Behind COMO Point Yamu’s Thai kitchen, beyond the villas and wide views of Phang Nga Bay, lies a part of the resort many guests never see. The Living Garden is dense with lemongrass, basil, chillies, turmeric and pandan, their scents rising in the heat.
There is a stingless bee house, a worm condo and a small mushroom hut too: a compact, working ecosystem that supplies the kitchen with herbs, flowers and seasonal produce.
The resort’s new ‘From Garden to Table’ experience brings guests into that world. The 90-minute family journey begins with herbal tea made from ingredients harvested in the garden. Guests then walk the beds with a chef, rubbing aromatic leaves between their fingers, smelling freshly cut herbs and picking ingredients that will shortly appear at lunch. Children can meet the garden’s stingless bees, learn how they pollinate the plants and see how vegetable trimmings move back into the system through compost and the worm condo.
The Living Garden is dense with lemongrass, basil, chillies, turmeric and pandan, their scents rising in the heat.
The most tactile part comes next. In an open-sided preparation space, families pound fresh lemongrass, chillies, turmeric and other aromatics into green curry paste. It is less a formal cooking class than a chance to feel the fibrous herbs break down beneath the pestle and smell the paste becoming sharper, greener and more fragrant as it comes together. Children can pick herbs, grind the paste and help mix an alcohol-free garden drink without needing to handle hot pans or complicated equipment.
Lunch follows in three courses: a crisp Thai papaya salad; green chicken curry made with the freshly prepared paste and served with organic jasmine rice; then mango sticky rice with coconut ice cream. Food is served alongside a signature mocktail, made with locally sourced tea and botanicals and herbs from the garden.
“It’s a delicious lunch first and foremost,” says Executive Chef Andrew Dickie, “but it is also a window into our sustainability approach — tracing lunch from root to plate.”
For more information on COMO Point Yamu’s ‘From Garden to Table’ experience, please contact [email protected].
