Guilt-free eating out

Last time you went out for dinner, did you worry at all about whether your meal was sustainably sourced and whether the restaurant had any kind of ecological business practices? Chances are that you didn't: the majority of us are usually too distracted choosing something good on the menu, gossiping and worrying about the price of the wine mark-up to really pay this much attention. Or, being British, we're usually too self-conscious to ask whether the pork chops are outdoor-reared.

Did you know that, according to the Environment Agency, the hotel and restaurant industry has the lowest environmental awareness of all business sectors? It’s pretty sobering to learn that food services and restaurant industries chuck out a horrifying three million tonnes of food waste annually, and that restaurants bin a massive 600,000 tonnes of glass bottles every year! It’s enough to make anyone choke, Queen Mother-style, on whatever they are eating, and ask for a doggy bag to take home all leftovers - something which I do often (no, not the choking part!)

But hope is on hand for all restaurateurs in the form of the superheroes at the Sustainable Restaurant Association (otherwise know as the SRA). Founded by restaurateur Mark Sainsbury and ethical business consultant Giles Gibbons, they have made it their mission to get restaurants to behave more responsibly – whether it’s getting their meat from farms with good welfare standards, sourcing ethical fish, reducing food miles and cutting their waste and energy use. It's a pretty tall order.

For an annual fee, restaurants can sign up with the SRA and get all kinds of support in tackling these tricky issues. Many have joined already – I was interested to know that it’s not just trailblazing independents that have become members (such as The Duke of Cambridge, Moro and The Clerkenwell Kitchen) but larger more well-known restaurants or chains such as Carluccio's, Canteen, Leon and Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons. (I now am forced to hate Carluccio's a little less...even though I find their branches as charmless as a punch in the face, with bland food and deafening acoustics!)





Recently the SRA put on a foodie evening out and bravely invited a motley crew of food bloggers (including me) to demonstrate to us how restaurants in the Clerkenwell area of London are all getting on board with the sustainability message. Our first stop was The Clerkenwell Kitchen for a starter, where they treated us to summery loveliness in the form of courgette and goats' curd canapes, and a salad of mixed leaves, peas and eggs with homemade salad cream (see above). Then we hopped over the road and ate a divine main course of sustainably-fished sea bass with chermoula and quinoa at The Modern Pantry (who I might have now forgiven for a previously lacklustre brunch). Finally, we heaved our rotund selves onwards to The Zetter to eat a delectable raspberry and passionfruit sable, with fresh mint teas and chocolate truffles. All three of these restaurants demonstrated clearly that you can still serve wonderful, luxurious food that tastes exciting, while still staying true to ethical ideals without forcing people to wear hair shirts, stroke their beards and eat lentils.

The Clerkenwell Kitchen's impeccably-sourced sweet peas:



If you'd like to know more about the SRA and its noble aims, all the info is here. If you happen to be padding about Clerkenwell, I'd recommend a meal at any of the three restaurants above. Perhaps some of you could be persuaded (if you don't already) to ask a few more questions when you eat out - remember all it takes is a few people nagging to see small things start to change for the better. Ask where the mystery meat comes from. Don't be afraid to find out if the restaurant recycles. And if you can't finish that whopping steak, always ask for a doggy bag, the absolute epitome of foodie chic!

The Clerkenwell Kitchen
The Modern Pantry
The Zetter

Lumen Cafe

Note: Lumen cafe is no more. Well, it's not run by Charlotte Jarman any longer - she and the cafe parted ways two weeks ago, because the charity that managed the cafe were a bunch of awkward buggers who made her life hell. It's their loss - Charlotte can now be found cooking part time at the superb Clerkenwell Kitchen. Hurrah for her!

My friend Charlotte Jarman (the best cook I know) and her friend Kate de Syllas have opened a wondrous cafe just a stone's throw from King's Cross. In what seems to be a desert of good places to eat, they are serving exciting food that is a mix of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and British flavours, all impeccably and ethically sourced. Charlotte has worked as the Greener Food project manager at London Food Link (part of Sustain), and knows a thing or two about how to run a restaurant that sources its food locally, using meat, dairy and fish that has been responsibly farmed and fished, and above all, selecting ingredients that taste gorgeous.

Everything you will eat at Lumen Cafe tastes as though sunshine is bursting out of it - fresh, interesting ingredients that are all from great British farms. Fear not, though, you don't get its ethics rammed down your throat - the cafe's sourcing policies are discreetly written up on chalk boards, should you so wish to get a bit more info.

I popped in for lunch recently and blissed out on the following...

Sweetcorn bhaji with mixed leaves and raita: very sexy flavours. I even liked the raw onions, because Kate had done something magical to them by steeping them in lime juice and adding mustard seeds, annihilating the oniony aftertaste:



Tortilla with garlic aioli: I had an OMG moment with the aioli, and requested an extra bowl with bread to dip in it. The tortilla was very satisfying too, and did its best to soak up my hangover.



