Oda

Bogotá

The blueprint for ethical produce sourcing and community building

Since day one, Oda's mission has been to promote, preserve and spotlight the beautiful biodiversity of Colombia. In 2025, its quest is acknowledged as it earns the Sustainable Restaurant Award 2025.

At the core of each of Oda's dishes are a plethora of unique ingredients. Thanks to its partnership with the Botanical Garden of Bogotá, Oda is able to spotlight native fruit, vegetables and flora to use across its menus, safeguarding both regional biodiversity and the produce's cultural significance.

When it comes to sourcing these ingredients, Oda leaves no stone unturned. Earlier this year, it re-evaluated its processes to ensure that all of its suppliers meet a comprehensive set of standards spanning social, environmental and economic impact. As of late 2025, 70 per cent of its suppliers are micro or small producers, many of which take the form of urban gardens less than one kilometre from the restaurant's front door in Bogotá.

Overconsumption is also at the forefront of the mind of Oda's co-owners Maria Paula and Jaime Andres Giraldo and head chef Natalia Cocomá Hernández. Wherever possible, the restaurant now seeks more eco-friendly alternatives, including swapping ocean-caught fish for river-raised and reducing animal products to craft a menu that's more than 50 per cent vegetarian.

Waste is also seen as an opportunity for the restaurant, rather than a challenge. Alongside straight-forward actions like the elimination of all single-use plastics, Oda's innovations result in 64 per cent of its dishes now making full use of ingredients, giving often-discarded elements, such as fish heads and tails, new leases of life as infusions, garnishes and more. Many of these garnishes are front and centre in the restaurant's cocktail programme, which boasts an even more impressive 90 per cent use of component ingredients across its menu.

Paying back to the community is another immovable pillar of Oda's philosophy. The restaurant uses its platform to uplift underrepresented communities and groups where possible, with many of its chosen micro suppliers women-led, and its contributions financially empowering and directly supporting the livelihoods of more than 400 local artisans. It also hosts regular training workshops and projects for local communities as well as making regular charitable donations to causes supporting people in need, such as Casa Calliope.

On Oda's achievement, Juliane Caillouette Noble, managing director of The Sustainable Restaurant Association, says: "Oda's sustainability work is impressive as a whole, but what really stands out is its conscious and diligent approach to sourcing, including its thorough supplier evaluation and approval process. Working closely with a network of urban gardens and with a particular focus on small producers and those from women-led or gender-equity projects, it provides an excellent example of how even city-based restaurants can support local growers in tangible ways."

The Sustainable Restaurant Award is given to the restaurant in the region that achieves the highest environmental and social responsibility rating as determined by 50 Best's audit partner, The Sustainable Restaurant Association. All restaurants on the Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list were invited to enter the award via self-nomination and each entry was assessed across three main pillars: sourcing, society and environment.

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