Chef Johnson Ebenezer is reviving your childhood nightmares on his plate for Halloween

If there is someone who knows how to create atmosphere, it is Chef Johnson Ebenezer at Farmlore.

Johnson’s restaurant has always pushed the boundaries with conceptual dining. This year, it will be taken over with a folklore-themed 12-course Halloween dinner, that evokes all the five senses. The restaurant is located on 37 acres of farmland and does not shy away doing things out of the box. Once they recreated all the courses from the Ralph Fiennes movie The Menu. Last year, they did a Diwali-Halloween dinner themed around The Tale of Pei, a mischievous demon they invented who lives in the world of farmloredesh. Talk about worldbuilding.

“The ‘lore’ in Farmlore comes from the idea of folklore,” he says. This is a dinner in which spirits such as Rattha Kaateri, Mohini and Djinns come alive on the plate, literally.

Chef Johnson Ebenezer
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Special arrangement

“I was in Seoul for an event. There I met chef Nelly Robinson from Australian restaurant Nel; I am a big fan of his. I pitched the idea that we should collaborate and he happily agreed. So, this year’s Halloween menu is Nel x Farmlore.” The 12-course menu has dishes based on six Indian devils that Johnson has created, and six Nelly is creating. Nelly is in Bengaluru with his team to create his dishes.

“I have grown up in south India, so I grew up with stories of Mohini and blood-drinking rattha kaateri. The first 3D movie I saw wasMy Dear Kuttichathan. I wanted to bring in all of this to the dinner.”

But how does a white sari wearing, jasmine-scented, Moringa tree dwelling Mohini translate on to a plate? “Before we bring out the Mohini course, we release an aroma of jasmine around the diners. Then we bring out the dish — lobsters cooked in moringa. The whole dish is white. Before each course, diners are handed a card explaining the dish.” Rattha kaateri, a creature from Tamil folklore who drinks the blood of the living, is presented through a duck course. The shocking dish has splashes of red on a stark white plate and pieces of duck meat.

Farmlore in Bengaluru
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Special arrangement

The price of the dinner is ₹20,000, and Indian diners are willing to pay premium prices for such events. “It is a completely experience-driven menu, and we are flying in the chef from Sydney. In fact, one of the days are already sold out!”

October 31 and November 1, 6.30 pm and 10.30 pm. ₹20,000 per person. At Sathnur Village. For more details, call 08050248469