One&Only Reethi Rah in The Maldives Partners with Acclaimed Bentley Restaurant Group

One&Only Reethi Rah, the ultra-luxury, all-villa resort set on one of the largest private islands in the Maldives, has launched ‘Botanica by Brent Savage’ in partnership with the renowned Bentley Restaurant Group from Australia. The atmospheric, outdoor restaurant heroes outdoor cooking with garden-grown, fresh ingredients. Following the successful pop-up of their innovative plant-based restaurant Yellow at the resort in October 2018, this will be the Bentley Group’s fifth restaurant. The menu is curated by Chef Brent Savage, renowned for his original vegetarian and contemporary cuisine, while sommelier Nick Hildebrandt oversees the extensive wine list.

An array of dining choices awaits guests at One&Only Reethi Rah, with seven diverse restaurants to discover. Serving natural, sustainably sourced cuisine in the magical surroundings of the Chef’s Garden, Botanica provides an enchanting setting to complement Chef Brent’s inspired dishes. Guests can choose to dine in the candle-lit al fresco potager amidst the fresh vegetables and herbs or surrounded by hundreds of coloured blooms in the Orchid House.

Botanica by Brent Savage is a natural continuation of the successful partnership between One&Only Reethi Rah and the Bentley Restaurant Group. Following his first visit in 2018 and after spending time with the Botanica team at the resort, Savage was inspired by the natural produce available and elemental, open-fire cuisine at Botanica. The new menu will showcase fresh and rare ingredients highlighted in dishes such as wild, hand-caught Maldivian Rock Lobster, Pickled Wakame, Buttermilk, Sea Succulents and Finger Lime. Many of the ingredients are gathered from the restaurant’s abundant vegetable and herb gardens, whilst fish are sustainably sourced from local fishermen wherever possible, including lobster, octopus and reef fish. Dishes are flame cooked on the open-air charcoal barbeque which gives them a distinctive flavour.

“Botanica is a really exciting place to cook - I love that the restaurant is in the middle of the island, the space has a jungle-like feel as it is surrounded by established organic vegetable and herb gardens which supply produce that we integrate in the menu,” commented Chef Brent Savage. “I am looking forward to working closely with the in-house gardeners to grow more varieties of vegetables to showcase at Botanica.” Carefully selected by sommelier Nick to complement Brent’s food, the wine list features an array of vintages from Europe and Australia. “There are plenty of iconic wines available along with a great selection of small and up and coming producers, as well as a dedicated Gin Bar with over 40 gins from around the world,” added Hildebrandt.

The Bentley Group is co-owned by Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt, who together run award-winning Sydney venues Bentley Restaurant & Bar, Monopole, Yellow, and Cirrus. One of Australia’s most respected and influential chefs, Brent has a reputation for exciting, cutting-edge food, clever technique and a unique mastery of flavour and texture. He has twice been awarded the prestigious Good Food Guide Chef of the Year (2005 and 2015) and is the author of the cookbook: Bentley: Contemporary Cuisine. Nick is one of Australia’s most influential sommeliers with over 25 years-experience in the industry, he worked for a number of leading restaurants before becoming one of the country’s most renowned restauranteurs.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Bentley Group to bring their innovative cuisine to Botanica. At One&Only Reethi Rah, we offer our guests an array of contemporary world-class dining experiences and this exciting collaboration further elevates Botanica’s bespoke offering,” commented Jan B. Tibaldi, General Manager, One&Only Reethi Rah.