Open Farm Community – Farm-To-Table Concept in Singapore

Located in the middle of lush greenery, Open Farm Community aims to bring fresh seafood and meat, specially curated using herbs, vegetables and edible flowers from the restaurant’s “farm” to your table. A year after opening, the restaurant is emphasizing on the possibility to go local, support local farming and source local produce here in Singapore. When you understand what you eat, you begin to bring to life local heritage greens and produce from local farms for modern interpretation.

Helming the kitchen is Benjamin Darnaud, a French Chef who started his career at a tender age of 15. He has been trained in various kitchens, including Michel Bras’s three Michelin-star restaurant. Benjamin is passionate about using local produce and works closely with local farmers in Laguiole, France, that became a huge source of influence towards his agricultural efforts today. In Open Farm Community, he hopes to celebrate local produce, showcase possibilities of modern interpretation with local produce and bridge the gap between farmers and chefs.

The ingredients used for preparation of our food are 100% sourced locally. With that in mind, the first dish consisted of snake beans from Quan Fa, garlic shoot from Ghim Moh market, mud crab from Gills & Claws, sayur manis leaves from the restaurant’s farm, as well as, curry leaves, also sourced from their own farm. Perfectly executed, the snow white meat of these mud crabs was distinctively sweet, tender and moist. We enjoyed the textural difference in this dish, especially the crunch from healthy and tasty snake beans and garlic shoot.

The okra (ladies’ fingers) featured here comes from the restaurant’s own garden and from Green Circle, golden spring mushrooms and oyster mushrooms from Kin Yan Agrotech, quail eggs from Seng Choon Farm and Rojak flower and leaves, also from Open Farm Community’s own garden. Okra is a kind of vegetables with very low calories and is rich in dietary fiber, minerals and vitamins while mushrooms have high antioxidants. These are beneficial to maintaining a good health.

The third dish contains barramundi from Kuhlbarra farm, charcoal cooked sweet potato gnocchi from Cynthia’s house, Indian borage, pickled eggplant and sweet potato leaves from Open Farm Community’s garden. Barramundi fish are hardy and fast growing, which makes them suitable for aquaculture. Hence, this fish is currently farmed in Singapore. Barramundi’s buttery sweet flavour and mild taste, with its delicate yet meaty texture will appeal to almost everyone. Worldwide, this fish is also used as a sustainable replacement for other popular overfished species. We enjoyed the chewiness of the charcoal cooked sweet potato gnocchi too.

Last but not least, dessert here came in the form of lemongrass and sour plums from Green Circle, together with ice-cream made in-house at Open Farm Community, hibiscus jelly and sweet jasmine flowers also from Open Farm Community themselves. This is beautifully decorated with dried meringue. It’s indeed a refreshing dessert to cleanse your palate after a satisfying savoury meal but it was too sourish for our liking.

Open Farm Community hopes to scatter their seeds of discovery island-wide. This is the place to patronize if you’re a nature lover and interested in finding out more about growing your own herbs and vegetables. You know … It’s not as hard as you think!