The three-part series showcases 50 of its chefs’ favorite creations from the past nine years.
Cabbage steak served at Locavore. (All photos courtesy of Locavore Bali)
Bali-bound foodies now have even more reason to make a beeline for Locavore, one of Ubud’s hottest dining destinations. And it’s not simply because the small restaurant regularly stars on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list as the sole entry from Indonesia in the rankings. Since opening their venture in 2013, Chef-owners Eelke Plasmeijer and Ray Adriansyah have championed a sustainable, hyper-local approach to create modernist Indonesian-fusion cuisine. Now, the dynamic duo are presenting a final series of tasting menus ahead of their departure from the venue’s current digs and what’s being teased as Locavore Next, a project slated to open in the first quarter of 2023.
The recent launch of Locavore’s “exhibition menu” concept offers a nostalgic look back through both art and avant-garde cooking. Titled Artefacts: A History of Locavore in Fifty Edible Ideas, it celebrates the chefs’ favorite creations from the past nine years through a changing lineup of their “greatest hits.” The first installment will run through the end of September, and features signature bites such as Into the Sawah, which combines heritage galuh rice grown in nearby Tegalalang with foraged rice-field snails, duck egg cooked sous-vide at 64 degrees, frog-leg floss, and powdered fern tips.
Locavore has also commissioned local artists to immortalize its top 50 dishes with artworks inspired by each one, and turned the restaurant into a hybrid art gallery space to display the individual pieces — all of which are available to purchase. The dishes will be served across three different exhibition menus over the next few months; a four-course tasting experience with a vegetarian option can be booked for dinner from Monday to Saturday from 6 p.m., and lunch every Tuesday to Saturday from 12 noon.
The interior of Locavore has been refreshed for the display of commissioned artworks.
Into the Sawah, a crowd-pleasing signature dish at Locavore Bali.
