Experience The here and Now of dining
GET THE TASTE
Just 15 minutes from Palma and surrounded by olive, almond and orange trees, La Farm brings you extraordinary bohemian farm-to-table experience.
La Farm is not a location. It’s an experience. The relaxed, life-celebrating version of the farm-to-table philosophy comes with no pretentiousness, but with pure delight in unadulterated flavours and an abundance of local and seasonal ingredients. All of these are combined with relaxed club vibes in an open-air bar located at the heart of an orange grove. The perfect ingredients for unforgettable, endless summer nights under the Balearic sky.
THE Manifesto
We are all aware that the way we live and the ways we consume will have to change if we want to leave this planet intact for future generations.
However, instead of pointing fingers or demanding radical changes, abstinence or even prohibitions when it comes to consumption, why not just combine two seemingly contradictory approaches to let people really enjoy being the change.
In concrete terms, this means combining the sustainable kilometre zero philosophy, which focuses on seasonal, local produce from the immediate vicinity, with the pure joie de vivre of Balearic summer nights, to celebrate life in all its facets and at the same time do our bit to protect our environment. We can’t save the world on our own, but we can do what is within our reach.
§1: Local and seasonal is better - especially for small local farmers
§2: Taking farm-to-table to a new culinary level
§3: Signature dishes don’t necessarily need fish and meat
§4: KM Zero is our goal
The shorter the journey, the better. Our goal is KM Zero. If we can’t grow it ourselves or get it from a local farmer, we’ll leave it out and use a local alternative. Without reducing variety in any shape or form. The same goes for seasonal produce. If something isn’t available at some point during the year, we’ll simply remove it from the menu until it can be harvested fresh and ripe again. We also make no exceptions when it comes to fish and meat, restricting ourselves to local and seasonal produce.
§5: Just Organic isn’t enough
§6: No pesticides, no intensive farming, no GM food
As explained in §5 “Just Organic isn’t enough”, pesticides and intensive farming are no-go areas. Industrially grown food is often based on easy-to-grow or even genetically modified varieties that have lost much of their natural flavour. It’s therefore of no use to us. Instead, we believe that terroir – the unique environmental conditions and geographical characteristics of the region of cultivation – has a decisive influence on the character and quality of an agricultural product. Purely in a positive way.
§7: Revitalising the Balearic culinary heritage
As a region the Balearics have always been rich in its variety of influences. Exotic spices from India and the Orient conquered the entire Mediterranean region early on. The Balearics have partly even belonged longer to Africa than to the European mainland. Unfortunately, much has since been forgotten. Our culinary concept, curated by chef Vivek Singh, cookbook author and initiator of London’s prestigious Cinnamon Club, brings this wealth of flavours back to the island and to the tables of La Farm.
§8: Making sustainability a lifestyle
The culinary journey through ahora y aqui, with its celebration of flavours, is a unique tribute to the unique history of the Balearic Islands, with a variety of colourful and flavourful oriental and African influences. It is a celebration of the Balearics and the world at the same time. It’s inspired by everything and everywhere, but it’s not bound to anything except respect for the elements. Our menu reflects, admires, and communicates this essence and purity of nature.
Combining the highest quality and freshness of ingredients with the magic of spices, the menu will take you on a unique journey for the senses.
For us, a simple locally grown tomato is not just a vegetable, it is the building block for creating and building a true flavour artwork. You will get a sense of that art in one of La Farm’s signature dishes that celebrates this simple vegetable in a way you have never tasted before. And just like this example, every meal on La Farm is an occasion, a homage and a celebration.
And while we present a sophisticated dining experience, we remain committed to barefoot luxury. La Farm isn’t just a restaurant. It’s a moment and a feeling to share with friends. A breath of life. A bazaar of ideas, flavours and multi-sensory experiences that combine taste, smell, sight and sound. You could call it barefoot luxury fun dining. We call it the Here and Now.
AH
ORA
Y
AQUI
Vivek Singh is not only an award-winning chef, author of a number of cookery books and initiator founder of London’s renowned Cinnamon Club, he is now also a co-farmer at La Farm. And out of conviction. The idea of a farm-to-table restaurant on the sunny island of Mallorca inspired him right from the start. A stroke of luck, as he contributes his invaluable knowledge of flavours and spices and curates the dishes that our head chef and his team create for La Farm.
KM ZERO IS OUR GOAL
The shorter the journey, the better. Our goal is KM Zero. If we can’t grow it ourselves or get it from a local farmer, we’ll leave it out and use a local alternative.
Insights from a real mastermind
Interview with Vivek Singh
WHAT’S THE SECRET OF SPICES?
The secret of spices lies in their ability to elevate senses like little else. Through taste, smell, texture (touch) and colour, spices create magic. Whether used on their own or in combination with other spices, they create layer upon layer of flavours, lifting the simplest of ingredients to dizzying heights of enjoyment.
