The Truth and Love about Café Murano

We asked every restaurant in Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery to complete a survey detailing their passions, processes and philosophy. Discover more of our restaurants’ stories in their own words.

• WHO: Angela Hartnett, chef patron & owner
• WHAT: A Northern Italian restaurant in St James & Covent Garden
• WHERE: 33 St James's Street, London, SW1A 1HD, plus other locations – see website

There are many different ways to practice sustainability and integrity in hospitality. Give us some examples of an action or principle that is important to you.

Environmental impact:

“We work with all our suppliers to minimize packaging – we get all our meat wrapped in pink paper and delivered in cardboard boxes so there is no plastic. Our fish is iced up in iced boxes which are then recycled. All our veg is either sent in its natural picking state or wrapped in paper and delivered in boxes. Our Italian suppliers are excellent at reusing the boxes that they deliver the dry goods in – if it’s not damaged, it’s perfectly good to reuse. We are working hard to try to eliminate all single-use plastics from our sites by the end of 2018. We are working with our cleaning company to source products that environmentally-friendly where we can – we recycle most of our waste – organic, glass, paper and wood. In terms of deliveries, we avoid where possible to order second deliveries – instead we jump on our bike and head to our sister restaurants to help us when we are in a pickle. We also work with Igor at Indie Ecology, who collects all our food waste from the kitchens. Igor is a soil scientist who has developed a system that converts kitchen food waste into soil, which he then uses to grow vegetables which are in turn sold back to his restaurant customer.”

Community:

“We are trying to commit time and effort to local charities, for example, the issue of homelessness in London is an ever-growing problem. For some years now we have supported the Street Smart initiative. More recently we have started to work with the St Martins-in-the-Field Trust and their Strand Together programme, an alliance that businesses working together to positively work together and constructively engage with the local problems of homelessness.”

Locality:

“We love to work directly with farmers, fishermen and growers to source the best produce perfectly in season. By cutting out the middleman, our chefs get to learn first-hand when seasonal produce is ready to put on our menus. Every year Greg from Forge Farms will directly liaise with us, and this is when our signature dish of pumpkin tortelli will feature on our menus. It is important to us to use smaller independent producers. We love their commitment to quality, seasonality and sustainability. Buying this way allows us to showcase produce that is rarely found in supermarkets, on the high street or indeed other restaurants where pricing is often a factor. Our dishes are simple, and we believe it is the quality of our produce that sets us apart. Where possible we support local British farmers and artisan producers. We use our shop in Covent Garden to showcase many of these suppliers and their amazing produce.”

Describe three dishes that best represent your approach or food philosophy:

“1. Vitello tonnato – This is a much-loved classic on our menu. Milk-fed organic British veal thinly sliced, dressed with tuna mayonnaise and served with capers and wild rocket. Much of the menu at Café Murano showcases the classics of Italian cuisine, often with our own twist and where possible using the best UK produce. Our Vitello Tonnato is a great example – the veal is sourced from Angela Barraclough working via the co-operative Lake District Farmers. Angela organically rears all her veal born to dairy cows on their farm in Penrith.

“2. Orecchiette, broccoli, radicchio & pine nuts – We love this dish because it is one of many vegan and vegetarian options we have on our menus. The orecchiette is sourced from La Credenza (Verrigni´s gold-cut pastas have a different consistency than those cut with bronze moulds. Gold dyes confer a special rough thin texture and a distinctive taste. When cooked, its absorption is rapid, and the pasta has a more intense wheat taste and a bright yellow colour). Fabio Antonazzi, owner of La Credenza, spends 2-3 months a year travelling around Italy sourcing the best products, forming relationships with suppliers and distributors to get the best products on our doorstep.

“3. Mackerel, spring slaw, pickled red onions & golden raisins – A new dish to the menu, and a great example of how we introduce dishes to suit the best seasonal British produce. We are getting amazing Mackerel from sustainable sources via Johnny and Nick at Flying Fish in Cornwall. Not only is their fish the highest quality, but as members of the Responsible Fishing Scheme and supporters for the Cornish Good Seafood Guide, we love their ethos and commitment to sustainability and to the region of Cornwall in general.”

To read more about Café Murano, visit their Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery profile here.