A green revolution is afoot in the United Kingdom. Trailblazing chefs and restaurateurs are embracing hyper-local sourcing and zero-waste techniques, investing in regenerative agriculture and pioneering social initiatives, and participating in the race to become carbon neutral (and eventually, net zero). From seaside destinations to Green MICHELIN stars, lively farms and local cafés, these sustainable restaurants are championing eco-friendliness across the UK.
A fine-dining restaurant in Cornwall turns fruits and vegetable trimmings into imaginative cocktails. Across the UK and Ireland, a top-notch steakhouse earned consistent accolades from the Sustainable Restaurant Association and shines the spotlight on British beef and sustainable seafood. In London, the first zero waste restaurant in the world recycles wine bottles into plates.
These 10 spots put eco-friendly ethos and innovation at the front and centre of their operations. Read on for a guide to the UK’s most sustainable restaurants to book now on OpenTable.
10 sustainable restaurants across the UK to visit right now – read on for a guide
For a unique dinner at the world’s first zero waste restaurant – visit Silo in Hackney, London
Stroll down Hackney Wick’s buzzing canalside to find Silo London, a local gem like no other renowned for being the first zero waste restaurant in the world. Bright and minimalistic interiors set the tone for an unrivalled culinary experience that steers a philosophy that goes back to the pre-industrial food system and regenerative farming by eliminating all waste. With an in-house flour mill to make bread, and a fermentarium for vegetable and cheese excess, Silo makes its own butter, rolls oat and champions a root-to-leaf concept by maximising the usage of the whole produce. In the dining room, plates and tables come from recycled plastic bags, packaging, and wine bottles. There’s only one tasting menu to choose from and plates come in the form of stunning, colourful dishes such as maitake mushroom with Szechuan pepper or Char Siu in salsa verde and pirate bean. The curated list of biodynamic wines complements every dish and beers are served in collaboration with Crate, the renowned sustainable next-door brewery.
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For a zero waste fine dining seaside gem – visit Ugly Butterfly by Adam Handling in St Ives, Cornwall
A zero waste philosophy steers chef Adam Handling’s fine-dining restaurant Ugly Butterfly by Adam Handling at Carbis Bay Estate in Cornwall. The contemporary glass-fronted space offers panoramic St. Ives Bay views and serves the freshest locally sourced produce, with an emphasis on using every part of the ingredient. The chef’s menu changes according to seasons, but you can expect BBQ monkfish with leeks and roast bone and Devonshire duck with parsnip and honey, complete with caviar, cheese served with Cornish truffle honey and Wiltshire truffles. Any trimmings not used in the mains are transformed into creative cocktails such as the Even the Core, made with vodka, single malt, Avallen and apple in its entirety – skin, core cordial and clarified apple juice.
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For one of the most acclaimed sustainable wineries in the UK – visit Bolney Wine Estate Ltd in Haywards Heath
Bolney Wine Estate Ltd in Haywards Heath is one of the UK’s most acclaimed wineries. Its Eighteen Acre Café is the place to enjoy award-winning wines and hyperlocal food with far-reaching balcony views of the vineyard below. Bolney uses a biofilter to safely treat and recycle water used in spraying, and solar panels generate around half the electricity used across the site (with any leftover donated to the National Grid), proving the estate is as passionate about sustainability as it is about making fine wine. Waste wine and/or press juice becomes gin and vermouth as part of a closed-loop system and is sold in the vineyard shop, along with Bolney’s other housemade products.
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For one of the most sustainable restaurants in London with a MICHELIN star – book at Restaurant St. Barts in Farringdon, London
If you’re looking for a hyperlocal culinary experience, look no further than Restaurant St. Barts, the only restaurant in London to hold both a MICHELIN star and a MICHELIN Green Star. The team behind NEST brings out the best of British produce across a dazzling tasting menu that sources ingredients from small-scale farmers and growers, with the highest respect towards the natural environment. Overlooking London’s oldest church St Bartholomew the Great, the dining room shines a light on raw materials, with handmade wooden tables created from fallen trees, and tableware made in-house in collaboration with local craftsman and ceramicists. Cooked on an open flame, seasonal produce from the British Isles is celebrated in a rotating menu that features lamb from Yew Tree Farm, Cornish cuttlefish, Exmoor caviar and Wiltshire truffles. Low-intervention wines of local labels and artisanal producers make the perfect pairing to an unforgettable dining experience.
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For one of the most sustainable steak restaurants in the UK – try Hawksmoor in Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Dublin and various locations in London
Credit: Hawksmoor
Steakhouse and sustainable seafood restaurant group Hawksmoor places a special emphasis on sourcing the best ingredients and letting them shine. That unwavering mission led it to open successful outposts in London, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Dublin, and even New York and earned it consistent accolades from the Sustainable Restaurant Association. Its menu shines the spotlight on higher welfare British beef and sustainable seafood such as smoked salmon from Loch Duart. Bonus points for its many philanthropic initiatives: Hawksmoor has raised over £987,000 for its long-term partner, Action Against Hunger, through annual charity dinners.
