A New Way of Choosing Where to Eat in the UK aims to identify those restaurants and food experiences that go above and beyond great food and wine in the ethical and sustainable ways with which they run their business. A World edition that includes restaurants from forty-five countries will also be available, and simultaneous editions will publish in the United States and Australia.
Renowned UK writer and Times restaurant critic Giles Coren and Australian food writer Jill Dupleix head up a hand-picked editorial team of experienced food writers. Blackwell & Ruth, the award-winning publisher that delivered 2017’s Endangered by Tim Flach and 200 Women: Who will change the way you see the world and the recently published The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela, is proud to be compiling such an important and timely series focusing on issues that really matter. The UK and World guide books will be distributed by Thames & Hudson.
For the past decade, chefs and restaurateurs have been placing greater value on sourcing local and seasonal produce, reducing carbon emissions, minimising waste, supporting sustainable practice by farmers, producers and wine-makers, and being an active part of their own communities.
At the same time, more diners want their money to go to restaurants with high standards of ethics, integrity and sustainability as well as high standards of great food and wine and good times. This guide aims to bring everyone together at the table.
"It’s a new way of choosing where to eat when you travel, based on a new set of values”, says founding editor Jill Dupleix. "Why? Because our priorities are shifting. Diners everywhere are seeking out local restaurants run by people and not corporates; chefs who source locally and seasonally, and restaurateurs who care for their community. We don’t want to check our values at the door when we go out to dine”.
UK guide editor Giles Coren adds: "The spirit of Truth, Love & Clean Cutlery is something you can sense the moment you walk into a restaurant. It isn’t just about sustainable practice, organic produce, sensible energy and recycling policies… it’s also about that feeling you get when you step through the door and the light falls on the scrubbed wooden floor in a certain way. The flowers in a vase on a table with today’s newspapers seem to turn and wink at you. The bartender looks up from polishing a glass and says, ‘Hi!’ like they’re actually pleased to see you. Someone is chalking a ‘special’ on the board that is just exactly what you felt like eating. Nobody barks ‘do you have a reservation?’ They just show you to a table at the back, by a window with a view over the back garden. Which is all they have left, this being a busy Friday lunch, and they say, ‘What can I get you to drink? We’ve got a house Bloody Mary we make from our own tomatoes…’ And you know that everything is going to be okay”, he sums up.
At last, the deeply held beliefs of both diners and chefs are beginning to align and reconnect.
Ten per cent of the publisher’s revenue from sales of this book will benefit the Sustainable Restaurant Association, a not-for-profit social enterprise, which aids food-service businesses to work towards sustainability and guides customers towards more sustainable choices. The SRA will use this money to support its One Planet Plate campaign, helping diners use the power of their appetite wisely.
