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uicy whole chickens roasting above smouldering at Grassroots,” she says. “If there was a mistake and we
coals, dripping ribs of beef and entire carcasses of over-ordered, there’s always a crafty way to use them, be it
Mangalica pigs—it’s not a scene you’d expect to find fermenting, culturing or preserving. We don’t allow for food
in the kitchen of the stereotypical eco-conscious that’s edible to be thrown into the garbage.” Her restaurant,
Jrestaurant. But Nate Green, the head chef and which produces less than 40kg of food waste a day, was the
culinary director of Rhoda in Sai Ying Pun, has upended first restaurant in Hong Kong to install the Orca, a digestive
the usual notions of sustainability with his nose-to-tail machine that turns food waste into environmentally safe
restaurant. Cooking almost exclusively without electricity water that flows straight into the municipal sewage system
and creating dishes from all the parts with minimal methane.
of the livestock, the frequently Chan cites the lack of transparency
changing menus transcend ticking in the recycling and waste disposal
the trend boxes. industries in Hong Kong as a major
Determined to reduce his problem for the restaurant business.
restaurant’s carbon footprint Hong Kong doesn’t have its own
without compromising on facilities to recycle waste in the
quality, Green uses secondary city, so instead it gets transported
cuts and offal to minimise to Southeast Asia or Mainland China,
waste. He explains the she explains. There, it gets very
approach: “If we have a bit difficult to track and therefore
of beef left from the Sunday nearly impossible to find out what
roast, we’ll chop it up and the waste gets turned into.
turn it into shepherd’s pie.” For Green, the issue of
Having a frequently changing recycling causes a similar
menu allows for this kind of frustration. “For me to recycle at
flexibility, plus cooking with Rhoda, it means I have to store
fire means Rhoda doesn’t my recycling garbage somewhere
waste any natural gas. All the for three to four days before it
wood used in the kitchen is even gets collected.”
from windfall, so no trees are To tackle the problem of
cut down to make the charcoal, restaurant waste in Hong Kong,
meaning it’s carbon-neutral. Grassroots Pantry—along with 19
Green is among a cluster of other cafes and restaurants in the
waste-wary pioneering chefs who Soho area—came together in 2016
are re-educating and shaping the to form the Zero Waste Alliance of
food and drinks industry, aiming to Restaurants HK; they’re now in the
leave a positive impact rather then process of trialling a new food waste
a hefty footprint. But it’s not always a company to collect the waste in a proper,
straightforward task. When heavy criticism transparent manner. “We don’t believe what was
fell on Rhoda for running out of the ever-popular lamb going on previously was acting with integrity,” says Chan.
shoulder—an overreaction Green dubs “Lambgate”—his Like Grassroots Pantry, Mana—the trio of plant-based
response was: “Of course we did! We use whole animals and eco-conscious restaurants that includes Mana Cafe, Mana
lambs only have two shoulders… It’s not a conspiracy. We’re Fast Slow Food and Mana Xpress—is another member of
just trying to be ethical.” the Zero Waste Alliance. It also cites Hong Kong’s waste
Buying two lambs a week and using the animals in their management problem as a big one. As a solution, food
entirety is preferable to purchasing 20 to 30 lamb racks, scraps are gathered and sorted weekly by Mana’s staff
where he can’t be sure if the rest of the animal is being before being driven to organic farms in the New Territories
put to good use, Green explains. “When we buy the whole for composting. The result is nearly 2.5 tonnes of organic
animal, we use all the innards—we use everything. We take waste a month that’s composted rather than exported to an
the hearts, spleens and livers and use them throughout the unknown fate. Mana estimates that more than 100 tonnes
menu. It’s not about giving up meat and fish, but rather of food waste and leftovers have thereby been disposed of
about consuming it in a more sustainable way.” sustainably since its opening in 2012.
Peggy Chan, the founder of Grassroots Pantry, may differ All this goes to prove that sustainability isn’t just a bit
in her approach to sustainability by focusing on a root- of trash talk—rather, it’s a new way of operating that,
to-stem plant-based model, but her commitment to low for the sake of the planet, puts the waste line before the
waste is equally unwavering. “There are rarely any leftovers bottom line.

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