Page 46 - foodservice magazine April 2019

10
FRONT OF HOUSE
HOW TO REDUCE WASTE Daniel Monk started cocktail bar Rum Diary –
BEHIND THE BAR
BARS GENERATE A LOT OF WASTE. MUCH MORE THAN YOUR AVERAGE PUNTER, OR EVEN STAFF MEMBER, REALISES. ALEKSANDRA BLISZCZYK CHATS TO DANIEL MONK OF MELBOURNE’S RUM DIARY ABOUT REDUCING ALL THE PLASTIC, GLASS AND FOOD WASTE THAT COMES FROM SERVING DRINKS. IT’S NOT ALWAYS EASY, BUT IT’S OUR DUTY.
Daniel Monk
which is often named among the city’s best – four years ago. As venue manager he dealt with a high-turnover business daily.
In 2016, when Monk became brand ambassador for Rum Diary’s own brand of spiced rum, his hours shifted to mostly daytime work.
Arriving at the bar in the mornings, he saw in plain daylight just how much rubbish had accumulated from one service.
“You walk past and see three bins full of rubbish from the night before. Over a week, it’s almost 21 for a small bar, and it’s probably a lot more at bigger bars,” he says.
So in early 2018 he tested an idea: how green can a bar get?
In a disused old smokers’
area behind Rum Diary on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Monk set up the Sea Turtle Club, a tiny tiki cocktail and beer bar pop-up whose aim was to generate as little waste as possible.
He made drinks with old citrus shells and banana peels, kept ice in Eskys instead of freezers, and went directly to growers to source fruit that came without annoying little plastic stickers.
Reducing plastic and single- use items is now something he’s deeply passionate about, and he’s focussed his efforts on reducing Rum Diary’s footprint. Monk hopes to encourage bar managers and owners around the country to lessen their environmental impact wherever they can. And, Monk says, customers will notice and thank you for it.
REDUCE GLASS
Beer tastes best fresh, and wine on tap is the way of the future,
working at Melbourne