"We are committed to shortening the distance from farm to table in our kitchen and PRU’s dining room. We also work alongside Phuket’s thriving culinary community, collectively pursuing sustainable and innovative approaches to food. To date, we source our ingredients throughout Thailand, with the majority coming from Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi. We will continue to develop Pru Jampa farm’s capacity to realise a day when our farm will fully supply our kitchen."
The Full Book
How many times do we get to see where our food on the table comes from? Much less, visit the land where they grow vegetables, flowers, fruits and herbs from the ground up (or sometimes down below). Well, what drew our attention to PRU is their undivided attention on food sustainability in a fine dining format set-up at what I thought was the sleepy town of Phuket in Thailand. Who are these people who choose to holiday in Phuket? The beach bunnies, sun lovers, and water babies. I am neither.
PRU stands for Plant. Raise. Understand. The one-Michelin-starred restaurant grows their ingredients locally on 1.6 hectares of land on PRU Jampa farm that's a 20-minute drive from "Phuket's most luxurious and private pool villa beach resort", that is Trisara, where the restaurant is housed.
What blew me here was the possibility of being blown away by this massive operation that's less than two hours by plane. So I just had to check it out, and signed up for the farm tour right before dinner on the same day. The farm experience including transportation from Trisara resort and back cost THB1,500++ / US47++ per person for approximately an hour.
The walkabout was led by Thai-speaking female farm architects with a guide from the resort, so there was a big language barrier between us. We understood bits and pieces, and read off handwritten signages written in English and stuck in each soil bed. The sun was blazing down on us the whole time and there was hardly any shelter from it.
But the farm wasn't just a farm. The views were simply stunning composed of natural lakes, wild plants and small parcels of land that were work-in-progress over 96 hectares on one farmstead. The overwhelming serenity and freed up fingers (no wi-fi here) allowed me to truly relax and just be in the present. I could connect with people naturally, face-to-face, and take in new sights, colors and taste the rainbow of pesticide-free and organic vegetation which are grown and harvested by people, and not machines.
I hope you get inspired and feel my mood feels while looking back at this farm experience with me. Maybe also put on Stacey Kent's "Close Your Eyes"...Music play something dreamy for dancing / While we're romancing / It's loves holiday/ And love will be our guide. Because this really felt like walking in a dream, and my head was in the clouds (even though the sun was stinging my eyes).
Walkabout Scenes
Before anyone gets the wrong idea, this humungous property tends to the needs of not just PRU but other f & b concepts by Trisara. Cue The Boutique Farmers (http://theboutiquefarmers.com/) founded and run by James Noble and his wife, Khun May. Interestingly, they opened a restaurant in late 2017 in Hua Hin that's open only in the weekends, in the heart of Pak Nam Pran.
We were destined to meet at PRU Jampa farm it seems, and thank goodness. Because many things became clearer to us from the English-speaking Englishman! James is sometimes referred to as "the flower man" and is commissioned by Michelin-starred restaurants in Bangkok and other f & b establishments to grow specific micro flowers, greens and many others. They see the value in closing the food loop by turning to local and organic, while minimizing the carbon footprint from plant to plate. Is sustainability in a country made up of almost 70 million people even an issue of interest that the locals would want to do their bit to get involved in this movement? It really seems like a lot of them do.
Just A Handful Of Real Ingredients
Four-Legged Friends At The Farm
Ready For Some Breathtaking Lakes?
Do you like what you see so far?
We took a few breaks to drink in the fresh air and God-painted sceneries as well as some chilled water because it was a scorching hot day. We probably walked for 15-20 minutes and combed just 5% of the land! After having the lovely ladies walk us on a tour, and given some education on what it means to be sustainable by The Boutique Farmers, I couldn't wait to check out the food at PRU next.
Come back next week to get the full deets on the long-awaited dinner at Trisara.
As you're scrolling through the pictures, eco homes, biking trails and cooking/bbq enclaves are being planned and constructed here, which will be unveiled in the very near future. Wouldn't I love to live in paradise on earth.
BOOK NOW : +66 (0)76 310 100 / pru@trisara.com
PRU Jampa Farm
Meet at Trisara lobby for pick-up to farm
60/1 Moo 6, Srisoonthorn Road, Cherngtalay, Thalang, Phuket 83110, Thailand