Timor-Leste Food Lab + Agora Food Studio

Agora Food Studio is a unique plant-forward restaurant, and the engine of the Timor-Leste Food Lab - a gastronomic social enterprise dedicated to mentoring food and coffee innovators. Created in 2016 by young entrepreneurs, Alva K. Lim and Mark Notaras, who've merged their former careers in international aid with their passion for food. We believe in a simple, but powerful idea: "Food should be good, clean and fair for producers, eaters and the environment. We believe in a food system that celebrates biodiversity and nourishes the planet; a food system that creates healthy communities where everyone can eat, and eat well." We are based in Timor-Leste, located 8.8 degrees south of the equator. This half-island nation is part of a greater archipelagic region with profound food diversity and bio-cultural history that we hope to research, experiment, taste and document, and then share to a wider audience. Every day is an exploration. To eat in Timor-Leste is to eat seasonally. 90% of our menu is created from local and native ingredients. It changes every week depending on what nature provides. We source seasonal, quality produce direct from farmers and local markets. This keeps our flavour possibilities broad and our waste minimal. We love to collaborate with food innovators and thought-leaders across disciplines and geographies; with cooks and chefs from diverse culinary traditions; with farmers, producers and storytellers. We believe in the power of sharing ideas over a delicious meal and creating real human-to-human connections that bring about positive changes in the global food system. See some of our recent work: Timor-Leste Food Innovators Exchange (TLFIX) supported by InnovationXchange, Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) https://www.linkedin.com/company/tlfix/ We are a proud member of the Slow Food movement.