Could This Be The World’s Most Sustainable Michelin-Star Restaurant?

18.09.2023 - 14:53 / forbes.com

Deepanker “DK” Khosla, the chef of Thailand’s pioneering Haoma restaurant, won me over with breakfast at his regenerative farm in Bangkok. The eggs were still warm when we collected them from his chickens’ nesting places, and even when his colleagues dropped them into the water to soft-boil them. The freshness of the egg, the vibrant orange gooeyness of the yolk and the bucolic countryside setting were divinely unexpected.

“Regenerative farm in Bangkok” is one of those phrases that I never thought I’d write. The sprawling megalopolis is fairly polluted—not to mention loud and chaotic—and yet here’s this chef growing fruit trees and raising happy, healthy animals within the city limits.

Even better, DK is growing herbs and vegetables on the grounds of Haoma itself. The restaurant, which is in Central Bangkok at the intersection of the two main railway lines, occupies some of the city’s most valuable real estate. The common way of thinking would be to maximize that real estate: as many tables as possible, inside and out. DK’s way of thinking was to give up 60 seats in favor of an urban farm with raised garden plots and rain-fed fish ponds outside and an educational center where guests begin their journey inside.

It’s part of DK’s deep commitment to sustainability. Haoma, whose name refers to a divine plant in Zoroastrianism, is Thailand’s first urban farm and zero-waste restaurant. DK is convinced that it’s not too late to restore our ecosystem, food and community. He’s as concerned about the quality of life for his workers—all immigrants to Thailand, like him—as he is about soil health and composition.

Then again, this way is all he’s ever known. He was born and raised in the northeast Indian city of Allahabad, (now known as Prayagraj). This was the first city in India to go plastic-free, way back in 1995, before the chef was old enough to start school. His parents were committed to repurposing and upcycling, using bags made from old bedsheets to collect the tomatoes, coriander, cucumber and chili they grew themselves. (Now he cooks in an apron made of an old tablecloth.)

He deepened his commitment in 2016, when as a charismatic 25-year-old, he drove an Indo-Mexican food truck all around Thailand. Inevitably, his (sustainably) converted Tata broke down, and he had to wait weeks to get it repaired. While he was cooling his heels in Chiang Rai, he got to know local farmers—including one who imparted his love for farming, and the right way to do it.

He wasn’t working sustainably because it’s trendy, but because he wanted his children to inherit a productive farm. But the outcome is the same. DK told an interviewer from the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, “The people at that farm understood perfectly the