The restaurant industry has become more and more aware of ecology. There are several fully organic restaurants in Sweden, and as diners increasingly demand and question raw ingredients in restaurants, more people need to start thinking along the same lines. We met Sébastien Boudet, baker and TV chef, at his artisanal bakery “Sébastien på Söder” to talk about ecology and the future.
Here are his top 3 tips to make your restaurant more organic:
1. Educate yourself and your guests
If you want to start working more with organic produce, you really have to believe in it to succeed! As a restaurant owner, it is therefore important to first educate yourself, and then be able to explain to your guests why you choose to work with organic and locally grown ingredients. Make your guests understand that you want to contribute to the future, and in this way make them want to support you and probably stay as a guest.
Sébastien also points out that research shows that doing good things makes you happy – which therefore gives you an extra boost when you start working more organically. 😉
2. Use locally grown ingredients
Sébastien’s other tip is to buy only locally grown produce from small farms and small suppliers. Sure, it might be a bit more expensive, which also affects the final product (the dish at the restaurant) – but you are guaranteed a raw material without spraying or genetic modification, which is good for us and for nature. Sébastien’s tips include using older animals that have “retired”. These are animals that many consider not good enough to use in cooking, but are still excellent to use, in all ways.
3. Always use seasonal ingredients
Last but not least, Sébastien stresses that everyone should use seasonal ingredients. It’s a quick and easy way to become more organic. As a restaurant, you therefore need to review your menu and replace the ingredients that are not in season at the moment. How to know if your produce is in season! Cucumbers and tomatoes, for example, are not in season this December – yet we see them everywhere.
Despite these tips, it takes a lot to call yourself a fully organic restaurant – but given that you’re reading this blog post, you’re well on your way.
Read the full interview with Sebastien Boudet here!
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