National Restaurant Awards 2024: The Estrella Damm Sustainability Award shortlist
Knepp Wilding Kitchen
Located on the Knepp Estate and led by chef Ned Burrell, Knepp Wilding Kitchen sources all of its meat from the 3,500-acre rewilding project on site. Here, free-roaming herds of Old English Longhorn cattle, Tamworth pigs and red and fallow deer are part of a natural ecosystem that attracts endangered species. Fresh produce for the menu is selected from its on site market garden, cultivated using no-till, regenerative methods. Collaborating closely with ecologists, the restaurant shares the rewilding narrative with its guests and embraces a nose-to-tail ethos with every part of every ingredient is purposed; fat skimmed from stocks is used as a butter substitute in brioche, and bones are converted into biochar for its charcoal grill. Waste management is a priority, with cooked food directed to an on-site anaerobic digester and fresh food to the market garden composter; and the restaurant harnesses heat generated by the composting process for fermentation. Its building design integrates nesting spaces for swallows, house martins and bats, alongside other features like solar panels, ground-source heat pumps, waterless urinals and rainwater collection systems.
Pasture
Chef Sam Elliott’s Pasture restaurants are established in Bristol and Cardiff and will soon open in Birmingham. Most of its produce is sourced from its Bristol farm, which collects rainwater for irrigation (storing up to 6,000 litres) and uses local suppliers’ coffee chaff and used beer hops as mulch, and all beef is sourced from British regenerative farms. Operating entirely on 100% green energy, the restaurants source charcoal as a by-product from a UK-based birch furniture company and minimise packaging waste by delivering in reusable crates. To combat food waste, it employ fermenting, pickling and preserving techniques, creatively repurposing bones, excess fat and trimmings into new dishes. Strong staff welfare policies include conducting weekly supplier visits, encouraging skill-sharing and promoting mental health awareness.
Restaurant Interlude
Led by chef Jean Delport, this West Sussex restaurant offers a tasting menu of locally foraged ingredients sourced from the 240-acre Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens, its own vegetable garden, and hyper-local farmers and producers. Foraged ingredients include wild asparagus, nettles, chestnuts, dandelions and a variety of wild game including deer, pheasant and rabbit. The restaurant is committed to boosting biodiversity, with seven on-site beehives and the reintroduction of forgotten fruit trees. It has also implemented a salt chamber to enhance flavour and preserve foods, while plates and utensils are made from wood cleared from the garden. It operates a fully electric kitchen, has rainwater harvesting systems across the estate and collaborates extensively with the Table Talk Foundation, while a decision to stop using tablecloths has reduced water and energy consumption, chemical use and waste.
Restaurant Pine
The brainchild of Northumberland natives Cal Byerley and Siân Buchan, Restaurant Pine sources ingredients from its own kitchen garden, which uses regenerative farming methods. Collaborating with local farmers, foragers and mycologists within a 10-mile radius, the duo work to reduce agrochemical use, promote wildflower conservation and follow a yearly foraging schedule to responsibly harvest wild ingredients from Northumberland. External deliveries have been reduced to a weekly schedule, and the restaurant enforces a zero-tolerance policy for plastic and non-recyclable materials in supplier packaging. It is powered by renewable energy sources and solar panels, and its bar and drinks menus are presented on tablets, while the food menu is printed on homemade recycled wildflower seed paper.
The Bull Inn
The Bull Inn in Totnes has a daily-changing, veg-first menu and avoids pre-packaged snacks, cling film and bottled water, while blackboards and cork menu covers reduce paper usage. It uses ecological cleaning products and aprons made locally from recycled materials and plant-based dyes while house wine has transitioned to bag-in-box packaging with the team collaborating with organisations, charities and local businesses to further their impact. Publicly communicated policies like the ‘No-Bull Rules to Dine, Trade, and Work By’ ensure transparency, and the business has invested in an Employee Assistance Programme. The Bull Inn has implemented a heat recapture system in the kitchen, uses solar energy panels for preheating hot water and monitors energy usage in real-time. It purchase 100% renewable energy and processes food waste locally at Langage Farm’s anaerobic digestion facility to produce electricity, heat and fertilisers, resulting in the only carbon-neutral dairy in the country. The venue’s own organic farm, Baddaford, is dedicated to regenerative farming and wildlife restoration, with reservoirs conserving water and providing habitats, spinneys offering cattle feed and shade, and fruit orchards supporting biodiversity.
Wild Shropshire Restaurant
Chef James Sherwin’s Wild Shropshire Restaurant describes itself as serving ‘terroir led, micro seasonal, British food’ offering its customers a field-to-fork dining experience. The daily surprise menu showcases ingredients from hyper-local trusted suppliers, foraged foods and seasonal produce sourced from its own farm located just two miles away, which employs regenerative farming methods and even boasts an orchard and beehives. The restaurant operates on renewable energy sources, features a rainwater collection system and has a compost system. The restaurant’s latest project focuses on offsetting guest emissions, with detailed sustainability policies readily accessible on its website.
The winner of the Estrella Damm Sustainability Award will be announced at the National Restaurant Awards, being held at Magazine London on 10 June. The award is judged by The Sustainable Restaurant Association.
