Here are some of our favourite venues around the UK for eco-friendly dining. Call us for more tips in your area.
Due South
139 Kings Road Arches, Brighton BN1 2FN
A quick glance at the menu of this Brighton beach restaurant is enough to reveal the kitchen's commitment to local, seasonal produce. Brighton oysters, Sussex partridge, South Downs pork - head chef Michael Bremner sources 80 per cent of his ingredients from independent businesses within a 35 mile radius of Due South's location, a policy that won him the Sussex Sustainable Business Award 2007/2008.
The modern British food has, however, also gathered plaudits from the likes of Observer Food Monthly, the Independent and the Daily Telegraph, while the stylishly understated dining room is flooded with a commanding view of the shore.
Bordeaux Quay
V-Shed, Canons Way, Bristol BS1 5UH
Helmed by Barny Haughton, who has been preparing and serving organic food since 1988, Bordeaux Quay is the first restaurant in the UK to achieve a gold rating from the Soil Association. Food is local, seasonal and organic; solar energy heats the water; furniture is made from sustainably sourced materials; and the restaurant operates a comprehensive recycling and composting scheme.
The formal first-floor dining room and a relaxed ground floor brasserie serve up seasonal modern European fare, which diners can also take home from the deli or learn how to make in Bordeaux Quay's cookery school.
Sankey's pub, seafood brasserie and oyster bar
39 Mount Ephraim, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN4 8AA
This unpretentious pub and brasserie is - along with Le Manoir and London's Walnut - a favourite of fish2fork.com, which rates restaurants both for the quality of their food and the effect they have on the marine environment.
The cosy upstairs pub, with its open fire and comfy armchairs, is well regarded for its wide selection of beers from obscure European breweries, while the oyster bar and brasserie is an informal spot to sample Colchester oysters or Cornish crab. Sankey's takes great care to source its ingredients directly from fishermen around the British coast and has pledged never to knowingly sell fish from unsustainable sources. It even releases a baby lobster into the sea for every one it sells, helping to maintain a thriving shellfish population along British shores.
Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons
Church Road, Great Milton, Oxford OX44 7PD
Raymond Blanc's restaurant with rooms in the Oxfordshire countryside has long been a member favourite, but the celebrated chef's sustainability policies have won him as many fans in the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) as the Michelin Guide.
In July 2009, Le Manoir became the UK's first Michelin-starred restaurant to win accreditation from the MSC, thanks to its commitment to using fish from sustainable sources, but Blanc's eco-credentials extend to terra firma too. The kitchen grows more than ten per cent of its ingredients in Le Manoir's own gardens, and Blanc has been a champion of the organic movement for almost 20 years, trying to ensure everything the kitchen serves can be traced to an ethical supplier. Diners' consciences will be as clear as their plates.
Strattons hotel and restaurant
Ash Close, Swaffham, Norfolk PE37 7NH
‘Luxury without sacrifice to the environment,' is the motto of this family-run boutique hotel, the first in the UK to win the prestigious Queen's Award for ‘Outstanding Environmental Performance'. Housed in a country home that was a favourite of the Nelson family, Strattons has placed the environment at the forefront of its operations since opening its doors in 1990. Food is sourced locally, with many ingredients taken from the fertile Norfolk Brecks; water management policies ensure that as much waste water as possible is reused within the business; and guests arriving by public transport are given a 10 per cent discount. The modern British menu shifts with the seasons, featuring dishes such as roasted pheasant, Norfolk fish cakes and rabbit terrine, and on Sunday nights the kitchen showcases its skill with a tapas-style platter of tasting dishes. Call us if you'd like to book a room for a weekend away in the Brecks.
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