EAT WELL

The line between farm and kitchen is blurring as more top chefs grow their own produce to improve the health of diners, the community and the planet.

- VICTORIA BURROWS

Indulging in an exceptional meal is surely one of the great joys in life. Now, thanks to a growing number of top chefs with a conscience, you can feed both body and mind, knowing that what you are eating is healthier for you, the community and the planet. At Air, the sprawling new venture on Dempsey Road by three leading lights of the hospitality world-lauded chef Matthew Orlando, World's Best Pastry Chef 2021 Will Goldfarb and founder of the Potato Head hotel, bars and restaurants Ronald Akili - awareness, impact and responsibility are built into the concept, spelling out the acronym of the restaurant's name.

"This project is about impact. It's about using flavour and deliciousness to tell a story about how we can exist on the planet in a less intrusive way," says Orlando.

COPENHAGEN TO DEMPSEY

After working in some of the world's most respected kitchens, including with René Redzepi at Copenhagen's Noma and Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck in England, the American chef in 2013 opened Amass in Copenhagen, which quickly earned the reputation as one of the world's most cutting-edge sustainability hotspots.

Amass closed at the end of 2022, when Orlando moved to Singapore, bringing his philosophy and innovations (particularly in reducing waste) with him. He is working closely with Goldfarb, who splits his time between Air and his boundary-breaking Room4Dessert in Bali.

Air takes up over 40,000sqft of a former civil service clubhouse complex, and comprises a two-storey restaurant plus research laboratory, cooking school and garden farm. The team grows its own herbs, salads and vegetables, and will host classes in the garden to let people, particularly school children, get their hands dirty and learn about how things grow and taste straight from the ground.