A new Berlin restaurant is turning discards into dinner. Not dumpster diving, but food rejected from the commercial food stream because it’s mis-shapen, has damaged packaging or was just too much to be stored.
At Restlos Glücklich (Completely Happy) the menu changes daily, based on what comes its way from its network of farm and store suppliers. Twice a week, the restaurant collects from 10 farms and organic supermarkets, providing Chef Daniel Roick with what amounts to a ‘mystery box’ as on a TV cooking competition.
But it’s not really competition that’s on the menu here; it’s a desire to end food waste. One of the founders, and the restaurant’s education manager, says “We are 12 people who are united by one passion: the battle against food waste.” The group is diverse, including scientists, engineers, a bank clerk and more.
In addition to the restaurant, they run harvest tours of farms and classes in cooking with leftovers at home.
The movement to reduce food waste has gained a lot of ground in Europe in the past couple of years, with new laws in France and Italy requiring markets to share surplus or nearly-expired food with food banks and other organization.
Photo: A vegetable main course at the restaurant
