The Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards 2023: Sustainability Award shortlist

24-May-2023 - Last updated on 31-May-2023 at 15:19 GMT

Six forward-thinking restaurants have been recognised for their sustainable credentials, but only one can be crowned winner.

Apricity

Chantelle Nicholson’s Mayfair restaurant is a low waste operation with the team having reconsidered everything from how it displays it the menu and washes the dishes to its sourcing of sustainable British produce at the height of season from small-scale farmers. The restaurant has committed to moving towards a circular economy to tackle challenges such as biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution.

Fallow

Fallow takes a ‘sustainably focused’ culinary approach with produce sourced from chef owners Will Murray and Jack Croft’s smallholding near Esher. Moreover, the restaurant set up its own supply chain of fish heads and has sold more than 35,000 dishes of the ingredient that would previously have been wasted. The team works a three and a half day week and live stream via chef cams to highlight what working in a successful kitchen is really like.

Native at Browns

Ivan Tisdall-Downes and Imogen Davis’ Mayfair restaurant champions sustainable cooking, with provnance given credence over locality. The duo have also focused on how their ingredients are produced not just where, working with importers who use solar-powered sail boats.

Pensons

Set on the Netherwood Estate, Pensons has made great strides in terms of its sustainable approach since it opened in 2019. Recent initatives include
setting up its own on-site laundry service, which has saved more than 15,000kg of carbon per year, and 5% of water use coming from collected on-site water. It is follows composting an ‘no dig’ policies and sources many of its own land.

Tatale

Tatale chef-patron Akwasi Brenya-Mensa’s pan-Afrian restaurant has endeavoured to promote diversity and cultural heritage within the UK restaurant scene in everything from staffing to its menus. Founded on the ethos of collaboration and culture, Tatale celebrates Africa stories through food, art and culture.

Tillingham

East Sussex-based Tillingham is mixed farm that is home to vineyards, fruit trees, ancient woodland and livestock. It employs ‘no dig’ methods to not disrupt the soil structure and creates extremely low waste, with 100% of winery waste being composted or mulched on site and 90% of its food waste composted. Its garden menu sources around 80% of produce from its garden during the summer and other initiatives have included elliminating paper menus and tills and switching to kegged wine to save 10,000 bottles of glass waste.

The Sustainability Award will be judged by the Sustainable Restaurant Association and will be announced at the Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards, which will be held on 12 June at London's Hurlingham Club.