Following yesterday’s interview with one of the nation’s top French chefs – Raymond Blanc – about eating out sustainably, Tom Tanner shares five restaurants from the Food Made Good Diners’ Guide
“Sustainability in restaurants is not just about the provenance and sourcing, but also the environmental and social impact of our food” – said Raymond Blanc, in an interview with The Early Hour. Here are five UK eateries taking all of these things into account…
Café ODE
(see main image)
Sustainability is built into the two-time winner of the Sustainable Restaurant of the Year award: the sedum roof where wild flowers grow, most of the materials involved in the construction recycled and a solar thermal energy equipment installed to keep the environmental impact to a minimum.
Recently, Tim rescued the local brewery that was due to close when the brewer retired and moved it lock, stock and barrel to the café. Another unusual but notable feature is the electric car charging points.
And none of this should overshadow the impeccably sourced food – almost all local, and most of it organic. As well as the very active part the restaurant plays in the local community.
Ness Cove, Ness Drive, Shaldon, Devon, TQ14 0HP, 01626 873427; Café ODE website
Captain’s Galley
Joint winner of Sustainable Restaurant of the Year award 2015
Jim Cowie worked as a fish trader for more than 30 years and had never so much as boiled an egg before opening his harbour-side restaurant in Scrabster, Caithness 13 years ago – Britain’s most northerly mainland restaurant.
He refuses to serve popular seafood items in his 18-seat restaurant, unless they are in season and in plentiful supply, and serves customers dishes like monkfish liver and saithe in ginger and miso broth.
As part of a continuing mission to raise awareness of the issue, the owner/chef is organising a sustainable seafood festival this year to help people better understand which fish to eat and enjoy.
He also runs his car on used chip fat from the restaurant’s fryer and has planted 150 trees locally to encourage local wildlife.
Captains Galley, The Harbour, Scrabster, Caithness, KW14 7UJ; 01847 894999; Captain’s Galley website
Ceviche
Owner Martin Morales, formerly a music business executive, is passionate about making his Peruvian restaurant authentic. But he’s equally determined not to do so at a price.
The winner of the award for Most Improved Sustainability at the Sustainable Restaurant Awards 2015, Ceviche serves customers Peruvian favourites using largely British produce.
The seafood is almost always sourced from UK waters and is always sourced according to the Marine Conservation Society guides and meat is British and free-range. Anything that is imported from South America is now shipped by boat to Spain and then comes to London on the train.
17 Frith Street, London, W1D 4RG; 020 7292 2040; Ceviche website
Battlesteads
This restaurant with rooms in Northumberland could not sit much more closely to the heart of its community, providing all the meals for the local school across the road. It also provides a subsidised three course meal for pensioners every Monday lunch.
And the produce on the plate couldn’t be sourced any more locally – as it’s grown on site. But owner Richard Slade’s horizons aren’t limited to the tiny village of Wark. He’s just built a full blown observatory on site, so visitors can take in the stellar beauty of the Dark Sky National Park.
Wark on Tyne, Nr Hexham, NE48 3LS, 01434 230209; Battlesteads website
The Gallery
Welsh Sustainable Restaurant of the Year 2015, The Gallery goes out of its way to source the finest Welsh produce and make a song and dance about it – telling its customers on the website, menu and walls of the restaurants about the provenance of the food and its excellent all-round sustainability.
All the beer is Welsh, all the meat comes from farms within ten miles, the fish from local day boats and the vegetables from a local growing project that employs people with learning difficulties. It even serves British grown tea.
2 Broad Street, Barry, CF62 3SE, 07900 561333; The Gallery website
For more information on eating out sustainably, visit the Food Made Good website