Vanilla sponge cake topped with whipped cream and Chegworth Valley strawberries: worth walking barefoot across crushed glass for...just dreamy!



I would have liked to have lingered there all afternoon, eating dish after dish. I know that the brownies served here are exemplary - I use Charlotte's recipe again and again, it's the best one I know. Lumen Cafe's prices are extremely reasonable, especially when you consider the high calibre of the ingredients. You'll average about £6 for a good sit-down meal. Even the sandwiches are something to be celebrated: Charlotte and Kate insist on good bread from Born & Bread, stuffing it with delectable fillings such as roast chicken and herb yoghurt, or homemade egg mayonnaise. Yum!

Get over there and prepare to undo at least one button on your jeans in honour of the feast. Oh, and hurrah for their glowing review in Time Out...they well deserve it!

Lumen Cafe
88 Tavistock Place
London WC1H 9RT

Geetie's dark chocolate pots

If you haven't heard of Geetie Singh, well, she's pretty much a legend on the UK organic food circuit. She's like the lone ranger of organic restaurant eating - not only is she a female restaurateur (in a very male-dominated trade) but she founded and still runs the UK's only existing Soil Association-certified gastropub: The Duke of Cambridge, based in Islington, north London. You will find her regularly in the pub chatting with staff and suppliers, often accompanied by her baby daughter and chocolate coloured labrador. She grew up on a commune where they grew all their own veg and made all their own bread, and grew her pub business from nothing. She's a cool dude!

It's really tough running an organic restaurant - not only is every morsel of food sourced to the very strictest of Soil Association standards, but the chefs cook according to the seasons, changing their menu twice daily. They only use small independent producers with impeccable credentials. And the pub - wow, it's lovely! Really cosy and warm, with wonderful food that is both hearty yet sophisticated. The chefs make all their own bread, ice cream and pickles.

Geetie has just published her first cookbook, co-written with her head chef Sara Berg, and I made the chocolate pots recipe at the weekend. It's rich, chocolate heaven: tastes eye-poppingly decadent yet is easy to make.

Geetie's dark chocolate pots - from 'Geetie's Cookbook: Recipes from the kitchen of the Duke of Cambridge organic pub'

Serves 4

You will need:
170g 70% dark chocolate (I used Green & Black's)
200ml double cream
110ml milk
2 egg yolks
100g icing sugar



Put the chocolate in a bowl and melt over a saucepan of simmering water. While this is melting, mix the cream, milk and egg yolks in a large bowl. Sieve the icing sugar into the cream mix. While the chocolate is still hot, add this to the cream mix and whisk. If it does not thicken up, place back over simmering water for a few minutes while whisking. Pour into ramekins, cups or glasses, and put them in the fridge. Serve on their own with biscotti.

I served mine with soft almond amaretti where I substituted the orange zest and orange flower water with ground cardamom, which goes really well with chocolate.

The Blackbird Bakery

This tiny bakery in Crystal Palace, South London, is one of my favourite shops on this planet. I love everything about it, as I’m one of those freaks who actually runs into traffic towards a good bakery window display. When it opened several years ago, I was one of their first customers through the door and think it sells the best croissants outside of France!

Everything at the Blackbird is handbaked using organic flour from Shipton Mills. The quality is fantastic. You can buy knobbly rustic loaves that feel satisfying when you pick them up – some sourdough, others flavoured with aromatic herbs such as rosemary and caraway, plaited challah loaves and spelt bread topped with seeds. They also make knockout cakes: think lemon and poppyseed, apple and spice, carrot with cream cheese icing or flourless chocolate cake. Proper wedges of English cake – not flimsy slices.

The bakery occupies a triangular Victorian corner shop space that was derelict for several years because retailers couldn’t figure out how to fill it, but it fits in perfectly, as though it has always been there. Aside from the tempting cake counter and shelves of homemade jams and biscuits, there is a wood burning stove, a general air of chilled out contentment and you can sit inside and watch the world go by nursing a nice mug of tea and some thick slices of toast. It’s cosy bliss.

But what I would walk across hot coals for are their plain butter croissants. They are magnificent – huge, crusty, buttery, salty and boasting a properly serious heft to them without being stodgy. Being half French, I feel I have a little bit of a say in what makes a good croissant, and I seriously consider these ones to be the best I have eaten outside of France. French friends of mine have also been amazed by them.

In fact, I start thinking about my weekend croissant from the minute I reach my desk on a Monday. I’m not even joking!



The Blackbird Bakery
71 Westow Street
Crystal Palace
London SE19
Tel: 020 8768 0357

Branches also in Dulwich and Herne Hill