Where Did They Get These Hipster Names From?

Cake & Danger may not be reality for now, but (Something) & (Something) is the new hipster name you should call your next café / restaurant / any type of business.

The benefits: It assures you of a domain and facebook name no other bugger would have. Brand retention, my friend. Plus that bit of imagination for the customers.

But of course, if you sell pies & coffee, you may just want a straight forward name like “Pies & Coffee” instead of “Pastry & Caffeine”.

Here are places in Singapore with the ‘hipster names’. Make a wild guess if you know not what they are selling.

Pince & Pints
What you think it is: Not sure, but it does sound painful.
What it actually is: Lobster place with never ending queues (Its original name was actually Pincer & Pints, but the owners thought that was not snazzy enough. Good move.)

Brawn & Brains
What you think it is: Words you describe your macho boyfriend. Eg, You know, my ang moh boyfriend has ……
What it actually is: A café at Guillemard Road.

Dulce & Sucre
What you think it is: A furniture shop.
What it actually is: A Twelve Cupcakes offspring at 313 Somserset. Dulce means sweet in Latin, and Sucre is sugar in Spanish. (Dulce & Sucre Orchard Gateway)

Queen & Mangosteen
What you think it is: Sister company with “King & Durian”.
What it actually is: “Quintessential British gourmet pub with a whimsical flourish”. Seriously.

Rock & Ash
What you think it is: A volcano eruption.
What it actually is: Fries & Burgers shop.

The Animals

Cat & The Fiddle
What you think it is: A musically talented Hello Kitty.
What it actually is: Online cake shop inspired by inspired by the nursery rhyme “Hey Diddle Diddle”

Whale & Cloud
What you think it is: Pair of ill-fated lovers obsessed with The Storm Riders (Who remembers the show?)
What it actually is: Used-to-be-hidden café which opens once a week at Niven Road

Rabbit (&) Owl Depot
What you think it is: A bedroom in Noah’s Ark.
What it actually is: Ice cream parlour where the lovebird owners call each other ‘Oot-Oot” and ‘Bit-Bit’. No, not kidding. (Rabbit Owl Depot North Bridge Road)

Teddy & Me
What you think it is: Someone with no friends whinning.
What it actually is: Rowan Atkinson Mr Bean inspired café. (Teddy & Me Marina Square)

When Two People Come Together

Carpenter & Cook
What you think it is: Husband and wife team, one’s the carpenter, well, the other’s the cook. Duh.
What it actually is: Vintage home store and bakery café at Lor Kilat.

Baker & Cook
What you think it is: The cook had a divorce with the carpenter and married the baker.
What it actually is: Bakery foodstore at Hillcrest and Chip Bee Gardens.

Joe & Dough
What you think it is: The owner of the bakery MUST BE Joe.
What it actually is: Joe is short for Josephus Daniels who imposed a ban of alcohol on US Navy ships which led to increase consumption of coffee. sorrowful homage to the man

Elffin & Elffin
What you think it is: Pair of twin brothers. Imagine their mummy shouting at them for dinner.
What it actually is: Art gallery café at Haji Lane. (Elffin & Elffin Haji Lane)

More Than A Company

Carvers & Co
What you think it is: Another furniture shop.
What it actually is: Café with roast meats (the English type). Where to have your thanksgiving dinner (Carvers & Co East Coast Road)

Coast & Company
What you think it is: Bikini and trunks shop. Doesn’t it sound sexy and beach-y?
What it actually is: Café and bicycle shop. (Coast & Company Siglap Drive)

Hyde & Co
What you think it is: What Dr Jekyll would use to describe Mr Hyde and his bridge-playing friends.
What it actually is: New café at North Bridge Road who wants to “transform the café space at night” to a drinks place.

Tian Kee & Co
What you think it is: What Dr Jekyll would use to describe his old Singaporean friend Tian Kee and his mahjong kakis.
What it actually is: Provision shop converted into café. (Tian Kee & Co Dakota Crescent)

The Obvious Ones

Bread & Hearth
What you think it is: A bakery store.
What it actually is: A bakery store. (Bread & Hearth Keong Siak Street)

Pies & Coffee
What you think it is: Shop selling pies & coffee.
What it actually is: Shop selling pies & coffee. (Pies & Coffee Rochester Mall)

Moral of the story: Get a hipster business generator to randomly throw out names of combining quirky nouns and animals.

The other method would be to use your name and the food you are selling. Mary & Tau Hway, Ah Tee & Kway Teow, or Laksa & Co. could just work.

Out of curiosity, so what would you call your hipster business? And what would it sell?

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