📍 Manchester — Check availability
📍 Liverpool — Check availability
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📍 Dublin — Check availability
📍 London, Covent Garden — Check availability
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For one of the most eco-friendly cafés in the UK – don’t miss Jikoni in Marylebone, London
Jikoni in Marylebone is a cultural melting pot of a restaurant by chef Ravinder Bhogal. The menu draws on various immigrant cuisines, blending flavours from South Asia, East Asia, the Middle East, and Britain to mirror the chef’s global heritage. The restaurant is also an environmental trailblazer: Jikoni switched its energy to solar, wind, and green biogas in 2019 and was the first independent restaurant in the UK to achieve carbon-neutral status and certification in 2021. It also has an exclusive relationship with a biodynamic farm that supplies regeneratively grown produce for its veg-centric menu. Jikoni’s zero-waste dishes feature stock flavoured with carrot tops and other odds and ends from vegetables. A beloved burrata dish with beetroots from the restaurant’s own biodynamic farm and the prawn toast Scotch eggs with banana ketchup are especially comforting and a prime example of Jikoni’s eco-friendly DNA.
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For home-grown produce at a stunning farm – book at The Farm Table – Darts Farm in Exeter
Darts Farm in Topsham, Devon began as a humble farm hut 50 years ago. Since then, it’s mushroomed into an acclaimed food hall complete with a delicatessen, vineyard, cidery, gelateria, butchers, and a bean-to-bar chocolate workshop—plus several farm-to-table restaurants. Its newest spot, The Farm Table, takes a live-fire approach to farm-grown vegetables, beef grown onsite, and seafood from Brixham market (just 20 miles away). Expect leg steak of local spring lamb served with creamed handpicked cabbage and charred spring onion, and finish off with a sweet and refreshing note thanks to the artisan gelato crafted in-house with local organic milk or with a boozy affogato topped with the farm’s chocolate liquor. Head there on Sundays to enjoy roasts cooked over fire and make sure to try the sirloin of rare breed Red Devon beef, grass fed and slow grown at the farm then dry aged on the bone—and a selection of local wines to wash it all down. Having received the AA Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence in 2023 and 2024, the Farm Table promise a memorable getaway and an remarkable commitment to sustainability.
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For a MICHELIN Green-starred garden – make sure to visit Petersham Nurseries Restaurant in Richmond, London
Petersham Nurseries Restaurant in Richmond caters to London’s greenest thumbs with a farm-to-fork restaurant that has retained a MICHELIN Green Star for three consecutive years. Guests can dig into plant-forward dishes featuring regeneratively farmed produce from Devon in an idyllic, shabby-chic greenhouse filled with antique furniture. Petersham’s green-mindedness earned the destination multiple other honours, including an Ocean Champion Badge from Oceanic Global for its quest to eliminate single-use plastic on site. It recently expanded to Covent Garden with a new avatar that includes a florist, lifestyle shop, delicatessen, and four restaurants.
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For carbon-neutral steaks – book at Gaucho in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Glasgow and various locations in London
With locations in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Glasgow and London, Gaucho is best known for its stellar imported-from-Argentina beef and became the first UK restaurant to offer carbon-neutral steaks in 2019 (today, all its 20 outposts do). But there’s a lot more to this restaurant group than succulent ancho chile ribeyes. Gaucho’s do-gooder ethos surfaces in the form of social and environmental efforts, most notably, a ten-year partnership with Not For Sale, a modern-day anti-slavery movement. It’s also engaged in multiple local initiatives: The Farm Urban salad at the restaurant’s Liverpool location features produce from an urban growing project in a community school.
📍 Birmingham — Check availability
📍 Manchester — Check availability
📍 Leeds — Check availability
📍 Edinburgh — Check availability
📍 Cardiff — Check availability
📍 Glasgow — Check availability
📍 London, Covent Garden — Check availability
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For one of the most sustainable restaurants in London for afternoon tea – don’t miss FIELD by Fortnum’s in London, Piccadilly
Fortnum & Mason’s newest restaurant aims to shorten the journey from farm to the 300-year-old heritage brand. That mission is achieved with a sustainability-focused menu printed on paper made from almond skins and citrus peel that continuously evolves to reflect the changing nature of the British supply chain. Provenance takes centre stage, prioritising fruits and vegetables from biodiverse farms, flour from regenerative farmers, plus daily catch from an operation traceable to a single boat that includes tiddlers (small fish like minnow or stickleback) that are usually overlooked. FIELD offers a foraged twist on the quintessential Fortnum’s experience with a special afternoon tea menu made using ingredients gathered from a woodland.
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Hungry for more? Book your table at the best sustainable restaurants on OpenTable now.
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- 10 of the best steak restaurants in London to book right now
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