In recognition of Anzac Day, this week we feature a selection of true-blue Australian and New Zealand restaurants who talk about their sustainability and environmental practices.

Clementine

• WHO: Adam Bantock & Brooke Sainsbery
• WHAT: A small regional restaurant set inside the owners' cottage home
• WHERE: 104 Meehan Street, Yass, New South Wales, Australia

“We prefer to use local ingredients wherever possible and to develop a relationship with our suppliers. Our dishes are European inspired but not fussy or overworked. We like our ingredients to speak for themselves, and our menu changes weekly to source the freshest seasonal ingredients.

“We have formed great links with the local farmers' markets and hold quarterly stalls there selling sourdough and baked goods. We prefer to use suppliers that are either practicing free range or biodynamic farming principles, and we don't put any fish on our menu that is being overfished, such as Bluefin tuna.

“We are also in the process of installing a large solar panel system (nine kilowatts) on the restaurant roof that will assist in covering our power usage. We donate all vegetable scraps to friends with chickens and we use rainwater from the tank on the garden and in bathrooms.”

Shepherd

• WHO: Shepherd Elliott & Sean Golding, chefs/co-owners
• WHAT: A New Zealand restaurant that aims to deliver inspiration & fun to lovers of great eating
• WHERE: 1/5 Eva St, Te Aro, Wellington, New Zealand

“We try our utmost to use only seasonal produce, however we give ourselves the ability to use out-of-season items by pickling and preserving almost anything we can. This lets us create interesting and otherwise unavailable options at our whim and cut down on food waste.

“Every piece of fish and seafood we source is obtained through sustainable practices. Our suppliers, Lee Fish and Yellow Brick Road, guarantee sustainability and traceability. Both suppliers use day boats with long lines, kill their catch using the ikijime method, and pack, process and deliver within twenty-four to thirty-six hours of leaving the boat. Through these suppliers we are able to request information down to the name of the boat and the person who personally caught the fish. We also use a variety of fish species, including the less popular types, so we do not rely on any one species. We work with as many farms and suppliers as possible that have a goal to put back what they take out of the land – in some cases making the land better than when they began.

“We also work very hard to reduce food waste. We dehydrate vegetable and fruit skins to make powders, flavour kefir and kombucha with scraps and use every part of the chickens we get with stocks and sauces. We make sure to use up all the produce we receive, and we recycle and compost everything we can.”

Shepherd (Wellington, New Zealand)

Love.fish

• WHO: Michael Milkovic & Michelle Grand-Milkovic, co-owners
• WHAT: Fresh, sustainable Australian seafood hero
• WHERE: Wulugul Walk, 7/23 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, Sydney, Australia

“The sustainable choice is to support Australian fisheries – we have the most stringent guidelines in the world. We only select seafood that is not subject to overfishing and has been caught or farmed using methods that respect the environment. We list the provenance of all our seafood, selecting only the highest quality fish sourced locally from Australian and New Zealand waters because we believe food miles play a key role in reducing our ecological footprint too.

“Our goal is to help reduce landfill, protect natural resources and reduce greenhouse emissions. This can only be achieved through ethical sourcing of produce, supplies and the reduction of waste. love.fish has been actively lightening its waste footprint since we launched back in 2010, but now, with the additional resources of Barangaroo’s six-star Green Star precinct, our recycling and composting has reached new heights. We have eight waste streams. Barangaroo even has its own waste water recycling system. Furthermore, as a restaurant offering takeaway meals, we have been mindful to choose environmentally responsible packaging. Ensuring most of our packaging is biodegradable is integral to our waste management. Even our straws are recycled, biodegradable and use vegetable inks. Say no to plastic!”

love.fish (Barangaroo, Sydney, Australia)

Amano

• WHO: Jackie Grant, CEO & Jo Pearson, chef
• WHAT: Italian-inspired cuisine using local, seasonal, sustainable New Zealand produce
• WHERE: 68 Tyler Street, Britomart, Auckland, New Zealand

“We have a zero-waste policy that we haven't achieved (yet) but that we hold as an achievable target to work towards. This underpins every kitchen process; once we've used the part of the vegetable we need in a dish, we use the peel and trim in stocks, dehydrate for garnish, ferment for vinegar and juice for dressings. Being local with minimal imported goods is also contributing to lessening our environmental impact.

