wastED pop-up review ★★★★★, Selfridges rooftop
Sustainable eating is the hottest culinary trend and this luxurious pop up creates decadent dining from upcycled food - but it comes with a hefty price tag
wastED pop-up review [STAR:4], Selfridges rooftop
In a nutshell: This pop-up from trendy Manhattan restaurant Blue Hill serves waste food that's been re-purposed by top chefs.
The UK are Europe's largest wasters, so staging this pop-up at a luxury department store is a clever move to generate headlines surrounding this crucial issue.
Culture Whisper support London's push to reduce food waste and put it back on the plate: read our trend piece and guide to other London food waste pop ups
The space: The rooftop at Selfridges, permanently home to a pop up of some sort, is a narrow space that's been fitted out rather simply for wastED, using furniture made from 100% recycled material. And the tunes on the stereo are curated by the nightly-changing guest chef. The crowd are intrepid foodies and Instagrammers who booked three months early.
The food and drink: In parts eye-opening, in parts provocative. Everything's £15, which is a lot for the portion sizes that are all designed to share, so steer away if you're after a traditional dinner.
But for food lovers, this is the ultimate gastronomic experience. From the open kitchen, celebrity chefs such as Gordon Ramsay create a signature dish nightly out of wasted food, as well as a work from a refined list of wastED classics designed by head chef Dan Barber.
He was on Barack Obama's food council, so he's connected at the waste with sustainability and has a little black book of contacts, so the produce comes from British farms, fishermen and even supermarkets like Tesco.
Don't miss the cod's head, which was a perfect fusion of surprising and delicious; large fleshy boulders of cod could be found all over the head using chopsticks and the worst is that the head is nearly always thrown away.
Other salvaged classics include a kale 'tree', a part of the plant never normally eaten with some of the tastiest leaves, and a juice pulp veggie burger that smacked of root veg. Another highlight was the Tesco-salvaged treacle tart with failed (un-popped) popcorn ice cream.
Each dish plays on expectation to shift our perception of waste and value; those veggie peels and stalks we throw away are, in the right hands, worthy of fine-dining. Ingredients are served against ones you wouldn't expect - there's brocolli stems with whey bechamel and a dry-aged beef end crumble, and sugar beet pulp rosti with smoked sturgeon, phytoplankton sauce and caviar oil.
Would we return? You really have to spend to get the most from wastED, but on the flip side, these deeply complex dishes are as gastronomically theatrical as they are ... waste, essentially, which really makes you think.
There's still lunch tables left for wastED, and the occasional evening table is freeing up. You can book online, but it's best to call 020 7788 6210. wastED runs until April 2nd
The UK are Europe's largest wasters, so staging this pop-up at a luxury department store is a clever move to generate headlines surrounding this crucial issue.
Culture Whisper support London's push to reduce food waste and put it back on the plate: read our trend piece and guide to other London food waste pop ups
The space: The rooftop at Selfridges, permanently home to a pop up of some sort, is a narrow space that's been fitted out rather simply for wastED, using furniture made from 100% recycled material. And the tunes on the stereo are curated by the nightly-changing guest chef. The crowd are intrepid foodies and Instagrammers who booked three months early.
The food and drink: In parts eye-opening, in parts provocative. Everything's £15, which is a lot for the portion sizes that are all designed to share, so steer away if you're after a traditional dinner.
But for food lovers, this is the ultimate gastronomic experience. From the open kitchen, celebrity chefs such as Gordon Ramsay create a signature dish nightly out of wasted food, as well as a work from a refined list of wastED classics designed by head chef Dan Barber.
He was on Barack Obama's food council, so he's connected at the waste with sustainability and has a little black book of contacts, so the produce comes from British farms, fishermen and even supermarkets like Tesco.
Don't miss the cod's head, which was a perfect fusion of surprising and delicious; large fleshy boulders of cod could be found all over the head using chopsticks and the worst is that the head is nearly always thrown away.
Other salvaged classics include a kale 'tree', a part of the plant never normally eaten with some of the tastiest leaves, and a juice pulp veggie burger that smacked of root veg. Another highlight was the Tesco-salvaged treacle tart with failed (un-popped) popcorn ice cream.
Each dish plays on expectation to shift our perception of waste and value; those veggie peels and stalks we throw away are, in the right hands, worthy of fine-dining. Ingredients are served against ones you wouldn't expect - there's brocolli stems with whey bechamel and a dry-aged beef end crumble, and sugar beet pulp rosti with smoked sturgeon, phytoplankton sauce and caviar oil.
Would we return? You really have to spend to get the most from wastED, but on the flip side, these deeply complex dishes are as gastronomically theatrical as they are ... waste, essentially, which really makes you think.
There's still lunch tables left for wastED, and the occasional evening table is freeing up. You can book online, but it's best to call 020 7788 6210. wastED runs until April 2nd
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| What | wastED pop-up review , Selfridges rooftop |
| Where | Selfridges, 400 Oxford Street, W1A 1AB | MAP |
| Nearest tube | Bond Street (underground) |
| When |
24 Feb 17 – 02 Apr 17, For daily opening times please visit the website |
| Price | £££ |
| Website | For more information visit wastED's website |