Azurmendi, where environmentalism meets gastronomy, wins The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Sustainable Restaurant Award
London (PRWEB UK) 28 April 2014 -- Basque restaurant Azurmendi, where diners visit the gardens from where much of their dinner is sourced and the kitchen where it is prepared, before sitting down to eat, has been named as the winner of the Sustainable Restaurant Award, sponsored by Zacapa, at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
The Three Michelin Star restaurant just outside Bilbao, has sustainability built in and was designed with environmental concerns at its very core. The roof is half greenhouse, half vegetable garden and has solar panels providing the restaurant’s electricity. Many of the materials used were recycled or reclaimed. Geothermal energy provides 90% of the building’s required heat and rainwater gathered on site is used wherever possible.
Those lucky enough to dine at Azurmendi will also find a passionate commitment to serve local, often hyper-local, high welfare food from suppliers with whom it has developed long-term, deep relationships. All of the meat on the menu is free range and every effort is made to serve only sustainable fish. The dining experience begins with a tour of the garden which provides a large proportion of the organic vegetables used on the menu. Azurmendi is also pioneering a project to bring back a number of varieties threatened with extinction. So far, the project has managed to preserve 36 varieties.
Chef Eneko Axta said: “According to our philosophy, sustainability is the foundation for our operations. Azurmendi was designed on sustainability principles from a holistic point of view. We have a respect for our greatest supplier: THE EARTH, OUR EARTH. The environment is our source of activity and we have an obligation to help it, so it helps us; if you don’t look after what is feeding your business, then it will not be sustainable.”
Azurmendi won the Sustainable Restaurant Award at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants by achieving the highest score in the SRA’s Global Sustainability Rating. The rating which is the first international restaurant sustainability rating, was launched at the World’s 50 Best in 2013, enabling diners to choose restaurants that match their sustainability priorities wherever they are in the world. Narisawa in Tokyo won the award last year.
Many of the best restaurants in Asia, North and South America, Australia, Europe and Africa have completed the rating over the last 12 months.
The SRA’s Global Sustainability Rating means diners in New York, Paris, Tokyo or Sydney for example, who care about where their food comes from, how restaurants manage their energy, waste and water and how they treat their staff, can check their credentials.
The SRA, the UK’s premier sustainability focussed industry body, has been conducting restaurant ratings since 2010. Hundreds of UK restaurants including Le Manoir and Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles have completed the rating, described as the Michelin Stars of Sustainability by The Sunday Times. It is the only fully independent and comprehensive assessment of restaurants’ environmental and social responsibility and covers three main areas: Sourcing, Environment and Society.
Diners can check the ratings at http://www.thesra.org/for-diners/restaurant-directory/.
Restaurants that would like to take the sustainability rating can sign up here: http://www.thesra.org/global
Notes to Editors
About the SRA
The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) is a not-for-profit membership organisation providing restaurants with expert sustainability advice through a team of specialist account managers. The SRA helps member restaurants source food more sustainably, manage resources more efficiently and work more closely with their community. Members enjoy the economic benefits of greater sustainability and the SRA promotes their activities to consumers.
The SRA Rating System involves Restaurants completing a rigorous survey, providing answers and evidence to questions across 14 areas of sustainability. The SRA then assesses the results and rates the restaurants accordingly.
Three-Star Sustainability Champions – These restaurants have demonstrated exceptional all round sustainability, scoring consistently well across every category totalling at least 70%.
Two-Star Sustainability Champions – These restaurants have demonstrated excellent all round sustainability, scoring at least 60%.
One-Star Sustainability Champions – These restaurants have demonstrated good all round sustainability, scoring at least 50%.
Ed Franklin, Sustainable Restaurant Association, http://www.thesra.org, +44 2074794235, [email protected]
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