2012, he won 2nd place in the Diplomatico Rum Competition in Singapore before winning it in 2014 and representing Singapore in the World Finals. In the world finals, he placed top 8. Vijay was also voted 3rd best bartender in Singapore by his peers in the Singapore bar awards in 2015 and 2016.