Ten of the best… sustainable restaurants

Looking to do a deal over a meal? Imogen Martineau finds the places with the right credentials

Due South

Hugely popular, Due South embodies the best of Brighton – laidback, imaginative, and ethical. Right on the beach, it has a calming effect with its whitewashed walls, smooth wooden floors and arched cabin-like rooms. On the menu you’ll find locally caught fish, organically grown European wine, and handmade local cheeses. The seasons dictate, but not at the expense of diversity or taste. ‘Pigs’ cheeks’ and ‘ox-tongue terrine’ are served with British-grown veg – beetroot, kale, and parsnip. Avoid the slightly disappointing set menu.

Stand out feature: Homemade desserts
Expect to meet: Hercule Poirot
Prices: starters £5-7; mains £8-18;
desserts £5-8
www.duesouth.co.uk

Duke of Cambridge

Since opening in 1998 as the world’s first certified organic pub, the Duke of Cambridge has won awards from just about everyone. This Islington pub is one for the urban professional, with the emphasis on atmosphere (classic designs and gentle lighting), quality ales and wines. If you’re up for the full gastro experience then move on through to the restaurant and start on the lentil and pancetta soup, followed by pan-fried bream fillet with fennel à la grecque. No need to worry, because all the fish on the menu is certified by the Marine Stewardship Council. Quince crumble and cream will top it off nicely.

Stand out feature: Organic ales
Expect to meet: Sherlock Holmes
Prices: starters £5-10; mains £10-£15; desserts £6
www.sloeberry.co.uk

Bordeaux Quay

This is Bristol’s new Mecca for anyone wanting to eat, buy or learn about food. Bordeaux Quay’s converted waterside warehouse premises incorporate a deli, cookery school, bakery, family-friendly brasserie and quality restaurant. Founders Barny Haughton and John Pontin have made sure their project addresses all aspects of sustainability, including energy, waste and food miles. But it’s the cooking that really pulls the punters in – serving up dishes such as saddle of lamb with seasonal vegetables and jus Côtes du Rhône and soft vanilla meringue with roast plums, blackberries and mascarpone.

Stand out feature: Views of Bristol Harbour
Expect to meet: Rick Blaine – on a visit from Casablanca
Prices: £23.00 for a three-course lunch
www.bordeaux-quay.co.uk

Leon

If you want your food at speed, with humour, noise and all the bustle of a Latin American salsa class then this London chain has it. Leon has brought a long overdue rethink of the tired fast-food format. The emphasis is on quality (all organic and 85% sourced in the UK), design and the customer’s experience (it really is good fun). The system is slick: stand in line, order food from a mouth-watering menu, wait for your number to be called (about 30 seconds), pick up your brown box and tuck in at a comfy sofa.

Stand out feature: Smoothies
Expect to meet: Zorro
Prices: meals £3-6
www.leonrestaurants.co.uk

The Austwick Traddock

At this Georgian country house hotel in the Yorkshire Dales, named after the former ‘trading paddock’ where markets were once held, the restaurant offers a mouth-watering medley of flavours all locally sourced from farmers and gamekeepers. The menu, which changes with the seasons of course, reads like a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem: venison, mallard, red mullet, rack of lamb, honey glazed carrots and wild pork juice… Pudding could be a blueberry soufflé with a rich blueberry soup. The result’s a joy for the senses.

Stand out feature: The venison
Expect to meet: Miss Marple
Prices: starters £6; mains £18; desserts £6
www.austwicktraddock.co.uk

Acorn House

The eco-credentials of Acorn House (a short walk from London’s King’s Cross station) are impeccable. They recycle and compost most of their waste, have a herb garden on the roof, use green electricity, never resort to airfreight, drive with bio-diesel within London, avoid industrial farming and buy Fairtrade where they can. Chef and co-founder Arthur Potts Dawson trains up to ten local eco-chefs a year, although sadly some of the dishes can be a bit hit and miss. The venue is long and sleek with a bar at one end and a kitchen at the other, but the wine list is short on local, organic and vegan offerings – surprisingly so, given the restaurant’s obvious healthy eating and environmental responsibility remit.

Stand out feature: Chic styling
Expect to meet: James Bond
Prices: starters £6-9; mains £15-18;
desserts £6.50
www.acornhouserestaurant.co.uk

Penrhos

Housed in a restored 13th-century Herefordshire cow barn, Penrhos is remote, rural and dreamily romantic. As well as the fantastic surroundings and buildings, everything on the mostly vegetarian menu is seasonal and locally grown. Choose carefully when you visit: spring for salads of yarrow, lovage and primroses, wild garlic soup and nettle ravioli; summer for a riot of vegetables; autumn for root crops, sloes and blackberries, and winter for simnel and almond soup. Or you could return monthly to experience the full bounty of the countryside. Penrhos is also a hotel – which makes this a great venue for parties and weddings.

Stand out feature: The garden
Expect to meet: Tom and Barbara Good
Prices: £40 for a four-course set meal
www.penrhos.co.uk

Konstam

Everything about London’s Konstam adds up to a memorable experience. The service is efficient and charming; the setting intriguing (dark walls, lots of chain mail and atmospheric lighting); and the food – cooked by chef Oliver Rowe in full view of all the tables – tasty but simple. Basing most of its modern European menu on produce sourced from within the M25 means it’s both sustainable and supports British farmers. It’s also a great PR gimmick. There’s no way it can all be that local (most of the wines aren’t), but with flavours this good it’s easy to forgive.

Stand out feature: Tall svelte waiters
Expect to meet: Adam from Spooks
Prices: starters £5-7; mains £12-17;
desserts £4-7
www.konstam.co.uk

Argyll Hotel & Restaurant

The island of Iona itself is a powerful draw – and The Argyll’s the place to eat ‘guilt-free’ food when you’re there. The hotel and restaurant opened in 1816, and its garden has been producing fresh produce for the kitchen for 20 years. Dan and Claire took over eight years ago and set out to make it all as sustainable as possible. Salad, vegetables and flowers from the garden are now all organically certified, and all other food comes from organic suppliers too. The cuisine has hints of France and Scotland.

Stand out feature: The location
Expect to meet: Taggart
Prices: starters £4-6; mains £8-15;
desserts £4-6
www.argyllhoteliona.co.uk

Lancrigg Vegetarian Country House Hotel

Half a mile from Grasmere in the Lake District, Lancrigg offers a meat-free international menu, and can happily cater for vegans. Using organic food – and locally sourced wherever possible – Robert and Janet Whittington and their chef Paula Young aim to provide “fresh, colourful, imaginative, zestful, nutritious and delicious food”. Look forward to cranberry and Wensleydale cheese topped carrot and potato rosti, on walnut and orange salad as a starter, followed by pumpkin, rosemary, walnut and lime croquettes with a rich tomato sauce, sautéed potatoes and steamed seasonal vegetables.

Stand out feature: The views
Expect to meet: Inspector Morse
Prices: Four-course dinner £27.50
www.lancrigg.co.uk

6 January 2008

Imogen Martineau

Add new comment