The third instalment in our sustainable adventures of 2022 takes us to Oumi in the electric BMW i4

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SINGAPORE

Located on the 51st floor in the CapitaSpring building in the Central Business District of Singapore, Oumi is a Japanese restaurant that specialises in kappo cuisine. 

And to get there, we hopped in an all-electric sedan and went into downtown Singapore. The BMW i4 – capable of efficiency coupled with the driving pleasure that other BMW electric vehicles are known for – is our chariot of choice for this next stop in our clean eating adventure with BMW. 

It may ‘just’ be the base i4 eDrive40 model, but don’t let that fool you. There’s 340hp driving the rear wheels, you get up to 590km of driving range on a single charge, and the 0-100km/h launch is ticked off in just 5.7 seconds. Plus with BMW’s Intelligent Personal Assistant, you can get anywhere you need to; you just need to tell it.

The one place it can’t possibly bring you however, is 51 storeys up in the clouds to Oumi. In Japanese, kappo means ‘to cut and cook’, and is a form of cuisine that emphasises the proximity between the diner and chef who is cutting and cooking the food.

Run by Executive Chef Lamley Chua, Oumi is also able to employ farm-to-table dining thanks to the 1-Arden Food Forest situated right outside the restaurant. At 10,000 square feet in size and on top of a skyscraper, the farm also holds the title for the world’s highest urban farm. 

The restaurants within the CapitaSpring building obtain their herbs from the garden, and the chefs work together with the gardener to develop what crops are grown. In return, food waste from the restaurants get composted and turned into fertilisers for the same garden.

Besides having their own farm in their backyard, Oumi also makes use of herbs and vegetables from local farms. In the case however, where a plant they want can’t be found here, the team will import it and try to grow it in the Food Forest.

Oumi also ferments its own miso on site, with the process starting as early as a year before development started on this restaurant. This miso is also used to marinate the codfish for the gindara misoyaki, which is what Lamley has prepared for us today. Known as the ao togarashi miso, it’s able to be used in soups, and other pastes. A ‘mother miso paste’, in Lamley’s words.

Oumi also employs a nose-to-tail concept, with the bone from the codfish used for a dashi reduction while its flesh gets grilled to perfection over the binchotan, a white charcoal traditionally used in Japanese cooking. 

Taking the nose-to-tail concept seriously, even the chopsticks at Oumi are made using the shell of shellfish, each one with a different design. 

Within the dish, Lamley also makes use of various herbs that can be found in the Food Forest, like lemon myrtle, peacock flower, elderflower, geraldton wax, Japanese chestnut, sugar chestnut, seaweed, and other dried herbs.

An integral part of the kappo experience is the proximity of the chef and diner, with the latter being able to watch as their food is prepared for them. Oumi has a section where diners can sit and watch as their food is prepared over-the-counter, to understand the process.

But we’ve been chatting too long! Lamley invites us to experience the dish, not without pointing out the two ways of experiencing the dish. There’s seaweed on one side of the plate and grilled onion on the other, both underscored by a different paste. And they’re meant to give you, the diner, the taste of the ocean and a woody, smoky flavour, respectively.

Simple yet elegant, but not without sensitivity nor complexity underneath. Similar to the BMW i4 in our regards, and itching to give Lamley a taste of electric power, off we went in the EV with him in tow.

For Lamley, being direct to the diners is important – he wants them to understand what they’re having. Stands to reason when your specialty is kappo dining. Looking at the Curved Display in the i4, he likens it to BMW’s intuitive tech – knowing what you have is at your fingertips.

Switching to electric cars isn’t all that far off from making the switch to a more sustainable diet/menu. Sure you can change what you eat but it also makes an impact to know where what you eat comes from. And sure, you can purchase an electric vehicle but the electric motors in other cars make use of a lot of what’s called rare earths and metals. 

And while these rare earths and metals in other mass production plants often come from unethical and unsustainable sources, BMW certifies the entire process of its suppliers from start to finish. And furthermore, some of its EVs like the i4 eliminate the use of rare earths and metals altogether.

Lamley selects his ingredients in a similar fashion, ensuring the Food Forest is maintained in close collaboration, and that no artificial chemicals are used. While the complexity of the supply chain might not be the easiest to manage, Lamley also makes sure to visit the farms that supply Oumi too, to understand their own journeys in sustainability before committing, as a responsibility to his customers.

Emerging from Oumi and the concrete jungle, we emerged with a refreshed take on eating sustainably. 

Find out more about the BMW i4 at www.bmw.com.sg now!

Brought to you by BMW

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