Project

Zero Waste Bistro

Zero Waste Bistro’s bespoke communal table and table set is made of Durat Palace, designed by Linda Bergroth. The space, designed by Linda Bergroth, features Alvar Aalto’s classic Artek stools and Hand Grenade pendants. The architecture is made of R…

Zero Waste Bistro’s bespoke communal table and table set is made of Durat Palace, designed by Linda Bergroth. The space, designed by Linda Bergroth, features Alvar Aalto’s classic Artek stools and Hand Grenade pendants. The architecture is made of ReWall Naked Board, a material made 100% from tetrapak waste. The Durat composite is made of 30% post-industrial materials and natural pigments and is 100% recyclable. Image: Nicholas Calcott.

ZERO WASTE BISTRO May 19-22, 2018
Four days of food and design
WantedDesign Manhattan, NYCxDESIGN

What if?

All plastic was reused and recycled? All packaging was made of plastic-free materials? We only bought products we love and last a lifetime? All restaurants committed to a circular economy, refusing, reducing and reusing waste? All of the 58 billion disposable cups that end in landfills annually were compostable or repulpable?

#ZeroWasteBistroNY

For New York's design week, NYCxDESIGN in May 2018, the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York invited chefs from the Helsinki-based Restaurant Nolla to bring their zero waste food philosophy to New York. Co-curated by Harri Koskinen and Linda Bergroth, the temporary bistro was built on themes of circular economy, new material innovations and sustainable design. 

DESIGN

The space, designed by Linda Bergroth – introduced in Metropolis Magazine as 'hauntingly beautiful' – was built entirely of recycled and recyclable materials, using sustainable design pieces – iconic Finnish furniture and tableware that last from generation to generation.

Kotkamills, a Finnish company, produces a cartonboard that is made with no PE plastic and is fully repulpable. Image: Nicholas Calcott.

Kotkamills, a Finnish company, produces a cartonboard that is made with no PE plastic and is fully repulpable. Image: Nicholas Calcott.

Zero Waste Bistro’s bespoke communal table and table set is made of Durat Palace and designed by Linda Bergroth. Restaurant Nolla’s zero waste dishes served on a Teema plate by Iittala, available from Finnish Design Shop. Image: Nicholas Calcott.

Zero Waste Bistro’s bespoke communal table and table set is made of Durat Palace and designed by Linda Bergroth. Restaurant Nolla’s zero waste dishes served on a Teema plate by Iittala, available from Finnish Design Shop. Image: Nicholas Calcott.

PARTNERS

Each partner and collaborator was invited through the curating process, and selected on the basis of their stake in sustainability. The Finnish Design Shop and Artek brought in sustainable made-to-last tableware and furniture; Durat launched their new recycled composite collection; Kotkamills presented their repulpable disposable cups; Sulapac a completely new plastic free packaging material; Oklin the 24h food compostor and Finnair as a sustainable airline flew the designers and chefs in from Helsinki to New York. The drinks for the daily cocktail hours were provided by Kyrö Distillery, world's northenmost distillery known for their award winning Napue Gin.

FOOD CONCEPT

The Helsinki-based Restaurant Nolla started from the need to rethink the restaurant industry. Their philosophy is simple: “Refuse, reduce, reuse, and only as a last resource, recycle.”  To successfully complete the zero-waste ideology, Nolla founders Luka Balac, Albert Franch Sunyer and Carlos Henriques work directly with producers to rethink, reject and control packaging.  Local and organic products, as well as overlooked byproducts of our foodsystem are the building block of our dishes.

The menu for the Zero Waste Bistro tasting sessions reflected the Nordic heritage of the chef's hope town Helsinki, as well as their mediterranean roots. Everything was sourced from sustainable producers, without packaging. See the menu here.

Read more about Nolla's zero-waste philosophy in this interview.

Chefs Albert Franch Sunyer and Luka Balac from Restaurant Nolla, ready to taste Napue Gin at the opening of Zero Waste Bistro. Image: FCINY.

Chefs Albert Franch Sunyer and Luka Balac from Restaurant Nolla, ready to taste Napue Gin at the opening of Zero Waste Bistro. Image: FCINY.

Image: Ikonproductions

Image: Ikonproductions

PUBLIC PROGRAMS

The four day program of Zero Waste Bistro consisted of tasting sessions for breakfast, brunch and lunch, as well as daily talks and workshops on the themes of zero waste and sustainability. 

Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons hosted an experiential workshop of ingredients that can be both edible and buildable. Two visionaries of zero waste fashion – Yeohlee Teng and Timo Rissanen – engaged in an informative and deeply personal conversation with each another and the audience. Carlos Henriques of Restaurant Nolla shed light on their progressive restaurant concept with journalist Pauliina Siniauer. And finally: Cara McCarty, Director of Curatorial at the Cooper Hewitt Museum and the International Friend of Habitare 2018, discussed timeless and sustainable design with the creative director of Habitare, Laura Sarvilinna and the Editor in Chief of Contract Magazine, Paul Makovsky. The discussion was moderated by Kaarina Gould, Executive Director of the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York.

See the full programming in retrospect here. 

Photo by: Nicholas Calcott.

Photo by: Nicholas Calcott.

Graphic design Tsto. Photography fo the collage: Nikola Tomevski.

Graphic design Tsto. Photography fo the collage: Nikola Tomevski.