At Apricity, Chef-Owner Chantelle Nicholson and her team don’t just think about what ingredients they’re using. They think about where they’ve come from, how they were grown and what time of year it is. Apricity, situated just off Oxford Street, is one of a growing number of restaurants that are treating sourcing seriously, resulting in more cooking that rests on the delicious natural flavours of quality produce, while aiming to help the urgent fight to save the planet.
As a result of its ethos, Apricity is a part of the MICHELIN Green Star Community, made up of restaurants leading the way in our industry. Driven forward by Nicholson – a passionate advocate for eco-conscious cooking – the team at Apricity are constantly striving to make their restaurant better for the planet. From how they display the menu to the food and the furniture, there is nothing that hasn’t been considered in their actions.
It starts, as always, with the ingredients. The chefs at Apricity put British vegetables at the forefront of their cooking, with this produce being used in the height of its season and either foraged or coming from small-scale suppliers who take biodiversity and soil regeneration seriously.
Working with companies who share her outlook is key for Nicholson, meaning that any meat and fish on the menu has been sourced with this in mind. Regenerative farming methods are used when animals are reared and all the seafood is caught off British coastlines. The à la carte includes plenty of plant-based dishes, and the tasting menu allows you to choose between a vegan and non-vegan option at each course.
As you can imagine for a restaurant with this philosophy, all of these ingredients are cooked with a zero-waste approach. Dishes are designed to incorporate everything from skins and seeds to tops and tails, most notably with their ‘wasted’ dip that ensures the bin is avoided at all costs. This even extends into the bar, which the Apricity team see as an extension of the kitchen. Innovative zero-waste cocktails use preserved leftovers from the kitchen, like their take on an espresso martini using a caramel made from spent coffee grounds.
When it comes to wine, the team are as selective about their suppliers as ever, offering an extensive list of low-intervention options from producers who treat soil health and biodiversity as top priorities. English and Welsh winemakers are championed too, fitting into the locally led philosophy of the restaurant.
All of this impressive food and drink is served in a bright and peaceful dining room that is itself a manifestation of the restaurant's approach. When designing the room, interior architect David Chenery was brought in to ensure Apricity’s principles of minimal waste and a circular economy were adhered to through upcycling, repurposing and the use of sustainable materials. Everything from the paint to the toilet paper was carefully considered.
With both the cooking and the restaurant itself being treated with such a mindful ethos, it’s not surprising that single-use items have also been removed as much as possible. Nicholson and her team work with suppliers to utilise reusable crates and containers, and have also installed water taps to replace bottled water. They estimate this has already saved over 10,000 bottles from being wasted. Small initiatives like this add up to a very admirable whole.
The result is a restaurant fit out that produced 40% less emissions than the standard and saved 98% of construction waste from ending up in landfill. Among the many intriguing sustainable features of the room are exposed walls, skirting boards turned into bar fronts, chairs fashioned from recycled Coke bottles and decorative wall cladding made with timber from the old staircase.
From top to bottom, from dining room to Kitchen, Apricity is a role-model restaurant and Chantelle Nicholson is a role-model chef, offering cooking with a conscience in the heart of the city.
Bring Apricity's ethos into your own home with Chantelle Nicholson's zero waste recipe.
Hero Image: © Apricity/Paul Richardson
