Acorn House is an Eco-friendly restaurant situated in Kings Cross London. Acorn House is setting the trend for combining tasty, healthy meals with environmentally friendly processes and providing ecological awareness. The importance of greener energy is becoming a much more emphasised factor in our life, and companies and organisations are doing more to reduce carbon emissions. Restaurants should be no exception as they are all potentially wasteful on resources and could be a key factor for a high secondary carbon footprint. Restaurants are luxury items in our life so cannot be justified for the carbon emissions released. We could all stay at home and cook; after all we should all be doing our bit for the environment. But where is the fun in that? Trying to make our lives more environmentally friendly should not mean that our life could not be fun or eventful.
This is where Acorn House comes in. It is a training restaurant that spreads the word of the environment and great food. It has been built from organic and recycled materials and all waste products can be recycled or become part of the compost. The food is all in season to reduce travel costs as no airfreight is used if possible. When they transport the food around London, bio-diesel take away containers are used. They don’t use meat from industrial farms but do cook with renewable energy. As well as raising awareness of the environment, the restaurant is training young chefs in the community. This will create better opportunities for people in the local areas and will hopefully spread the word amongst young people to be more environmentally aware.
The venue is fresh and simple that welcomes you with its light feel and visible kitchen. At lunchtime it has a café vibe with ready prepared food choices that can be taken on the go, cooked options are also available. In the evening it transforms to an elegant restaurant with a relaxed vibe. At the end of the meal instead of getting the traditional table mint, you get a small box of saplings that you can take away and plant yourselves.
The restaurant sells food thorough out the day and the breakfast and lunch menus offer the usual options. This includes fruit juice, muffins, salads, meats, fish and fresh daily-made cakes are available after all meals. There are warm options available at lunchtime, and the menu is based around British seasonal food. In the evening it becomes less like a café and more like a sophisticated restaurant with 4 starters to choose from, 3 pasta and rice dishes, 5 mains and the daily desserts. The mains options combine organic meats with seasonal vegetables and a delicate blend of herbs and spices. The excellent ingredients are well cooked and presented and there are two sizes of plates to choose from to reduce extra waste possibilities. The menu also includes a selection of organic wines to accompany the meal. The restaurant décor and vibe had obvious features that it had ecological motivations but it was done in a sophisticated way so you didn’t feel like you were being preached at. The staff are friendly and polite which makes the whole experience a lot more pleasurable.
Prices for the evening meal are around £9 for a starter, £11.50 for pasta and £15 for a main. There are 4 wines by the glass options starting at £3 and several wines by the bottle options ranging from £13 to £50. Lunch costs are around £7 for a small portion and £9 for a large. These are not bad prices for a specialist restaurant with high quality food.
Overall this restaurant shows that the luxury does not have to make you feel environmentally guilty. It provides splendid food all through the day, in a restaurant that is ecologically friendly and provides training opportunities for the youth of today. Hopefully more restaurants will be following Acorn house’s footsteps so we can enjoy more guilt free luxuries across the UK. If you wish to find out more about ways you can recycle and reduce your carbon footprint, there are other “green” articles on this online review website.
Acorn House is located at 69 Swinton Street in WC1, just a short walk from Kings Cross St Pancras station.
Staff editor, Gas & Electricity Section, November 2007 |
