Just outside the bustle of Bengaluru, a different rhythm takes over. On a 37-acre stretch of lush farmland in Sathanur Village, Bagalur, sits Farmlore—a modern culinary retreat that reconnects diners with the origins of their food. This isn’t just a restaurant; it’s an experience, a quiet rebellion against fast-paced dining and mass-produced meals.
Founded in 2021 by Chef Johnson Ebenezer and entrepreneur Kaushik Raju, Farmlore invites guests to experience a ten-course, ever-changing tasting menu crafted entirely from what the land offers each day. Here, meals aren’t dictated by a static menu. Instead, the ingredients dictate what will be served. This ethos of letting the land lead is what gives Farmlore its soul.
The Enchanting Backdrop
Imagine approaching through a landscape where jackfruit trees stretch their gnarled fingers skyward, where five varieties of mango trees bend their branches downward, where banana, coconut, and mulberry create home. Peacocks roam freely, their shimmering feathers adding a touch of wild beauty to the peaceful surroundings.
With just 18 seats, the dining room is intentionally intimate. It’s designed to make guests feel like participants in something special. For those seated at the chef’s table, the experience becomes even more interactive, with views of the kitchen and farm merging into a seamless performance of culinary craft.
Farmlore’s Revolution against Restaurant Basics
The meal at Farmlore unfolds like a story told in ten thoughtful courses, where it’s all about what the land offers that day. At Farmlore, the team walks the farm each morning to see what’s fresh and what’s ripe. The ingredients decide the menu, not the other way around. That means no two meals here are ever quite the same. There’s no à la carte, no signature dishes, just a carefully crafted experience designed to take the pressure off and let you simply enjoy. Every course is a surprise, rooted in local produce and brought to life with modern, innovative techniques.
From harvest to plate, the journey of the ingredients is transparent. The kitchen avoids imports like caviar or truffles. Instead, it celebrates local biodiversity—turning humble regional produce into world-class creations.
The restaurant is a working farm, cultivating produce and even raising its own Halikar cows, prized for their rich milk used in butters and desserts. Every plate speaks of South India, reimagined through a modern lens.
From Bengaluru to Asia’s Best
In 2023, ET HospitalityWorld named Farmlore the Regional Standalone Restaurant of the Year – South, celebrating its innovative farm-to-fork approach and its ability to deliver a world-class experience rooted in local soil. The restaurant has also been featured in top-tier publications and culinary journals for its sustainability practices, artistic presentation, and immersive dining philosophy.
But the recognition doesn’t stop there—it merely begins to scratch the surface of what Farmlore represents. As the culinary world continued to take notice, so too did the accolades grow more global and prestigious.
In 2025, the culinary world officially recognized what diners had already discovered—Farmlore is something truly exceptional. It earned its much-deserved spot on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. This accolade placed Farmlore firmly on the global culinary map, highlighting it as one of Asia’s most promising new restaurants. Yet one senses that such recognition, while appreciated, remains secondary to the daily work of translating the land’s language into experiences that awaken forgotten memories in those who dine here. It’s this quiet, purposeful devotion to storytelling through food that continues to set Farmlore apart.
What to Expect from the Menu
Dining at Farmlore is about slowing down and savoring. It’s a one-hour drive from central Bengaluru, but the journey is part of the experience. The menu changes with the seasons but has included dishes like Bannur-Bun-Broth, gulkand butter-bun, Malabar oysters, melon with crab, and desserts like Mallika mango cheesecake and jamun sorbet. These dishes are not only delicious but tell stories—of Karnataka, of memories, of tradition.
The culinary team brings experience from Michelin-starred restaurants, using techniques that elevate but never overshadow the ingredients. They describe their cooking as “futuristic adaptations” grounded in heritage. Each dish is a thoughtful blend of nostalgia and innovation.
Finding Presence at Farmlore, Bangalore
For Farmlore, food is much more than what’s on the plate. It’s a way to remember, to connect, and to pass on the wisdom that has brought people together since the earliest days of gathering around a fire. In a world full of distractions, Farmlore offers something rare: a chance to slow down, to really taste, and to hear the stories behind each ingredient.
Farmlore takes you home, away from home. In India, food is a language of love. And nobody understands it better than the chefs at Farmlore. Amidst the verdant embrace of Karnataka’s soil, you discover not just a meal, but a homecoming—to traditions that nourished generations, the flavors that speak for themselves, and the beautiful truth that some of the best journeys bring us right back to where we started: connected to land, to legacy, and to each other through the universal language of breaking bread together.
