Soneva Fushi, the award-winning barefoot luxury resort in the Maldives’ Baa Atoll, has revealed a seasonal selection of new menus at Shades of Green.

The plant-based dining experience is set within Soneva Fushi’s organic island gardens, taking diners on an immersive culinary journey that ignites all the senses.

The five new menus by Danish chef Carsten Kyster are based on the vibrant colours of freshly picked produce: Purple, Yellow, Orange, Red and Green.

They fuse the flavours and fragrant spices of Maldivian and South-east Asian cuisine with Chef Kyster’s Nordic heritage, prepared using traditional techniques such as smoking, salting, fermenting and pickling to let the ingredients shine.

Each colourful menu features six courses – Cleansing, Crispy, Raw, Grains, Fire, Sweets – with simple yet innovative dishes that showcase the finest seasonal vegetables, salads, fruit and herbs cultivated at Soneva Fushi.

Highlights include:

• Purple menu’s Cleansing hibiscus kombucha, blue potato chips and salted beetroots, and Crispy aubergine, with rouille, blue potatoes, prickly ash vinegar, amaranth, wild garden purslane and sweet basil flower; Raw pumpkin, orange beetroots, almond ricotta, leek ash, finger lime, garden flowers, carrot chips and herb soya on the Orange menu;
• Yellow menu’s Grain course, with triple-cooked carrot, fermented black garlic, Maldivian curry, coconut sour cream, black truffle and Japanese spring onions; Fire on the Green menu, with grilled pressed portobello mushroom, pea purée, salted lemons, raw asparagus, ramson flower, shitake, morels krapow and crispy holy basil; and,
• Red menu’s Sweets, with chocolate, beetroots, almond cake, porridge ice cream, raw sun choke, caramelised ginger and garden herbs.

Every meal at Shades of Green begins with a tour around Soneva Fushi’s gardens, inviting guests to find out more about the food featured on the menu. Surrounded by the vibrant colours and heady scents that fill the air, diners are seated at communal tables to inspire conversation with fellow guests and the Shades of Green chefs while they dine.

A focus on organic, plant-based dining is part of Soneva’s SLOW LIFE philosophy, which champions holistic wellbeing and a healthier, more sustainable way of living. Red meat has been almost completely removed from Soneva menus across its resorts in the Maldives and Thailand, and the use of dairy products and refined sugars and flours has been significantly reduced.

When it opened in 1995, Soneva Fushi set the standard for all desert island hideaways in the Maldives. Located in the Baa Atoll UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the award-winning resort combines barefoot luxury with rare, one-of-a-kind experiences and a mindful approach to sustainability.

Remote yet accessible, the resort is a 30-minute seaplane flight from the Maldives’ capital, Malé, or a 15-minute seaplane flight from Maafaru International Airport in the Noonu Atoll.

Ranging in size from one to nine bedrooms, the 63 private island villas are hidden among dense rainforest, each just steps from the beach. Most have their own pools, and all feature vast living spaces and views towards the sunrise or sunset.

Eight one- and two-bedroom Water Retreats are accessed via a winding boardwalk on the south-eastern side of the island. Among the largest of their kind in the world, each overwater villa has a spacious terrace with a private pool and water slide into the ocean, and all have a retractable roof over the master bedroom so guests can sleep under star-lit skies.

All Soneva Fushi villas come with a Barefoot Butler, offering a personalised service 24/7.

Magical experiences are designed to create unforgettable memories. Guests can explore the constellations with the resident astronomer at the Observatory or watch a classic movie at the open-air Cinema Paradiso. They can join the expert Marine Biologist on a guided snorkelling expedition to the vibrant house reef, swim with manta rays in Hanifaru Bay, picnic on a deserted sandbank, or try the art of glassblowing with renowned artists at the Maldives’ only hot glass studio.

Nine dining destinations, both on the island and at the over-water Out of the Blue, offer a tempting array of cuisines for every taste, alongside an ever-changing line-up of Michelin-starred guest chefs through the Soneva Stars calendar.

Guests can also visit the Bar and Wine Cellar, with more than 500 varieties curated from some of the world’s top wineries, or indulge at the complimentary chocolate, ice cream and cheese and charcuterie parlours.

The Den is a playground for children’s imaginations, with two pools, a water slide and rooms for dressing up, Lego, music and more, overseen by qualified childminders. Older children and teens can also learn during their stay with Soneva Academy, which offers a range of fascinating courses, including the marine life of the Maldives and the Adventure of the Corbin, an ancient shipwreck.