Future Food System opens at Greenhouse By Joost at Melbourne's Fed Square

Want a recipe for pressure-cooking a relationship? Talk to chef-couple Jo Barrett and Matt Stone who, for the past three months, have been cohabiting at Greenhouse By Joost, a living, breathing self-sustaining house in Melbourne's Federation Square, cooking only what is available from the property's gardens.

Last week, the chefs began sharing a taste of what they've been cooking up, with $395-a-head dinners that might feature dairy-free cheese made from tiger nuts, tubers that tastes a little like almonds, or parfaits made from snails.

"Snails are hugely nutritious," says Stone. "They have almost as much protein as a piece of chicken or beef and they're a pest. In certain parts of Europe they're a delicacy. We don't want to serve anything for shock value. We just want to make delicious food where people will go, 'Wow, that was yummy, what was in that?' and we'll go, 'Well, that was a snail pâté.' Stuff like that is really, really exciting."

The architect and waste-warrior behind the project, Joost Bakker, says our food system is the most destructive thing we humans do. "Big oil, mining and gas don't come close to the destruction and damage that's caused by us eating food and it just doesn't need to be like that."

Can't spring for the full menu? You can also do a tour of the house for $10 or watch live-streamed talks. Taste the future.

Bookings: futurefoodsystem.com