Restaurants Flip the Script With Table-to-Farm Dining

Farm-to-table doesn’t always mean bringing the best of local farms’ produce to the restaurants. In fact, recently it’s meant the opposite with a new generation of farms taking advantage of consumers’ newfound dedication to local production and debuting restaurants of their own. Any hospitality operation comes with challenges, but these farm restaurants have a particular set of obstacles to overcome. They are tasked with coordinating crops and cuisine and tailoring menus to seasonal availability all while balancing costs and communications. Babel is perhaps one of the best examples of a farm restaurant. Set on one of South Africa's more manicured gardens at Babylonstoren, the restaurant sources all of its vegetables, meats and cheese either directly from Babylonstoren’s 8.6 acre-garden, its external fields, or neighboring farms. The restaurant is considered expensive by South African standards, with main plates generally around US $15-21 although Simone Rossouw, the food an