Let’s get fresh

CHEFS ARE NOT ONLY ADDING ORGANIC FOODS ON THE MENU BUT SOME OF THEM ARE ALSO STARTING THEIR OWN ORGANIC FOOD GARDENS

Farm to table, spoon to skillet... these are a bunch of fancy buzzwords in the culinary food space right now. Although most restaurants try and market their menus and ingredients as ‘freshly sourced, sustainable and organic’, very few actually make it their ethos behind their menu. At Kitchen Garden by Suzette, Mumbai’s popular Organic eatery, the emphasis is on ‘healing through health’. “We have tied up with a lovely organic farm located in the hills an hour or so from Pune, run by husband and wife Sanmitra and Amrita, two former IT engineers who have dedicated their life to organic farming. They grow the most amazing salads, herbs and veggies with an impressive passion and dedication in spite of all the difficulties that come with organic farming,” says Jeremie Sabbagh, Head Chef and Partner, Kitchen Garden, and a former French lawyer turned restaurateur. So committed was Sabbagh and his team to the organic drive that they started ordering more and more from the farm, and finally decided to increase their collaboration by developing a 8,000 square feet plot of land where they would grow sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beets, fresh herbs and all other delicious veggies on the menu. “This is the beginning of a collaboration that will help us to experiment with new veggies and more importantly get a steady supply of high quality organic produce,” Sabbagh adds. “The ever increasing demands of guests have forced chefs like me to come up with organic foods on the menu. Organic food, according to me as a chef, is food grown naturally without the use of food additives and artificial growth enhancers like pesticides and chemicals. Also, these foods have to be carefully cooked, ensuring the flavours of other ingredients used marry each other well and don’t turn out to be greasy, oily or unhealthy. Bearing all these factors in mind, I came up with my own organic food garden in the hotel backyard which caters to all my organic food needs.” says Chef Jerson Fernandes, Executive Chef, Jeon at Sea Princess Hotel, Mumbai