Secret Tables: A Secret Retreats restaurant label

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The Secret Retreats restaurant label, Secret Tables, now hosts three of Asia’s top independent restaurants. Across the region, Secret Retreats handpicks small restaurants for their unique character and passion. The team seeks inspiring chefs who create original, non-traditional dishes and unusual menus that utilise local produce and share core values, focusing on sustainability, fair wages and career paths for young local people. The independent chef-owners take great pride in their business, their style and taste to reflect the true culture and essence of the land. Recently receiving the Trip Advisor Travelers Choice Restaurant Award for ranking as the #1 restaurant in Thailand and # 10 in all of Asia, David’ s Kitchen in Chiang Mai was delighted to receive this prestigious award.

Restaurant owner, David Gordon, shares his pleasure:“We are thrilled to receive this accolade as this is the selection made by our guests and their satisfaction is the best award any restaurant can have. Our aim is to provide the highest quality of food and also the highest degree of personal service. All our customers are treated like genuine guests in our home.”

In Indonesia, two Secret Tables are listed in the Top Three best restaurants in the country. Locavore (Bali) is listed as the #1 restaurant in Indonesia, #3 in Asia, and also rates in the Top 25 best restaurants in the world. Cuca (Bali) is rated #3 in Indonesia and #21 in Asia.

To be a Secret Table, chefs must use local produce. Chef Kevin Cherkas, from Cuca, explains how he uses Bongkot (aka Torch Ginger Flower) in a new and creative way. “Visually stunning, like a green stick on fire, its flamboyantly soft pinky-red flame-like shape, the ginger blossom is often treated more like a decoration than a food. Studies have found the ginger blossom to be beneficial for health and wellbeing. It has antioxidant levels almost as high as green tea and also contains an abundance of important nutrients – we use the ingredient for a cocktail, by extracting a nectar from it. Delicious!”

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