A number of Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK have decided to take a la carte options off their menus in an effort to reduce waste.
French chef Stephane Borie of Michelin-starred Wales restaurant, The Checkers along with fellow French chef Claude Bosi of London’s two-starred fine diner Hibiscus, have both decided to trade in their a la carte offerings in favour of set menus.
Speaking with the Financial Times, Borie says that the move to a set menu could see wastage at his restaurant reduced by up to 50 percent.
“It is difficult to evaluate, but we’re hoping to halve our food waste,” says Borie. “With a la carte we never wanted to run out of anything, so we’d cook a little bit of everything. [This way] we’re choosing for people what they’re going to have, so we control the waste.”
Editor of the UK Michelin guide, Rebecca Burr says that she’s witnessed a decline of a la carte dining over the last few years, adding that diners in the fine dining space often prefer tasting menus as they can offer a once-in-a-lifetime type of experience.
“A lot of the chefs prefer to work in that way [only offering tasting menus], but we’d hope they’d change that menu on a regular basis. People do want a little bit of choice at the top level,” she says.