Green is king: Sustainable restaurants in London
We’re all thinking more deeply about what and how we consume things. Whether it’s screentime, caffeine, or a tipple, we live in the hope that a Monday morning açaí bowl will counteract the Weekend Baddies of tequila and 2 am kebab.
But, seriously, we’re more intrigued about what we’re consuming and their origin than ever before, as well as the footsteps of our dining habits.
Institutions like St John do nose-to-tail eating in a big way, as it has always done. Places such as Manteca bring an Italian focus to full-circle dining, and it makes for a delectable and greener eating experience.
These are some of the best sustainable restaurants in London.
Jikoni
Celebrating the cuisines and shared flavours and cultures from across parts of South Asia, the Far and Middle East, East Africa, and Britain, Jikoni was the first independent restaurant in the UK to achieve carbon neutrality.
It has a farm-to-table partnership with organic farm Waltham Place. Vegetables are picked on a Monday and delivered on a Tuesday directly to the restaurant. Talk about fresh.
Jikoni crosses borders and shines a delicious spotlight on the similarities and differences between cultures. The end result is dishes that sing multiple tunes, like the prawn toast scotch egg with banana ketchup, or the estate dairy paneer gnudi, rainbow chard, wild garlic, sorrel and spinach Saag.
Marylebone, W1U | jikonilondon.com
Petersham Nurseries Restaurant
It’s got a Michelin green star, and it’s not because Petersham Nurseries Restaurant is located a stone’s throw away from Richmond Park or that the restaurant is set in the greenhouse where you dine surrounded by shrubbery.
It focuses on seasonal food inspired by its kitchen garden and the family farm in Devon, where much of the produce for dishes comes from.
An Italian nod from the menu leads to dishes such as fritto and rigatoni run through with veggies at their freshest and most tasty. And you can sip on a seasonal Bellini to toast the delicious meal.
Richmond, TW10 | petershamnurseries.com
40 Maltby Street
In a wine warehouse, which is clearly already a great start, Bermondsey’s 40 Maltby Street serves food that “celebrates the produce of this island and its proximity to the continent”. So, you know the ingredients will be top quality and top-notch in taste.
It’s a “no reservations” type of hotspot, but you can enjoy a glass while you wait for a table. The menu changes each week and is handwritten out on a blackboard – another good sign.
As we go into spring, you can expect plates featuring fennel, celeriac, rissoles, and beef shin served with pearl barley and greens of the season.
Bermondsey, SE1 | 40maltbystreet.com
Fallow
Bringing its brand of “conscious gastronomy” to St James’s market, sustainability beats through the heart of Fallow – and has done so since it was founded. It boasts the tagline “creative cooking, sustainable thinking”, and I can’t really argue with that.
The owners make their sausages and terrines, and veggies are used from root to tip in the cooking process; plus, mushrooms are grown in-house in their very own mushroom room. The ‘shrooms are used in the signature mushroom parfait, which has been on the menu since it opened.
Although the menu changes regularly, creative dishes take the form of venison tartar, English Iberico pork, and a dozen Carlingford oysters served with pickled shallot, lemon, and Fallow’s very own sriracha.
St James’s, SW1Y | fallowrestaurant.com
Sodo Pizza
A sustainability focus might not be the first thought that comes to mind with pizza. But Sodo Pizza puts it at the forefront.
With multiple locations across London, it was founded on a sourdough pizza base. The dough is made with flour from heritage grains, which are organic, stone-milled, and grown by a chap called John for almost 30 years.
When it comes to toppings, Sodo uses fior di latte mozzarella made fresh from local milk from Simona at La Latteria in Acton, veggies from growing communities and local gardens, and the charcuterie is sourced from Cobble Lane Cured in Islington.
Cooking by the seasons and using produce from local people means the menu remains interesting. Following on from the fermented theme of the 48-hour sourdough, Sodo also serves house pickles, and kombucha is brewed in-house.
There are also some great natty wines for drinks, to make the meal just perfect.
Bethnal Green, E2, Clapton, E5, Deptford, SE8, Walthamstow, E17 | sodopizza.co.uk
Silo
Silo is the world’s first Zero Waste restaurant, based in Hackney Wick. It has a fermentation factory – even selling wholesale koji – and its sustainability philosophy centres around natural farming and closed-loop cooking.
Silo seerves a tasting menu, with a shorter list of chef favourites served at specific times, and it boasts a decadent list of plates to expand your tastebuds – and your thoughts on waste.
Butter is churned daily, and oats are rolled in the kitchen; you can eat here guilt-free, knowing that not one part of your meal has gone in the bin because the kitchen doesn’t have one.
Hackney Wick, E9 | silolondon.com
Plates
As a Big Fan of Great British Menu, I cried when chef Kirk Haworth was crowned champion of champions for his fully plant-based dessert in 2024 (I cry at a lot of TV). And now, he’s opened his own restaurant, Plates, which stems from his passion for food, nature, and sustainable craft.
The restaurant delivers seasonal menus and includes several courses that featured on Kirk's Great British Menu menu, including that dessert: raw cacao gateau, sour cherry, coconut blossom ice cream, African pepper, toasted macadamia, and raw caramel sauce.
You’ll also find barbecued tomato broth, laminated sourdough, and mung and urad bean lasagna.
Plates is a place for everyone. It focuses on sustainability not just because of the earth, the eating, or the ingredients, but because it wants to create a way of life where we can all flourish. Cute.
Old Street, EC1V | plates-london.com
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