Restaurants and food service businesses as diverse as an alpine ski lodge and a Welsh prison are in the running to win the Sustainable Restaurant Awards 2015.
The shortlist for the awards includes some of the best known names in the industry – like Hawksmoor and Carluccio’s – as well as two fish and chip shops and one of the most northerly restaurants on mainland UK.
The People’s Favourite
Consumer interest in the awards has reached new levels this year with the introduction of a publicly voted category – the People’s Favourite. The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) received more than 850 nominations for this award which will be presented by its President Raymond Blanc on Monday 23 February at Oval Space in East London.
The People’s Favourite sees The Bay Fish and Chips, Stonehaven, where customers know the name of the boat that caught their fish, vying with The Eagle and Child, Ramsbottom, where young unemployed people serve local dishes with a modern twist. The Real Junk Food Project in Leeds, which is on a mission to beat food waste and food poverty, serving surplus food on a pay as you feel basis, is also in the running alongside Star Bistro, a Cheltenham restaurant that gives people with disabilities the chance to shine and uses its profits to feed poor local families. Silo, the fifth restaurant looking to be named the People’s Favourite, opened in Brighton at the end of 2014, grows mushrooms on the walls and was designed to be totally waste-free.
People can vote for their favourite restaurant until 15 February by visiting here or simply tweeting, using the hashtag #srafavevote and naming their choice.
SRA rating scores decide winners
All but four of the awards are decided on the basis of the scores businesses achieve in the SRA’s rating during 2014. This assesses them across the three pillars of sustainability; Sourcing, Society and Environment and the awards recognise the achievements of the very best sustainable food service businesses in the UK and globally.
Multiple nominees
The Bay Fish and Chips also features on the shortlist for Scottish Sustainable Restaurant of the Year, as does The Captain’s Galley on the northern tip of mainland Scotland. It is in the running for the SRA Award for Environment as well.
Other multiple nominees include The Pig which has been shortlisted in three categories, for English Sustainable Restaurant of the Year the SRA Award for Sourcing and Hotel Restaurant of the Year. Carluccio’s and Boston Tea Party are both shortlisted for Sustainable Large Group of the Year and the SRA Award for Society. Another restaurant to feature in two shortlists is Bistrot Bruno Loubet at The Zetter Hotel – for Sustainable Hotel Restaurant of the Year, and the SRA Award for Environment.
Innovation
The SRA Award for Innovation attracted a number of truly ground-breaking schemes. Three outstanding entries made the shortlist, including Wahaca’s introduction of insects on to its menu, an initiative by Boston Tea Party to turn its coffee grounds into mushrooms in HMP Dartmoor, and Silo’s bid to be a waste-free restaurant.
Food waste
Caterer Bennett Hay’s success in changing the behaviour of partners and staff at its law firm client by measuring and highlighting the scale of food being wasted on site, earned it a place on the shortlist for the Best Food Waste Strategy, alongside the Brookwood Partnership’s Captain Wasteless campaign to educate schoolchildren. The Roebuck’s zero tolerance of waste policy including saving lemon pips for pectin and a creating a potato skin dish, completed the shortlist.
Raymond Blanc will also announce the recipient of his Sustainability Hero Award at the ceremony.
The theme of the event is the Future of Food and guests can enjoy insect canapés prepared the Wahaca way, while viewing some of the most cutting edge initiatives in the food sector in a Future Showcase, before sitting down to lunch.
James Golding, Chef Director of The Pig, will be preparing the gala lunch for 250 guests at Oval Space. It will feature Hatchett Farm’s “Pannage” Braised Dexter Beef, with The Pig’s Walled Garden Produce & Crispy Sweat breads and The Pig’s Garden Rhubarb and Greenhouse lemon geranium tartlet for dessert.
SUSTAINABLE RESTAURANT AWARDS SHORTLIST 2015
SRA Award for Sourcing
Sponsored by Reynolds
ODE-dining, Devon
River Cottage HQ, Devon
Poco, Bristol
The Pig, Hampshire
SRA Award for Society
Sponsored by TUCO Ltd
The Brookwood Partnership, National
Carluccio’s, National
Boston Tea Party, South West and Midlands
Geronimo Inns, South East
SRA Award for the Environment
Sponsored by Specialist Waste Recycling
Arbor Restaurant at The Green House Hotel, Bournemouth
The Captain’s Galley, Caithness
Bistrot Bruno Loubet at The Zetter Hotel, London
English Sustainable Restaurant of the Year*
Sponsored by Eureka Search & Selection
Daylesford, Gloucestershire and London
The Pig, Hampshire
ODE-dining, Devon
Scottish Sustainable Restaurant of the Year*
Sponsored by Speyside Glenlivet
The Captain’s Galley, Caithness
The Bay Fish and Chips, Aberdeenshire
Cafe St Honoré, Edinburgh
Welsh Sustainable Restaurant of the Year*
The Gallery, South Wales
The Clink, Cardiff
Enochs Fish and Chips, Llandudno
Irish Sustainable Restaurant of the Year*
Sponsored by Hospitality Action
Kylemore Services Group, Cork
Made in Belfast, Belfast
Two and You, Dublin
International Sustainable Restaurant of the Year
Les Orangeries, France
The Lodge, Verbier (Virgin) Switzerland
Azurmendi, Spain
Sustainable Small Group of the Year
Sponsored by Yealands Family Wine
Lussmanns Fish & Grill, Hertfordshire
Drake & Morgan, London
Hawksmoor, London
Sustainable Large Group of the Year
Sponsored by Chapman Ventilation
D&D London
Carluccio’s, National
Boston Tea Party, South West and Midlands
Sustainable Pub of the Year
The Truscott Arms, London
Orwells, Oxon
The Imperial, London
Sustainable Hotel Restaurant of the Year
Sponsored by Gram UK
Bistrot Bruno Loubet at The Zetter Hotel, London
The Pig, Hampshire
The Jetty, Dorset
Sustainable Caterer of the Year
Sponsored by Space Catering
bartlett mitchell Ltd
Lexington Catering
Artizian Catering Services
Most Improved Sustainability
Sponsored by Paper Round
Ceviche, London
The Akeman (Oakman Inns), Hertforshire
Bingham Hotel, London
The Montpelier, London
The People’s Favourite Award
Sponsored by Bookatable
The Bay Fish and Chips, Aberdeenshire
The Eagle and Child, Lancashire
The Real Junk Food Project, Leeds
Silo, Brighton
Star Bistro, Gloucestershire
Sustainable Innovation Award
Sponsored by Costa
Wahaca,
Boston Tea Party, South West and Midlands
Silo, Brighton
Best Food Waste Strategy
Sponsored by Unilever Food Solutions
Bennett Hay
The Roebuck, London
The Brookwood Partnership
*One of these will be named Sustainable Restaurant of the Year