Eyes bigger than your stomach? A new campaign gives top chef endorsement to what we've always known - if your dinner's too good to waste then ask to take it home.
Whilst it's long been generally acceptable to doggy-bag dinner from the curry house - so often a takeaway option anyway - diners can feel embarrassed to ask for their Michelin starred leftovers to be bagged up and taken away from an elegant and upmarket establishment. But Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Anthony Worrall Thompson and co are on hand to persuade you it's better to be a 'lover than a leaver' - they want you to eat their food, whether sat at table in the restaurant or reheated for breakfast next morning.
The campaign launched in London this week with chain favourites like Ping Pong, Geronimo pubs (The Betjemen Arms, for instance) and Leon already signed up. The upscale D&D group, whose restaurants include Quaglinos, Launceston Place and the Orrery are in, as are groovy Wahaca, the Criterion Piccadilly, Cafe Spice Namaste, the Modern Pantry, Hoxton Apprentice and more.
It's a drive from the Sustainable Restaurant Association to cut restaurant waste. For every meal eaten in a UK restaurant, "nearly half a kilo of food is wasted – through preparation, spoilage and what’s left behind on the plate". A special, campaign branded 100% recycled and biodegradeable 'doggy box' courtesy of London Bio Packaging has been produced for participating restaurants, and early eatery sign ups to the cause can get a batch for free.
But even if the place you choose to dine out in this weekend isn't yet signed up, if you like your food but can't finish it, don't be embarrassed to ask to take it away with you.
