Point out a restaurant that claims to be totally sustainable, the chef James Lowe once observed, and he’ll point out a restaurant that “are either lying, or they don't understand the depth of the subject”. From transportation and packaging to energy and cleaning, restaurants — particularly urban restaurants — run almost directly counter to the environmentalist edict of “leave no trace”. Besides, that’s not why we go to them.
We go to socialise, to celebrate, to eat and drink the things we cannot (or cannot be bothered to) make ourselves. We go to be entertained. Thetrouble is that the world can no longer sustain the sole pursuit of hedonism without any thought to the consequences.
And so, in recent years, the notion of guilt-free dining has become less about calories and more about the climate: about eschewing industrial farming, food waste and food miles in favour of a more regenerative, planet-friendly approach. This needn’t mean compromising on flavour or fun, but it does mean supporting chefs’ efforts to do their best by the environment. No more is sustainable dining a byword for smugness served with a side of dreary sludge; finally, doing right by the planet tastes as good as it feels.
Chantelle Nicholson was London's first chef to get a , way back when with Tredwells in Covent Garden — but it's at this Mayfair address that the New Zealander really leans into her appreciation of circularity and regenerative practices, in everything from the cordials.