Eat Your Green!

Thirteen years ago, Jim Denevan had an idea. The Santa Cruz-based artist and chef wanted to host a dinner that would bring together discriminating diners and the farmers who grow their food. He wanted to seat them all at one (very) long table and serve them an extraordinary, artisanal meal. And he wanted to do all of this outside. In a field. But would anybody care? Would anybody come? Yes and yes. And then some.

What started off as a handful of dinners in a field outside of Santa Cruz has turned into “a roving culinary venture” that’s bringing together farmers, culinary artisans, and enthusiastic eco-foodies for al fresco dinners in fields, barns, beaches, and coffee plantations everywhere from Maui to Michigan, from Italy to Indiana. It’s called – brilliantly – Outstanding in the Field, and today it’s just one of a slew of roving eco-pop-ups that are celebrating all things farm-fresh, organic, and sustainable. From California to Montreal to western Australia, enthusiastic eco-foodies the world over are encouraging diners to eat their green. And they’re not just talking about spinach.

So what are they talking about, exactly? They’re talking about worm farms that process organic waste, furniture and flooring fashioned from recycled and reused materials, and low-impact meals served inside recycled shipping containers that operate almost completely off the grid.

And, of course, they’re also talking about damn fine food. At Greenhouse by Joost – a roving, 100% waste-free restaurant that’s currently set up in the western Australian city of Perth – the boss in the kitchen is Matt Stone, one of Australia’s hottest young chefs. His menu seduces with items like smoked eel croquettas, spiced rabbit pie, and squid, garlic, and ancho chilli. The herbs for the dishes are plucked straight from the restaurant’s organic rooftop garden (which is fertilized, by the way, with compost made from dinners gone by).

All of these places are embracing new ways to reduce their energy use and minimize their impact on the planet. Like at Müvbox in Montreal, where founder Daniel Noiseux cooks up pizzas in a recycled shipping container whose ovens are powered by the sun. And Europe’s Cube Pavilion, a roving semi-transparent restaurant that’s equipped with low-voltage electronics. But what we love best about this trend is that these devoted eco-foodies aren’t preachy, they’re just doing what they love.

“Nobody ever convinced anyone of anything by shouting it at them,” Joost Bakker, a Dutch designer and the brain behind Greenhouse by Joost, says on his website. “We hope that we can quietly share some of what we have learned, and let the results speak for themselves.”