Whole Foods

Todd scooped me up in his BMW convertible outside on Bonham Road then handed me a book of road maps, “What do I do with this?” I panicked as I haven’t seen a road map in decades. “You’re playing navigator,” Todd Darling, restaurateur of the newly opened Posto Publico, told me. “Where’s your GPS? Wait, I’ve got one on my iPhone…” I said hoping for a promise of actually getting to our destination. He threw me a yuppie brat look. “Nice BMW Todd,” I fired back.
Todd and I were headed for Yuen Long, into farm country to watch vegetables grow, and maybe kill a pig. As we cruised through fume-choked tunnels, he spoke about how he wanted to be a different kind of restaurateur, better than the model we currently have. His philosophy: There are many ways to make money, why not choose to be ethical while making cash?
We pulled up to Hong's Organics farm, and I stepped out to plant my driving loafers into fresh mud. There were butterflies everywhere and a sweetness in the air, perhaps fresh? Todd was arranging vegetable pickups for the restaurant’s opening. He has chosen this supplier because Thomas Fung, the owner, was one of the only farmers who wanted to work with a non-Chinese. It has been a struggle to source ingredients locally for his restaurant as the simpler option would’ve been to do what everyone else is doing: pick up the phone to a mass supplier. But “this is the only way I want to open a restaurant,” he said.
I’m well-read enough to know how to eat healthy and respectfully, but lack the time and commitment to this way of life full time. There are too many rules and inconveniences: buy only vegetables from certified organic farms from lands afar, find line-caught fish that isn’t on the endangered list (memorise the endangered list), eat eggs from birds raised on acres of land that pooped out eggs when it felt like and not forced with hormones. If this process was only made easier for the yuppie eat-gooder, say in the form of a restaurant, then I would subscribe. I’m also a cynic as I know how our supermarkets jack up prices for items labeled with marketing buzz words of the season (‘organic’, ‘free range’, ‘healthy’) when in fact it really depends on which bodies certifies it. My skepticism started early in life when I learned beef were cows, pork were pigs, and chicken fingers was from ground up chicken parts. Much like the line ‘green tea will prevent cancer’, I eat with caution.
I kept asking Todd what’s his gimmick? What kind of pony show will your restaurant have? As a food writer I need those talking points for my story. “Nothing,” he said over and over again. And it wasn’t until I sat down with him and his partners at his restaurant before I completely understood what he was saying. Serving fresh foods shouldn't be a hook or a sell point. It should be what every restaurant in the country is serving. Real, whole foods.
Inside Posto Publico’s kitchen, I was shocked this restaurant made their own breads, cheeses, and fish are from sustainable sources. They pretty much do everything themselves but milk their own cows (that might be in Q3). I had to stop and ask myself why this was shocking to see. It was only when seated in front a platter of roasted baby vegetables and chicken Francais that I knew this shouldn’t be a diner’s privilege, it should be every diner’s given right to be served such foods. This is how a real restaurant is supposed to run.
“We have a responsibility (in the food industry) to served people whole food,” Todd said. Other restaurant owners call him and his team idealists, and predict their end citing the high rent and food cost will buckle them. But I think they are onto something, here’s what Bostonian Restaurant has to say about going 100 per cent sustainable by 2010:
“We have seen a large increase in demand for sustainable eating this year. As people grow more concerned about the future of our environment and food sources, I think it is our responsibility to ensure we are sustainable where possible,” said executive chef Mark Bannon, of The Langham. They have been sourcing suppliers and making sure they can receive goods all year round. When budgeting cost factors, they found it not too huge of a jump from their nonsustainable supplier s. They also plan to educate the staff on why and where their fish will come from as they will ultimately educate Bostonian’s customer.
I was at the Sydney Food Fair a few weeks ago, and each restaurant we visited (Otto, Quay, Kables) had the names of the farms the vegetables grew in, names of the butchers who supplied the meats, and even the valley in which the fizzy water was bottled. Restaurants were proud to highlight their produce selection and suppliers, which in turns make them take the responsibility, and creditability, for what they serve customers. Pride and customer satisfaction from one line of ownership.
We forget eating isn’t a cuisine, or a dish, or even entertainment. It’s to feed our bodies. It is for enjoyment, and by that I don’t mean ordering from the alba truffles menu, I mean ingesting real food in which your body can enjoy its nutrients and healing benefits.
My Hong's Organic farmed carrot had a rotted hole running through its body, this doesn’t happen with industrially grown carrots. But it was simply roasted with a bit of oil and salt, and it tasted of sunshine. If you have never tasted a real carrot or tomato or fresh corn picked only hours ago, then you have not eaten. I realise this way of eating will have rots and bugs and worms and dirt. All of which I am looking forward to consuming if it means it tastes this good.