After a series of pop-ups, plant-based initiative Forest will take over Dominion Road's The Midnight Baker for one month.
Forest is the creation of chef Plabita Florence. The philosophy of the pop-up is to highlight wild plants that are literally overgrown throughout the city and to utilise underrated parts of produce that are normally destined for the bin. Previous tasting menus have featured the likes of purple kumara gnocchi with black garlic broth, and smoked beets with nasturtium mustard and silverbeet stalk pickles.
From 2 May until 20 June the Forest team will be serving dinner at The Midnight Baker every Thursday. For $85 per person diners will be served six courses with ingredients sourced from local urban farms and foraged from around the city.
Plabita says the menu will feature a few things that diners won't have tried before, alongside familiar ingredients presented in new ways. Choko with feijoa vinegar, squash with a sauce made from its offcuts, kumara greens and pickled rosemary flowers, persimmon with pineapple sage and sapote custard, toasted acorn coffee will all be found on the menu.
A selection of fermented drinks will also be available including cider made with crab apples found on the streets of Western Springs, coffee chaff cola made using the husk of coffee beans, iced rivermint eucalyptus tea with fennel pollen and lemon verbena, along with a selection of botanical kombuchas.
Bookings are taken via email on justaskforest@gmail.com, or via direct message on the Forest Facebook and Instagram pages. 18 seats are available per seating.
Image: Forest.