Sometimes it’s the simplicity and honesty that strikes a chord and leaves an everlasting impression. That is exactly what Farmlore will do to anyone who knows how to appreciate the good things in life. Celebrate the best of seasonal produce on a 37-acre farm at Bagalur in Bengaluru, where natural farming and sustainable living are at the forefront of a Chef’s Table that endorses eclecticism at its core. Farmlore is a fine example of sustainability and discovering “Locavore” traditions, cultures, while connecting with Mother Earth.

What’s grown at the farm dictates the menu, and the menu changes every day in accordance to the foraging and the harvest. Combined with the skill of former Noma & Michelin-starred restaurant chefs Johnson Ebenezer, Mythrayie Iyer & Avinnash Vishaal, every single dish here is sheer magic. They don’t have a set menu and the dishes don’t have names. The menu is dictated by the prologue of ingredients. Everytime you’re here to dine, you may be surprised with a new dish from that day’s farm produce. The restaurant on the outskirts of Bangalore, in the middle of a farm takes only 18 diners at one time and since its inception has been fully booked by food enthusiasts. There are options of a five-course lunch or a tasting menu of 10 courses for dinner.

What’s Unique: The fire for cooking is from the pruned Mango woods at Farmlore. The wood adds a deep character to all the recipes the ace chefs create here. Kannagi, wood fired oven, Anjenaya, wood fired pit and other such traditional methods of agriculture, mulching, composting, sustainable power source using solar energy are used here, alongside the latest in modern technology. There are also farm animals like halikar cows and chickens which are the source of milk and eggs here. Farmlore also houses hydroponic spaces to grow its produce and follows natural farming enriched by various traditional methods.

At the core of Lore is its founder and visionary Kaushik Raju, with Chef Johnson Ebenezer, Chef Patron and Co-founder on the kitchen helms. Lore was what founder Kaushik Raju and Co-founder Johnson Ebenezer or Chef JE as he’s popularly known as – was working on after they had met three years ago in Kuala Lumpur. They started with Lore and soon adapted to the changing times, when they fiddled upon the idea of sustainability, and Lore transpired into Farmlore.

Head chef Mythrayie Iyer who had a stint at Noma joined as a Head chef and Avinnash Vishal who worked at Frantzen in Sweden joined as a Jr Sous chef with a vision to curate memorable dining experiences in Bangalore. Johnson feels, “If the French kept their food at home, it would not have come out. It is time to show that our South Indian food can be made in different ways.”

Chef Johnson Ebenezer:
After 18 years of honing skill sets around the world, at every possible section in a fine dining restaurant to a luxury liner and to five-star luxury hotels, Johnson landed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to create something unique at Nadodi. It took him to great heights, and he was featured in the Michelin Guide of Singapore, earning the nick name Flavourful Disruptor. But what it did was- irk him more than making him merry. He questioned himself on why he was doing all this in a country which wasn’t his homeland. That’s when he decided it was time to head back to where he belonged – India, and do his country proud. His dreams brought him to Lore; where he built a team and nurtured it, slowly yet steadily.

1. When and how did you decide you wanted to enter the food industry?
My uncle who worked for the cruise industry in the early 90s was sort of an inspiration, mostly due to the fact that post cards arrived from different parts of the world. At 18, I felt going around the world would be one of the coolest thing and hence felt being a chef, I would be able to achieve that dream. It’s been well over 23 years to be precise, at 1998 after culinary certificate from IHM, I worked as an apprentice at Taj Coromandel for three years, and on the closure to apprenticeship, I decided to chase my dream of travelling around the world so got through the interview and went on to join Carnival Cruises in March 2000. Starting from scratch and doing 18-hour shifts were something common. My dad used to pay visits to the hotel staff gate just to see me getting in to my house. I would arrive late and go to work early. Getting back home on late night lorries after 2 am were common as well. My mom used to wait for me with some pain relievers and woollen socks soaked in hot water to apply to my soothing overworked feet.

2. What have been the highpoints of your journey so far?
Definitely getting featured on the Michelin guide of Singapore for Nadodi was a high point and lately overwhelmed by the response for Farmlore.

