Andrew Kay Dines – One Planet Plate

WE ALL LOVE CHOICE BUT ARE WE MAKING GOOD CHOICES?

It’s wonderful to think that in our own ways we are doing our best to secure a better future for our planet and I know that at home I do my best to reduce food waste, recycle and cut plastics as much as I can, I’m no saint but I am far better now than ever before. But do we put the same thought into the way we eat when we dine out? I’m certain that I am never as conscious of this as I could be and this was certainly driven home at a recent lunch I attended at Lucky Beach Cafe.

It’s brilliant to see Brighton restaurants leading as well as feeding

One Planet Plate, a global campaign run by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA), enables diners to vote with their fork for a better food future by dining at participating restaurants and choosing these ‘sustainable specials’. It’s an impressive concept and a very worthy one too, but would the dishes on offer match up to that ideal?

Well I’m very happy to say that for the most part they really do, any misgivings were purely my personal taste and I loved a burger made from something tasty that was not meat. We were served a range of dishes to sample and they were impressive, attractive and very tasty and I certainly left the table satisfied, not only by the food served but also by the ideal and certainly by the hearty discussions that surrounded every dish.

Most impressively I was not being lectured. You may have heard the joke: “How can you tell when someone is a vegan? THEY’LL TELL YOU!!!”. Well not on this occasion, even the vegans and vegetarians at the table were being calm and polite to those omnivores amongst us.

Andrew Stephen, Chief Executive of the Sustainable Restaurant Association, says: “Our single biggest impact on the environment is caused by the food we eat. That means there’s the potential for a very tasty solution. All our research tells us that consumers are crying out for some simple signposting to help them make menu choices that are good in every way. One Planet Plate gives chefs the chance to draw attention to one damned delicious dish that epitomises their ethos, and choosing it is a vote for the food future we want to see. It’s brilliant to see Brighton restaurants leading as well as feeding.”

Here in Brighton & Hove we like to think that we are pretty green and many of us are doing our best. And from the list of local restaurants below you will see that this concept has been taken up by a good range of eateries already. I will certainly be looking out for these dishes from now on when I dine out.

Diners can find restaurants serving a One Planet Plate on a dynamic map at www.oneplanetplate.org. The site also serves as a treasure trove of more than 200 recipes for the dishes created and contributed by chefs from high end to high street.

Brighton area participating restaurants: Purezza, Happy Maki,Curry Leaf Cafe, Lucky Beach Cafe, Moshimo, Metrodeco, Market, Cleveland Arms, University of Sussex, Leon, The Crown Hastings, The Salt Room, Carluccios, Zizzi, Wahaca