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#222

OPEN SEASON

21 Sep 2015 By

Open Farm Community’s menu says ‘Cocktails From Our Garden’ and that’s what you’ll get: libations served with herbs and spices from their own garden. Super fresh is now second nature.

Across the road from where Open Farm Community is planted (naturally), the Singapore Botanic Gardens has just been declared a Unesco World Heritage Site. In its own small and edgy way, OFC is also making a green gambit, with the kind of concept most F&B outlets think about, discuss dutifully but rarely execute.

OFC is a collaborative effort between Spa Esprit Group, chef Ryan Clift and award-winning food garden specialists, Edible Garden City. The experiential space provides an urban garden for people to have a more meaningful interaction with plants and greens: Most of us live in apartments, but do you know how easy it is to grow your own basil?

All the plants that are grown here – and beautifully landscaped, might I add – are edible. Just go ahead and pluck the leaves and petals and chew on that. The restaurant uses everything that’s grown here, which ranges from begonia, peppermint, lemon balm, Indian snake weed (not what you think), passion fruit, plum soursop and stevia, a naural sugar without all the unhealthy effects. And by restaurant we also mean the bar.

Open Farm Community

Photo© @davidwiseguy

The Smashing Good Thyme (S$18) has Bacardi Rum, fresh lime, green peas, yellow chartreuse and thymes.

Open Farm Community

Photo© @davidwiseguy

The CapriOFCa (S$18) is vodka, lime and mint – fresh from the garden of course.

Open Farm Community

 Photo© @davidwiseguy

The OFC Pimms (S$16) in a shiny silver cup, with Pimms, ginger ale, strawberry, cucumber, mint and lemon.

Open Farm Community

Photo© @davidwiseguy

Of course it would be remiss if we didn’t mention the food. It’s modern Australian with Asian touches, especially the herbs from the garden: Coal baked omelette with smoked haddock, tarragon and grain mustard mornay; chilled avocado and ginger soup with poached yabbies and fresh radish (above); and mud crab spaghettoni with Thai curry sauce, crunchy yellow
squash, coconut, crispy shallot Thai basil – the pastas are well done and imaginative, and all generally spicy for some reason.

Open Farm Community

The whole hacienda look is a perfect brunch setting (it’s also packed most times, book ahead), with a coffee bar, a fresh juice and cocktail bar, as well as educational breakout spaces alongside group activities such as lawn bowling and table tennis. You could easily settle here for the evening and just marvel at the urban garden, knowing full well that the plants have contributed to the bracing flavour of the cocktail you’re imbibing.

Open Farm Community, 130E Minden Road, Singapore 248819. Tel: 6471-0306

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