3. How did the idea of Farmlore come about?
Lore was the reason I wanted to come back to India after discussions and meet ups at KL with Kaushik. The synergy was organic but COVID pushed the idea of Lore to Farmlore, as the core of Lore decided to tinker upon the philosophy of sustainable dining.

4. Which are the countries you have travelled to and drawn any inspirations from?
The travel diaries are quite ominous. I have travelled the Americas and lived there for over seven years. Northern Europe and south east Asia are other places I have lived and explored, so the inspirations are quite eclectic.

5. What are the latest trends in the food industry?
I don’t actually believe in trends. Ethical farming, dining and sustainability has to be the forefront of any cooking ethos.

6. What do you like to do when you’re not working in the kitchen?
My Leah, Leam, Movies & a bit of F1 with a touch of sports keeps me occupied.

7. Any advice to the budding chefs? Where do you think the industry is heading now?
Being a chef is all about foreseeing the guests reaction when they see the plate till they wipe that plate clean. It isn’t about calling out an order on Kitchen Order Ticket and waiting for the response of “Yes CHEF” from your counterpart. It’s about putting your heart on that plate, it’s about feeling the temperature, it’s about eyeing every single detail, it’s about wiping that place clean after you’re done, and that is why I am blessed with the best team in the world, we don’t hit the sack until all those plates are cleaned and put back in its space. It’s about fulfilling every single deed, there is no hierarchy and I don’t believe in it in our kitchen, we don’t see this as work, we see it as a way of our lives.

8. What has your work been like in the south of India and where all have you worked at in South India?
Taj Coromandel is where I started. I worked with Radisson Blu Chennai and few years at Westin Chennai at various roles from Jr sous to Executive Sous chef.

9. Something about the south Indian cuisine you like and have incorporated in your various dishes?
I don’t believe in labelling cuisines or dishes. Cultural references and its ingredients at the forefront generally works well in curating a recipe for me not to forget flavour pairings.

10. Which is your personal favourite dish? Which is your most popular dish that people go gaga about?
My personal favourite would be the Biryani. I like to cook and understand ingredients and its composition every time I need to surprise myself.

11. How do you balance personal and work life with your hectic schedules?
We at Farmlore have a 5-day workweek culture, and that we feel gives us the time to balance as well. Although it’s a given norm for other professionals to have a five-day workweek, Hospitality in India has always been a six-day long hours affair. To be productive, a work-life balance is essential, and creativity tends to dwell and flourish on rested minds, and hence we at Farmlore are now on “5-day workweek”.

12. Share some of your experiences from Farmlore.
Farmlore is a place which dwells on being passionate to the skills and its philosophy – day in and day out. Most of them are thrilled that we decided to head back to India and be bold about expressing our craft, I should thank our founder Kaushik Raju, for giving us the platform to express and be passionate about the craft. Everyone who walks into our big charred doors are special, and we dwell on the thought about this from both sides of the plate. When someone takes that very first bite of a meal they make certain sounds, body sign language and facial expressions. There’s a breed of us who look for that with anticipation and that is a perfect feedback we as “Chefs” look for, victory is defined just then.

13. What’s a typical day for you like?
Sixteen hours of living a dream each day – the rest to sleep of course.

14. Your team is a pleasure to watch at work from the Chef’s Table at Farmlore. How do you work around to make it look so seamless?
I’m not the smartest fellow in the world, but I sure can pick smart colleagues. After every pop up (lunch or dinner), each one of us would have at-least done 20K steps in a span of three hours (thanks to our phone apps we can track). For all those late night scrambles back, we used to have cramps on the legs and couldn’t wake up in the mornings due to the exhaustion at nights. Not to forget Kaushik used to take us around after his day at his duels and further helping us in the FOH, for late nights grubs after those events, be it just a Nippet or hot idlis or early morning hours at Chickpet or even Ramadan grub walks. Differences should be there and working with it and around it is the key. We have been together for three years now, our lives now have two families, and for us Farmlore is a stage of art, and over this last three years of bonding, we have learnt how to jive and put on a show as well.

