THE PUNCH • IMPACT STORIES
The Dining Edit
Impactful Cafés & Restaurants
Events & Experiences
Inside Bali’s Evolving Culinary Scene,
Exceptional Dining Meets a New Generation of Thoughtful Hospitality
Bali’s most memorable restaurants are about more than what arrives on the plate. They are defined by a sense of place, a point of view and the people bringing each experience to life. From intimate kitchens to destination dining rooms, The Punch goes behind the scenes of the restaurants combining culinary excellence with a more thoughtful way of doing business.
Through in-depth editorials, conversations with chefs and founders, and evocative visual storytelling, we explore the ingredients, producers, traditions and ideas behind each menu. The result is a closer look at the restaurants setting a higher standard for dining on the island, where exceptional food, strong identity and meaningful impact come together naturally.
Behind Analog are Izzy and Stew, a Norwegian-Kiwi duo whose combined decades across Indonesia and Japan have given them a sharp read on what this island needs and, more importantly, what it has too much of.
Founder Gustav Groenendijk's BAKED. Bali runs six cafés and its zero-waste Origin Zero roastery on kilometer-zero sourcing, fair wages for women farmers, and pesticide-free, biodiverse coffee.
Chefs Ray Adriansyah and Eelke Plasmeijer's Locavore NXT in Lodtunduh, an open-kitchen dining lab with a mushroom chamber, rooftop food forest, and overnight stays rooted in Balinese ingredients.
Chef Will Goldfarb's Room4Dessert on Ubud's edge grows into a Miyawaki forest village, blending botanical modernism, zero-waste cooking, and a homegrown academy into one living philosophy.
Motel Mexicola's Seminyak carnival of tacos and neon co-founded the Community Waste Project with Potato Head, turning nightly sorting and local sourcing into 12 years of sustainable celebration.
Founder Jude Manu Vincent's Bokashi Bali runs zero-plastic bulk shopping and a Japanese-inspired menu across two Canggu locations, composting farm waste into a wabi-sabi wellness experience.
Chef Val Gunawan on Kindling, his Cikini fine-dining home in a restored colonial house, stripping away marble and chandeliers for family recipes, heritage, and genuine warmth.
Founder Wayan Armina's Ulu Garden in Uluwatu blends live music, a rotating artist collective, and Balinese cuisine, trading uang bolong coins for food at its Sunday Kampung Rasa market.
Brothers Edis and Adis Dozovic's Avocado Factory in Bali builds from 3,000 kilograms of recycled plastic, sourcing fruit from backyard trees and composting waste back to the farms it came from.
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