A place for discussing circular economy, innovation in materials and sustainable design. This is also what WantedDesign is about. The Manhattan hub, designed by NYCxDesign, hosted the Zero Waste Bistro, a pop-up restaurant which was a hub of innovative culinary experience, installations and talks, during all four days of the event. Focus was on a single guiding theme: ‘zero waste’ and sustainability.
The project was presented by the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, with the concept curated by the Finnish designers Harri Koskinen and Linda Bergroth.
Zero Waste Bistro brought the food philosophy of Helsinki-based Nolla, Scandinavia’s first ever zero-waste restaurant, to the Big Apple. The motto of its founders and chef, Luka Balac, Carlos Henriques and Albert Franch Sunyer (who created the business in the spring) is “refusing, reducing, reusing and (only as the last resource) recycling”, inspiring a provocative menu, also savoured by visitors at WantedDesign.
«Dishes proposed in New York were made using local and organic ingredients, secondary products that are usually neglected by our food system. Extensively focused on sustainability, our menu emerges from a creative thought and from a desire to make something delicious and authentic, using local ingredients that are often ignored», Chef Luka Balac explains.
This food philosophy is a match made in heaven for the New York location’s interior design concept. Designed by Linda Bergroth in collaboration with Finnish Design Shop (the largest Nordic design online store), Zero Waste Bistro was developed according to the concept of sustainable design: Durat surfaces (specifically the Palace collection created using recycled plastic materials) and ReWall construction materials (made entirely from industrial waste and recycled packaging), were used to create an ideal exhibition framework which embraced, as though in a deep tunnel featuring spacious arches, a long table for dining and conversation on the theme at hand.
Even the takeaway cups were fully eco-sustainable (supplied by the Finnish brand Kotkamills), as was the pop-up’s packaging, by Sulapac, free from micro-plastics.
Lastly, there was ample space for icons of Nordic design, including lamps and stools designed by Alvar Aalto, respectively for Ittala and Artek.
Kaarina Gould, Executive Director of the Finnish Cultural Institute, concludes that «It’s time to rethink our way of living, the way in which we nourish ourselves and in which we use materials. Our seas are full of plastic waste. In the USA alone, 58 billion single-use cups are thrown away every year, ending up in dumps. With Zero Waste Bistro, we propose a future which reduces waste and helps to regenerate the natural environment, making it more liveable, to the advantage of future generations. This future is within reach, we just need to make the right choices».
Photo Credits © Nicholas Calcott
