Let's go there: The Earth Kitchen (Part 1)
- snowy_skin
- Apr 8, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: May 4, 2019
One of the most impressive lunches I've had in Sydney is at The Earth Kitchen. Impressive not because it is fancy but because it was so simple yet so thoughtful.
Currently, as of April 2019, they are a popup kitchen in Neutral Bay in Sydney, Australia. They are literally a hidden gem like many typical Japanese restaurants in Japan, The Earth Kitchen has no storefront, no signage and to access this popup kitchen you have to find the mural somewhere on the side of Military Road close to Waters Road and go up the stairs. Oh, and they're usually opened on some Mondays and Tuesdays only so you must check before you go.
This popup kitchen is run by Yuki-san and Yuka-san. You might be expecting Japanese food but it is not somewhere that you would be eating sushi and sashimi in the traditional sense. The food they provide might truely surprise you because it is mostly plant based and in line with the concept of Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability and most importantly absolutely delicious!
What is the Earth's Kitchen concept?
The aim of The Earth Kitchen is not just to serve you food but rather, to help you learn about food, where they come from, how they're farmed and how they can be cooked. By sitting at a large table, people can interact with each other and hopefully build a community where we can share, rethink and reconnect with the food that we eat and nature.
With the space that they have, there is a small area as kitchen, a large table and the extra space is used to display Japanese books, potteries and some of the goodies that they are currently making, for example, soy sauce!
The atmosphere of this popup kitchen is earthy and convivial. From the wooden tables, chairs, down to cutleries, there's a great feeling that they're all about organic, sustainability and connection with nature. On arrival, I was warmly greeted by Yuki and Yuka and was given homemade kombucha with goji berries (yum).
Now onto the food.
Chef Yuki-san sources all his produce locally which are are organically grown. He then carefully crafts each dish and pairs them with delicious homemade sauce.
He cooks for you what he's serving that day on your arrive. The menu is only there to show you what you'll be eating and it changes weekly depending on what produce is available and in season. Here is an example of their menu:
As you can see from the photo, they state what they're serving and where the food comes from. These are the things that we should be thinking about when choosing our food.
Below is a photo of the lunch I had there. They offered two choices of miso soup: one made in the traditional Japanese way with dried bonito and kombu and the other was a vegan option, made with shitaki mushrooms and kombu.
I opted for the vegan miso even though I'm only a part time vegan... It was absolutely delicious.
The white strips on the top left corner, they're the white part of a watermelon. I was very surprised because I normally don't eat that part (I use it on my face as face mask instead). It tasted a little bitter but with the sauce, it was really nice and I didn't know it was watermelon until I was told later on.
Below that is kabocha pumpkin gnocchi (yum), then going anti-clockwise: natural yeast bread made with brown rice flour (yum) drizzled with maple chilli sauce (wow); okara croquette with homemade tartar sauce (yum) - okara is the pulp of soy milk (wow); organic pear; corn, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cabbage all yum and all from local farms.
Now, the cost of the lunch?
Gift economy
You might have noticed on the menu that there is no price, because the lunch has no price. They have a donation box and after you've eaten, you put whatever money you want in the box. It is part of their concept: donations will be connected to the next person and the next generation as a gift.
I'm looking forward to my next meal at The Earth Kitchen!
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