Restaurateurs and chefs across the country are responding to consumers’ preference for sustainable dining as this year’s SRA Awards demonstrate. A beachside cafe that only opened nine months ago and an international hotel group are the big winners, with the 14 winners including a fashionable rooftop restaurant, two fish and shops, a south coast pub and a Mexican and a Japanese restaurant group.
cafe-ODE, in Shaldon, Devon, has followed its partner restaurant ODE-dining in becoming Sustainable Restaurant of the Year, in the second year of the awards organised by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA), in association with Unilever Food Solutions.
Marriott Hotels International, with 58 sites across the UK, has been named Sustainable Large Restaurant Group of the Year.
Sheila Dillon, presenter of the BBC’s Food Programme was also recognised for her unstinting efforts to champion responsible food production and sourcing. She was presented with the Raymond Blanc Sustainability Hero Award.
Sustainable Restaurant of the Year: cafe-ODE
cafe-ODE, designed, built and set up to be the most sustainable restaurant, fulfilled its goal, beating off strong competition from more than 400 restaurants across the UK. It won the award by performing best in the SRA’s Sustainability Rating which assesses a restaurant’s credentials in three main areas – Sourcing, Environment and Society.
Mark Linehan, Managing Director of the SRA, paid tribute to cafe-ODE owners Tim and Clare Bouget: “To set out to open the most sustainable restaurant and achieve it is a terrific feat. To do it twice is extraordinary. Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of cafe-ODE’s success is that it is a very popular local restaurant, serving high quality, but simple, well sourced food in the heart of a thriving community. It epitomises the efforts and achievements of all the Sustainable Restaurant Awards winners.”
The SRA’s assessors found it hard to find fault with cafe-ODE. As well as its almost flawless sustainable sourcing it also demonstrated excellent environmental standards – recycling everything it can and using renewable electricity. Its commitment to sustainability is genuinely built in – with a grass roof designed to attract local wildlife. Most of the materials involved in the construction were recycled and there is solar thermal energy equipment installed to keep the environmental impact to a minimum.
Equally notable was cafe-ODE’s dedication to the local community – running cooking classes for schoolchildren from the local village as well as well as raising money for the local wildlife trust.
Sustainable Large Restaurant Group of the Year: Marriott Hotels International
Marriott Hotels International, the first large hotel group to receive a Three Star rating from the SRA, delivered across the board, with its ‘Future Fish’ programme to promote responsible sourcing of fish, its work with schools teaching children cooking skills and educating them about food provenance, and using recycled or reclaimed items for more than half of its furniture and fittings.
The Raymond Blanc Sustainability Hero Award: Sheila Dillon
Presenting Sheila Dillon with her award, SRA President, Raymond Blanc said:
“Sheila has always been a luminary. Never compromising, always curious, we both share the desire for chefs to reconnect with British farming and to encourage everybody to reconnect with their local community and great British food. She has a marvellous sense of ethics which makes her the perfect recipient of this award and has a deep understanding of how the world works and what we need to do preserve and protect it.”
The awards in full:
Sustainable Restaurant of the Year: cafe-ODE, Devon
Sponsor: Southbank Fresh Fish
Sustainable Small Restaurant Group of the Year: Wahaca, nine sites in London
Sponsor: Specialist Waste Recycling (SWR)
Sustainable Large Restaurant Group of the Year: Marriott Hotels International
Sponsor: Chapman Ventilation
Sustainable Pub of the Year NEW: Preston Park Tavern, Brighton
Element 29
Sustainable Hotel Restaurant of the Year NEW: Dixcart Bay Hotel, Sark
Sponsor: Foodspeed
Scottish Sustainable Restaurant of the Year NEW: The Bay Fish and Chips, Aberdeenshire
W Denis Insurance Brokers
Welsh Sustainable Restaurant of the Year NEW: Enochs, Llandudno
EcoPure Water
London Sustainable Restaurant of the Year NEW: Friends House, Euston Road
Sponsor: Paper Round
SRA Award for Sourcing: River Cottage, Devon
Sponsor: Reynolds
SRA Award for Society: Cafe St Honoré, Edinburgh
Sponsor: Steelite International
SRA Award for Environment: Poco, Bristol
Sponsor: London Linen Group
SRA Award for Most Improved Restaurant NEW: Babylon, London
Raimat
Best Food Waste Strategy: The Savoy, London
Unilever Food Solutions
Sustainable Innovation Award: Feng Sushi, Eight sites across London
Sponsor: Eureka Executive
Raymond Blanc Sustainability Hero: Sheila Dillon