Garden Pesto Pasta at OFC

Went out to dinner at Open Farm Community (OFC). We really like the vibes of the restaurant and how they incorporate local produce into the menu. There's nothing fancy about it, and the menu provides real food done well. However, we weren't so sure that the man's parents would take to the food. LOL It's a little too innovative for them. Ah well, if they want to have Choya along at dinner, then the venue takes precedence over their preferences. They will have to bear with no air-conditioning, non-plush seats and tables, as well as the outdoor heat and humidity, and food that they're not comfortable with. 

The table ordered the meats of locally raised duck rillette, spice braised beef brisket and roasted spring chicken thigh. We also shared the Tiberias red snapper ceviche, corn and coconut chowder, and Kin Yan mushroom tortellini (from Kin Yan Farm). They also got to dessert and picked a banana brulee with tamarind fudge and sourdough ice-cream, and additional scoops of chocolate and vanilla ice-cream. I didn’t bother with dessert. Stuck to wine. The drinks menu still doesn’t impress me much. To be honest, their mocktails are fantastic. Hahaha. 

The cauliflower ‘wings’ were a little jarring. The dish reminded me of rojak. Each piece of cauliflower was doused in a thick paste of sesame miso, tamarind and green onions, which were caramelized and ended up tasting sweet. Ugh. It didn’t appeal to me at all. I wasn’t keen on meats tonight, and was very happy with my main of garden pesto pasta. I only picked at the rest of the dishes, to try, ostensibly. The braised local eggplant with fermented black bean, tau kwa, cashew and long pepper was pretty good. The eggplants' marinade leaned a tad sweet but I forgave it because the pepper gave it some heat and cut through the glaze. 

The dog was okay through dinner. She was fairly nervous for the first 15 minutes. But she managed. She trembled a wee bit but didn’t pant. After being wary and checking out the potential threats, she decided that the threat level was low. So she laid down and snoozed. Whewwwww. We were seated at a comfortable table closest to the garden. It felt less scary that being stuck indoors in a corner where she couldn’t smell grass, soil or the sea. I think that these are comforting smells for her.