15. What are your future plans?
Keep innovating and spread the word on sustainability and ethical farming and dining experiences.

Chef Mythrayie Iyer:
She never thought this is what she would become, as an aspiring IIT candidate. Curiosity got the best in her and triggered her lifelong fascination with food, which eventually paved way for a professional career. She started her career with ITC Hotels and was chosen to be a part of the pre-opening team of Restaurant Avartana (Progressive Southern Indian). This assignment instilled in her a sense of responsibility towards procuring seasonal produce, being locavore and finding the suitable technique to bring out the best on a plate. She also worked at Restaurant NOMA under Chef Rene and his team, which was a game changer for her. This changed her perspective and she started looking at things differently, not only cooking but how work culture and environment could make such a big difference. Skills can always be taught; the right attitude is something you must possess is her credo.

1. When and how did you decide you wanted to enter the food industry?
I decided to go with this line when I had to choose between Culinary or BITS Pilani. It was a random decision since I was this kid with a major thing for good food. Coming from a vegetarian family, cooking meats were initially my concern before I joined a culinary school.

2. What have been the highpoints of your journey so far?
Noma was definitely a game changer for me and being a part of two big preopening projects (Farmlore and Avartana) is something I got blessed with and I wouldn’t change a thing.

3. How did the idea of Farmlore come about?
We had talks about doing something small, but didn’t actualise until the pandemic hit. The best part is the concept took shape over few months with the philosophy growing on us, not just as a work space culture but rather a lifestyle.

4. How do you keep innovating and reinventing every time?
It’s a constant process of reading, brainstorming and discussing with the team bringing out various possibilities. Going out to small local eateries sometimes brings in ideas too. My major stops have been Ireland and Denmark with a lot more to travel around the globe in the future.

5. What are the latest trends in the food industry?
Comfort food I guess. I see a lot of chefs with restaurants serving experimental menus also opening up places having comfort food with straight forward flavours.

6. What do you like to do when you’re not working in the kitchen?
My go-to activities are either going for a run, yoga or jumping around with loud music on.

7. Any advice to the budding chefs? Where do you think the industry is heading now?
It’s very important to travel and get expertise from chefs from around the world but it’s also important to always remember to stick to your roots.

8. What has your work been like in the south of India and where all have you worked at in South India?
I worked at Restaurant Avartana, ITC Grand Chola before I left for Noma. We used to experiment with flavours of Tamil Nadu which fuelled my love for this cuisine even further and now it’s Farmlore at a different level.

9. What is it about the south Indian cuisine you like and have incorporated in your various dishes?
I have grown up eating flavours of the south, so it’s very comforting. I like how we take those flavours and work on techniques and explore new possibilities every time. A clear example is the ridge gourd dish, one of the very first dish I worked on.

10. Which is your personal favourite dish? Which is your most popular dish that people go gaga about?
People have their own perspective about various dishes. Few of them have been a clear win – MOSS (smoked eggplant), Egg in an egg (a story on Giriraja eggs) and the famous Mudde with fermented drumstick that everyone loves.

11. How do you balance personal and work life with your hectic schedules?
The 5-day work week and maintaining no work talk during those two days, does wonders to come back to the week with loaded energy and ideas.

12. Share some of your experiences from Farmlore?
We have had many guests who have dined in various restaurants from around the world who we take inspirations from. It’s a crazy good feeling when they relate us to those restaurants. We are transparent about every process that we do in Farmlore and take pride in that.

13. What’s a typical day for you like?
It’s like we are grooving for a song all day long, so much energy around with similar mindsets. Family meals, the service adrenaline rush and deep clean is something I always look forward to during the day.

14. Your team is a pleasure to watch, but are there times when you guys have any sort of differences in the kitchen?
Yes, we have our own differences. It’s not always a bed of roses. But being a family for over two years now, we know our strengths and working on such situations never required special attention. It’s part and parcel of the day, you keep movin’!

15. What are your future plans?
I want to contribute my best to Farmlore and in late future have a space for myself in Chennai.