What a superb post. I think many gardeners would agree that a garden is about connection to not only earth, but to self and others. Having a garden as part of a restaurant is the ultimate in connecting, no?
The Kichwa word for a garden or a field is "chakra".
I love this. I had to research further. I love that it's not just the noun for field but also about connecting to family via nourishing the land and in turn being nourished BY it. We can lack that in western culture, or we have forgotten it. People like you or I are determined to get that back. It's like some ancestral DNA that is also an imperative - we MUST garden because deep down we know it's important on so many levels.
Avo season here is GOOD. We are down south so don't get them locally but still, Aussies pride ourselves on our avo supply. Vegemite and avocado on toast, yes please. I can taste the creaminess now. But right now it's mango season. My other favourite, but terrible with Vegemite. ;p
The Kichwa culture has (or had) a deep connection to nature, and a very strong sense of community. It's something that us individualist can learn a lot from, though it is hard to understand sometimes. Much of the culture was lost, unfortunately, like so many - individualism has that flair of being better, easier. Community is hard work, individualism is not. I would love to have a couple of high beds for community gardening there. But later.
That famous Vegemite... Galen just wrote about it the other day. I think I tried it once, but apparently it didn't conquer me, as I never bought it. It's not available here, but was in Germany, though hard to find.