Akin to creating music in an orchestra, spices are the performers in a kitchen, helping, supporting, responding at the command of the conductor. Contrary to popular belief, they are always there to support, to improve, to enhance any ingredient, never to overpower or take over.
Whilst the debate goes on about whether we have 5 senses, or 7, or indeed 22, spices go about their role in enhancing ingredients, their lives, as well as contributing to our health via their medicinal and preservative qualities.
EARTH, WIND, FIRE, AND WATER. SHOULD FLAVOUR NOT BE THE FIFTH ELEMENT?
Earth, air, fire, water, and space.The debate continues whether flavour should be an element too, or should flavour and time be the 5th and 6th elements.
Well, it’s clear to us that cooking isn’t possible in the absence of any of these elements, so we need all of them. But the question is why cook at all? And if the answer is to create or recreate an ‘experience’ then both flavour and time become just as relevant.
Cooking and food have the ability to transport people to a place and time, both in the past or in the future. Of the millions of species on our planet, no others ever cook their food, we are the only species to do so. Even more, we are the only species that cooks for others. The power of this connection to the elements, the act of giving to others, the power to create memories of a time and place, the ability to touch the hearts and minds of others through an act (cooking), is what makes these experiences unique.
La Farm will celebrate this connection among the different elements and combine them to create experiences which will be truly memorable. Whether it’s simple vegetables grown locally and roasted on the fire via freshly baked flat breads using local artisanal flour to freshe seafood being treated with the respect it deserves, or even truly interested guests learning to cook at La Farm during their stay, each of these acts will be a truly authentic experience that will connect the elements and elevate the senses.
WHAT DINING TRENDS DO YOU SEE RIGHT NOW?
– Barefoot luxury. Doing less to top quality ingredients. No ostentatious display of OTT wealth
– Conscious, connected, planet-friendly offerings
– Quality local, seasonal produce cooked purely and with respect
– Each meal an occasion, a celebration
– Relaxed, sharing style, fun dining (not fussy fine dining) interactive theatrical feasts
– Increased focus on health, wellbeing, and environmental awareness
– A global approach to flavours, drawing inspiration from everywhere, a bazaar of ideas, a buffet of flavours, borrowing, lending, exchanging, trading yet at the same time celebrating our local heritage and produce
– A range of multi-sensory experiences that combines sound, sight, smell, theatre, and taste
WHY IS LA FARM A PERFECT THEATRE STAGE FOR THE CELEBRATION OF FLAVOURS?
The Balearics have their own unique history of oriental and African influences over the millennia. Layer that with the more recent European interaction. Combine that with the Mediterranean climate and environment. Season liberally with influences we all experience each day in today’s global world. Marinate each of these in the unique combination of elements at La Farm and we have pretty much a perfect recipe for a celebration of flavours.
This unique celebration is both outward facing and inward looking at the same time. It’s both a celebration of the Balearics as well as the world at the same time. It’s inspired by everything and everywhere, yet not tied to anything except its respect for the elements. The La Farm experience is both from nowhere and from everywhere. It is the NOW & HERE of a connected, mindful experience.
Feel
Good
Paying a little more attention to our planet can feel pretty good. Especially when, instead of pointing the finger, you have a concept that focuses on local and seasonal diversity rather than sacrifice, allowing you to enjoy life with a smile on your face and the knowledge that you are making a positive contribution at the same time.
La Farm’s unique farm-to-table philosophy, which combines culinary excellence, top quality, fairness to producers and the environment with unbridled joie de vivre, makes it feel like just that. We think it feels pretty good.
Farm to table
What does it mean in detail to combine the good with the beautiful? How do we achieve our high standards without resorting to the usual suspects who usually supply top chefs with all the exotic ingredients from all over the world, all year round?
In Mallorca, the table is laid more than generously. Almost everything grows here. Already around the 10th century, Arab sailors brought oranges to the island and probably tomatoes as well. And to this day, so much more has been added that we will never run out of ingredients.
What we don’t grow ourselves grows in our immediate neighbourhood. Sheep and cattle graze among the olive and orange trees. And the famous Mallorcan pig roots around in the earth when it’s not basking in the sun (they really like to do that). Our fish is caught right off the coast by local fishermen with a fishing rod or small nets. But of course only during the authorised fishing times and only outside the protected areas. And if the fishermen return to port in the morning with little or no fish, there will be something else on the menu.
Orange tree bar
We also have rooms on our menu
We’ll let you in on a secret. La Farm has 10 rooms exclusively for restaurant guests. So if you don’t feel like getting back in the car or taxi after dinner, and would rather end the evening relaxing in the Orange Bar, you can simply book one of these rooms in addition to your dining experience.*
And in the morning, our kitchen team will leave a well-filled picnic basket on your doorstep and you can choose to have breakfast in bed, take it to the pool, choose a cosy spot in the shade of the olive trees or just take it to the beach to start your day.
*Rooms can only be booked in conjunction with a table reservation. Minimum stay is 2 nights.
