They all boast iconic natural landscapes that draw thousands of visitors each year. Bali’s volcanic mountains and rice terraces are the stuff of postcards; Tokyo brims with verdant parks and glorious cherry blossoms; and Cape Town — framed by Table Mountain, a 300km stretch of coastline, and rich biodiversity — remains one of the world’s most breathtaking destinations. Having long espoused principles of wellness, these cities are now also becoming known for award-winning restaurants committed to sustainability.
More than a meal
At Locavore NXT, patrons are served a transformative dining experience. Chefs Ray Adriansyah and Eelke Plasmeijer have taken the concept of sourcing local ingredients to a literal level. The establishment features a food forest on the rooftop and a mushroom fruiting chamber in the basement.
With the aim to be “more than a restaurant,” Locavore NXT includes several dining spaces, a fermentation lab, beehives, and the B.I.O Library (Biodiversity Interactive Open-Source) — a first-of-its-kind 3D digital record of the unique ingredients and produce the team works with.
“We’re able to work closely with nature,” explains co-chef-owner Eelke Plasmeijer. “I think our guests get a taste of that through our menu — with dishes and drinks that feature ingredients we’ve never been able to use before — but also through the spaces and creative experiences we share with them while they are here.”
The current menu takes its inspiration from nature’s flux, exploring interesting local ingredients through their ever-changing states. There’s a take on tempeh made with kenari nuts and undis, paired with a creamy cashew-milk sauce and black-garlic purée. Another diner favourite is duck that’s been dry-aged with garlic shio koji, then cold-smoked, roasted, and served with a fruity sauce and pickled rosella flowers.
Food may be the focus, but Locavore NXT measures success beyond the number of covers per night. Some of the sustainable practices they prioritise include generating 117 000 kWh of electricity annually from 172 solar panels, composting 250kg of organic waste weekly, and planting 1 171 trees to offset its carbon footprint.
Tasteful plating
Winning at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants ceremony is the dream of many chefs, but few can claim recognition as an inaugural category winner. In 2013, the organisers presented their first-ever Sustainable Restaurant Award to Tokyo chef Yoshihiro Narisawa of Narisawa.
“Japan is surrounded by forests and seas,” says the chef. “Responding to the four seasons, understanding this environment, and taking only the most necessary resources from the earth — this lifestyle is called Satoyama Culture. From this spirit, we at Narisawa create gastronomy that is beneficial to both body and spirit, and a continuously sustainable environment, which we call Beneficial and Sustainable Gastronomy.”
Narisawa has also been awarded two Michelin stars and received a Michelin Green Star in 2022 for sustainability. Renowned for its celebration and elevation of Japan’s satoyama, guests at either the Shanghai or Tokyo Narisawa locations are served an omakase-style course that reflects seasonal availability.
A signature dish, Bread of the Forest, is fermented and baked tableside. Alongside it appears what looks like a mound of dirt, but is actually butter dusted with black olives. Other favourites include Luxury Essence Soup, Gunma Mushroom Rice with Nori & Rape Blossoms, and Rich Harvest Kagoshima Pork. In many of these, the garnishes and decorations are meant to be foraged and eaten, echoing the restaurant’s principles of honouring nature.
“We visit depopulated mountain villages every year to plant trees and clean up,” adds Narisawa, “because we believe it is the duty of a chef not only to prepare food, but to preserve the wilderness ecosystem.”
Culinary harmony
When it marks its seventh anniversary in November 2025, Cape Town’s award-winning restaurant FYN will unveil a new look. Returning and new diners will encounter a refreshed interior layout, a reconfigured kitchen flow, new furniture, tactile textures, and an immersive sensory layer that subtly evolves with each guest’s dining journey.
What won’t have changed, however, is the restaurant’s culinary vision: a delicious dialogue that celebrates the wildness of South African ingredients and flavours through a Japanese lens. Each dish becomes a vessel for local storytelling and culture, expressed with the technical rigour, dedication to seasonality, and aesthetic purity that define Japanese cooking.
Another evolution that recognises the restaurant’s original intentions is the new menu, which continues to honour local landscapes while prioritising sustainability.
“When it comes to the ingredients at FYN, it all starts with respect,” says Culinary Director Ashley Moss. “We use suppliers who show as much respect for the ingredients as we do. Once the ingredients are in the kitchen, responsibility becomes our central focus. We make sure to use all parts of each ingredient, reducing food waste to a minimum. An example of this is our tuna offcuts, which are used for a tartare in another dish — honouring the protein to its fullest. This is both sustainable and economical — allowing us to reduce our overall carbon footprint while optimising costs.”
Dishes on the revamped menu reflect a deeper dive into South Africa’s landscapes — from the Cape’s wild coastline to its mountain slopes of fynbos. African Game, for example, features springbok, ostrich, rooibos, wagyu, and binchtan; Cape Game Fish samples tuna and yellowfish; and Rice & Citrus pairs koshihikari, finger lime, orange, and yuzu.
FYN’s commitment to sustainability and provenance has made it an inspiring reference point. It is the only restaurant in Africa to earn the top-tier three-star rating from the Food Made Good Standard (2025) — the global benchmark for ethical hospitality.
