Dining should never be boring. For one, it should be as magical as the staircase where Jack fell in love with Rose in Titanic and even as exciting as Ross and Rachel’s love-and-hate relationship. Yes, the food is what makes any dining experience exceed any expectation. But then again, food is not the end all and be all of any dining experience.
Tucked in the southernmost part of Davao is a restaurant located inside a farm. Yes, a farm with live animals and fruit bearing trees all around. Farm that imbibes the freshness of Mother Nature without the need to imagine. A farm that’s far from the city, you won’t get to miss the rumblings of vehicles — just fall in love with the moos and chirps all around.
La Fermette is truly not your typical dining place. Notwithstanding the farm it sits in, the restaurant is the reality of farm-to-table concept. From conception to delivery, La Fermette lets you experience a holistic dining experience that you won’t find elsewhere. The setup alone is already a fulfilment of a yearning that not many restaurants are able to give their patrons.
Their menu is whimsical and very French. Owned and Managed by partners Jean-Michel Desreumaux and Francis Eric Tam, both of whom love to farm and yes, cook at the same time. With Jean-Michel’s rich French background and Eric’s Filipino heritage, combining both gave them a better perspective on food, farming and dining.
“When I came here in the Philippines to be with my partner Eric, I think of a business that both of us can grow and be with. Surprisingly, we enjoy being out from a busy life from downtown Davao. Because we actually both love to live in an urban setup wherein there is a farm we can plant our seedlings and grew animals like cow, goats, pigs, chicken, etc., and we are also an advocate of sustainable natural farming, so we decided to have a restaurant called La Fermette,” Jean-Michel explained.
Of the many things on their menu, you’d be surprised of the marriage of flavours made available to the palate. Mostly composed of meat, their menu is brazen with the simplicity of fresh produce paired with the utmost delicate taste of French cuisine and perfected with love. You’d also be surprised to know that their menu is easy to relate with. Given the French background of the owner, you’d truly be in awe of how well the dishes complement our local palates.
Of their repertoire, a must try is their Bahn-mi Bowl (open faced Viet inspired salad of fresh greens and local ingredients served with mild spicy nuoc mam sauce) that comes in four varieties: chorizo, sweet pork, Italian sausage and sesame fish fillet. Good on its own, you can either share this or be greedy enough to finish the bowl on your own — your choice. I’d choose the latter!
Pasta sure won’t be neglected in this kitchen. For a wilder take on the usual, a must try is their plate of Fresh Pesto Alugbati Pasta that has the components of pesto and the flavours of home in one plate. It’s very refreshing — almost unbelievable — but sire enough, you’d taste the alugbati in there.
Mains for La Fermette came in beautiful medleys of meat choices cooked for hours. The Tarragon Chicken Cream (Poulet à l’Éstragon) is a delicate yet explosive dish on their menu. With the tarragon as a staple in French cuisine, it’s like imbibing a plethora of flavours in your mouth as you take a bite.
On the other hand, the Poulet Basquaise (Basque Chicken), a typical Pays Basque dish, is basically chicken stewed with white wine, tomatoes, onions and basil to name a few. It’s very subtle yet robust as the flavours tend to erupt in your palate the moment you take a bite of the chicken. For the Pork Bourguignion (Porc Bourguignion), the dish, according to my colleagues, is tender and very juicy because of the red wine used to marinate it overnight.
An intriguing dish on their menu was the Adobo a la Carbonade Flamande (Adobong Baboy revisited with a French version) — a fusion between two cultures, the product is an exquisite play of mild yet bold flavours on the palate. It’s classic, yes, yet with a twist thus creating a more vibrant take on the plain stewed meat we’ve all associated with us being Filipinos.
On the premise of dessert — French, in general, love their sweets. And at La Fermette, Eric is the master pastry chef that converts every sweet craving into a reality. Case in point, their eclairs and cakes on display. Well, the eclairs you have to order but the cakes, you’d always see on display. Their Carrot Cake with granola toppings is nothing but moist to the core. Not as sweet as you’d imagine it to be, this carrot cake is packed and robust. Want something classic and virgin to the palate? Then try their Mango Charlotte — this, for me, is the holy grail of cakes. If Jacques Torres were to taste it, he’d be delighted af! Want a little on the naughty side? Then their Chocolate To Die For with rum cake is super chocolatey with a hint of rum to spice it all up. Try, the chocolate and rum do work wonders in the palate. This, to me, is a date night cake!
La Fermette, for their recipes, uses everything homemade — all the dairy products (butter, kefir yoghurt, cream cheese, cheese etc) and the authentic French baguettes for their toasts are all homemade. Aside from those, they also preserve and create their own jams from the fruits from their backyard. That is why they ate able to create an array of flavours and selections for their patrons.
La Fermette means the small farmhouse in English. Yes, that is true. But for Jean-Michel and Eric, La Fermette means home. And home is always, always where the heart is.
La Fermette is located at Purok 8, Deca Homes, Tacunan, Tugbok, Davao City, Davao
