THE UBUD FOOD FESTIVAL RETURNS FROM 31 JUNE TO 2 JULY

One of Southeast Asia’s leading culinary celebrations, the Ubud Food Festival (UFF), returns to Ubud, June 30 to 3 July. Over three action-packed days, the chefs will dish up their cutting-edge innovations and time-honoured, well-tuned flavors, while the food experts shine a light on the latest food technology, sustainable practices and methods for soil conservation.

The program includes thought-provoking panel discussions, immersive masterclasses, workshops, food tours, long table lunches, dinners, jungle foraging, walking tours and cocktail parties. At night you can unwind at the Festival hub, while experiencing Bali’s best pop-up food stalls, film screenings, live music and DJs.

The festival’s theme ‘Soil’ (Tanah), is the foundation for a series of discussions honouring this most important living ecosystem that sustains our lives and connects us with our food systems, our heritage, and our traditions.

Here are the chefs that will be joining the festival. Filipino talent, Johanne Siy, named 2023 Asia’s Best Female Chef by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. At Mandapa, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, she will present her Asian inspired modern European cuisine with Filipino flavours.

Indonesian chef and cookbook author Petty Pandean-Elliott, known for her Manadonese cuisine and vibrant contemporary Indonesian flavours, will launch her new cookbook, The Indonesian Table.

LG Han, chef, listed No.11 on 2023 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and owner of award-winning 3 times Michelin-starred Labyrinth, is a Singaporean star chef joining UFF with a special event at Capella Ubud that will celebrate Bali’s local ingredients.

Local chef, Hans Christian, from Jakarta’s August, recently awarded One To Watch by Asia’s Best 50 Restaurants will dazzle with his signature dishes at Mozaic and Filipino chefs Ross Magnaye from Serai, named Time Out Melbourne’s 2022 Restaurant of the Year, and Thirdy Dolatre and Nav Navoa of Manila’s HAPAG will present an exciting modern Filipino event at Indus. Syrco Bakker will be joining the festival fresh from Amsterdam, presenting his own brand of Indonesian classics.

Italian-born food scientist, Gabriele Castagnetti, will share insights about his kenari Maluku almond project, Nth Wonder gelato by FairFlavor, discussing his mission to promote plant-based products and assist farmers in Eastern Indonesia.

Among our heritage food presenters, Dicky Senda, from the Lakoat. Kujawas community in the Taiftob village, Mollo, Timor, who has developed an integrated community library, archives on local wisdom, a food laboratory and a recipe book, will feature Mollo food in a long table lunch at Casa Luna, alongside, Charles Toto, Jungle Chef, from Papua.

On the farming front, A.A.Gede Agung Wedhatama from Bali, leads the discussion on organic farming and soil conservation while Tempe Movement’s, Amadeus Driando, shares his profound knowledge about tempe fermentation and food security.

And then there is Rahel Stephanie, the founder of Spoons—an Indonesian plant-based supper club in 2019, which organises various sold-out events. She also focuses on cooking authentic Indonesian cuisine.

This year’s UFF design was created by fourteen year-old Balinese artist, Ni Wayan Tiksna Gangga, from Batuan, a village renowned for its traditional artwork. Gangga’s artwork focuses on the underground life system of soil that provides the nutrients for all that we eat, from tropical fruits to rice.