“We don't use farmed fish on any of our menus. We purposely use only wild, second-tier fish or by-catch products because local demand has traditionally focused on schooling fish like snapper and tarakihi, resulting in an incredible decimation of these popular local fish species. We prefer sardines and other unappreciated fish often used as bait for targeting more popular species.”

Amano (Auckland, New Zealand)

Pasta Adagio

• WHO: Carmine Costantini, owner & chef
• WHAT: An authentic, rustic, hands-on Italian restaurant
• WHERE: 486 Bridge Road, Richmond, Melbourne, Australia

“I am always on the lookout for fresh and organically grown produce, be it from local farmers' markets or well-known local markets like Prahran and the South Melbourne markets. I grow most of my own herbs which I also use to make my own aromatic cooking salt.

“Through a close business relationship with my seafood supplier, located at the Prahran Market, the fish and seafood served in my restaurant is of exceptionally high quality and freshness. Special care is also taken to include dishes with sustainable fish and seafood of Australian provenance such as local sardines, calamari and prawns.

“A great deal of time is spent training my staff, teaching them the 'art and love of true Italian cooking' and better practice to run an efficient, small restaurant, enabling them to achieve their dream of opening their own restaurant.”

Carmine Costantini, owner & chef, Pasta Adagio (Melbourne, Australia)

Fort Greene

• WHO: Andrea Muhlhausen & Liam Fox, co-owners
• WHAT: A sandwich café & artisan bakery with an emphasis on locally sourced, high quality products
• WHERE: 327 Karangahape Road, Auckland, New Zealand

“Sustainability is key. There are many products that can often come from questionable sources, for example; coffee, chocolate, bananas, palm oil. We painstakingly source fish that is sustainably line-caught, coffee, chocolate and bananas that are fair trade or organic, and products totally free of palm oil.

“By preparing almost our entire range of products from scratch, food waste is minimal and whatever there is, is composted. Plastic doesn't exist in our business and we make sure all packaging is compostable or recyclable. Free-range is a must.

“For us the most important thing when our sourcing our ingredients is that they be ethical in origin. If they turn out to be organic, that's a plus. We also contribute to our community by donating any leftovers to the homeless through a charity group.”

Fort Greene (Auckland, New Zealand)

Maxwell Restaurant

• WHO Fabian Lehmann, chef
• WHAT A taste of McLaren Vale from vine to table
• WHERE 19 Olivers Road, McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia

“Maxwell has been an established part of the McLaren Vale community for over forty years. The vast majority of our suppliers in all aspects are local and seasonal, many of whom have grown with our business.

“We adopt organic practices wherever possible. We harvest water from the over-flowing creek in winter that we can reuse in summer and we only use bore water on our gardens and lawns. We save all our grape marc (the solid remains of grapes after pressing) and provide this to local cattle farmers as feed. Food waste is recycled as compost, and a roof full of solar panels delivers much of the power to the winery and restaurant. What minimal food waste we produce makes fantastic compost for the Maxwell gardens.”

Maxwell Restaurant (McLaren Vale, South Australia)

Noteworthy

Exciting news from boutique hotel and restaurant Sherwood (Queenstown, New Zealand), who have picked up the number ten position in Expedia’s Top 10 eco-friendly stays in the world. Congratulations guys! Find out more here.

Sherwood are also offering a special Anzac Day breakfast on Thursday 25 April between 7-11 a.m. Locals are invited to stop by after the Dawn Service for a full breakfast – a true feast! Get all the details here.

TL&CC’s Korean editor Daniel Gray has been working on the new Netflix series Street Food Asia, from the makers of Chef’s Table, which is to be released on 26 April. Daniel was involved with research and the sourcing of talent and locations, and is also the food expert on one episode. Great work Daniel!

You can view the Street Food Asia trailer here.

Daniel Gray, TL&CC Korean editor