Members of the Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery Collective share their inspiring initiatives and beliefs.

Vicia give food scraps a second life

• WHO: Michael & Tara Gallina, partners
• WHAT: Vegetable-forward, farmer-driven restaurant celebrating the daily bounty of the midwest

• WHERE: 4260 Forest Park Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63108, USA

“Reducing food waste is an important principle to us at Vicia, from the basic principles of not throwing anything away, to finding ways to serve guests produce that is often discarded or underutilized. We create falafel out of juice pulp scraps, make vinegars and powders from peels, pickle anything we can't use, make pesto from yellowing or pock-marked vegetable tops, and even use old wine to create syrups for our cocktail program. In addition, we compost any food waste that comes from our guests, offer metal reusable straws at the bar, and put forth a menu that puts vegetables first and meat as a supporting player.”

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

Young George celebrate ‘ugly’ produce

• WHO: Melissa Palinkas & Suse Whelan, owners
• WHAT: A suburban neighbourhood Freo bar that says no to waste

• WHERE: 48 George Street, East Fremantle, Western Australia 6158, Australia

“We are advocates of using seconds! It’s so shameful that large supermarkets only take unblemished fruit and vegetables, which leaves the farmers with millions of dollars in combined waste each year. A bunch of restaurants with like-minded chefs buy the wonky veg and use it, as there is actually nothing wrong with it. We buy oversized limes for our bar – they are too big and not completely green all the way around for supermarket shelves, but are full of juice. We buy bananas with small, slightly black lines – they are actually at their best flavour-wise when slightly changing colour, as the starches convert to sugars.”

To read more about Young George visit their Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery profile here.

Young George, East Fremantle, Western Australia

Burro e Salvia on the benefits of cooking from scratch

• WHO: Gaia Enria, founder & head pasta maker
• WHAT: A traditional artisan pastificio and trattoria with a focus on fresh pasta, handmade daily

• WHERE: 52 Redchurch street, London E2 7DP, UK

“For the past four years we have organised pasta-making workshops at our premises (or outside) as an educational programme, with one or two workshops every week. We do indeed teach the tricks of the trade, but somehow also deliver a wider message, about taking the time to learn new skills and what it means to make your own food rather than buying pre-made things at the supermarket. It turned out to be so successful that we now have waiting lists for our dates to come.”

To read more about Burro e Salvia visit their Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery profile here.

Burro e Salvia, London, UK

Tzuk Farm Deli & Restaurant on their farm-to-table approach

• WHO: Tomer Tzuk, chef/owner & Asaf Shinar, chef/owner
• WHAT: A farm-to-table restaurant & deli serving local grass-fed lamb & beef
• WHERE: Moshe Perlok 5 Tel Aviv 6936705, Israel

“Although we serve mostly meat, we focus our attention first on the vegetables. In a way, our cooks first look at the vegetables as the focal point on the plate and only then pair them with the protein. We offer dishes with smaller portions of red meat and we work with the only organic, free-range chicken in Israel. At times we are able to work with grass-fed local Wagu beef grown by Seven Spring Farm in the north. Our menu is made up of what arrives from the farm – our specials changes twice-daily according to this. Recent dishes include a special pumpkin gratin with a slow-roasted leg of lamb, and a fakus salad (local cucumber) made with yellow zucchini, purple radish, our Circassian goat cheese, olive oil and lemon juice.”

To read more about Tzuk Farm Deli & Restaurant visit their Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery profile here.

Tzuk Farm & Deli, Tel Aviv, Israel

Arbour makes a stand for the tiny blue mussel

• WHO: Liz Buttimore & Chef Bradley Hornby, co-owners
• WHAT: A relaxed dining experience with daily changing menus & warm, friendly service

• WHERE: 36 Godfrey Road, RD2 Blenheim 7272, New Zealand

“We are championing the blue mussel. It is a self-seeding mussel that causes mussel farmers a lot of grief. They either invest in knocking them off the lines, causing food waste on a massive scale, or they invest in finding a market and working out how to harvest (as they can't be harvested at the same time as the green shell). We are hoping over time to nurture the latter option by using these in high profile events and competitions. We hope other chefs will catch on and the many tons of food waste will be solved. These mussels are of course used in other areas such as fertiliser, health products and pet food. They are tiny, sweet and delicious!”

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

Arbour, Blenheim, New Zealand

Three Fold Noodles + Dumpling Co. on traditional Chinese cuisine

• WHO: Lisa Zhang, chef/owner
• WHAT: Making simple, healthy food using cooking methods rooted in Chinese tradition

• WHERE: 611 South Main Street, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201, USA

“We only have three main dishes at Three Fold: noodles, dumplings and steamed buns. These are each considered major food types in Chinese cuisine and could stand alone in a restaurant in China. For example, if you want noodles, you'd go to a noodle shop and if you want dumplings, you'd go to a dumpling shop where only dumplings are served, but in a variety of flavours and variations. At Three Fold within each main dish category, we also have three variations. For example, for dumplings, you can choose between pork, chicken or vegetarian fillings. Pork is the most traditional filling eaten in China, the chicken filling was designed for our Arkansas customers, and the vegetarian filling was inspired by the dumplings of my hometown in north-eastern China – you can find countless variations of vegetarian dumplings there, and no two are the same. Our vegetarian dumplings are made with shiitake mushrooms, squash and tofu. Shiitake offer valuable nutrition, squash is a local produce, and tofu is a soy-based protein that's commonly used in Chinese vegetarian cooking.”

To read more about Three Fold Noodles + Dumpling Co. visit their Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery profile here.

Three Fold Noodles and Dumpling Co., Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Doot Doot Doot shares their relationship with produce

• WHO: Guy Stanaway, exec chef & Elliot Pinn, head chef
• WHAT: An artful package of peninsula food & wine
• WHERE: 166 Balnarring Road, Merricks North, Victoria 3926, Australia

“Seafood sustainability is really important to us; we always love working with suppliers whose ethics and product closely aligns with our own. Produce-wise, having a personal relationship with growers can mean getting a phone call and heading out to collect fallen fruit for preserves after bad weather, or pre-purchasing a large amount of heirloom tomatoes from an amazing grower like Daniel's Run well before harvest has begun.”

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

Doot Doot Doot, Merricks North, Victoria, Australia