Silo London, Hackney

 SILO LONDON: WHAT IS IT?

Silo London claims to be the UK’s very first zero-waste restaurant, which isn’t exactly a modest aim. But then, nothing about Silo is modest. Not its sustainability initiatives, nor its food, which sits at the high end end of the spectrum.

This is all part of chef and owner Doug McMaster’s ambition to turn what people think about sustainability and sustainable restaurants on its head.

The tail end of 2019 saw Silo up sticks from its original site in Brighton to open a permanent location in Hackney Wick, above much-loved Crate Brewery, with large round table and an 18-seater bar.

SILO LONDON: WHAT TO ORDER?

The restaurant serves a six-course tasting menu, which gets beamed onto a wall with a projector (to save on paper menus, of course). The idea is that the kitchen doesn’t do a la carte, which means it knows exactly how much produce it needs to minimise waste. Of course, with such an ethos it’s difficult to say what you might end up eating, but we can give you a taster.

Blood radish cannelloni, with a hemp cheese filling; golden beetroots glazed with beetroot molasses; blackened artichokes with a Stichelton cheese sauce; and braised Friesian beef with buttermilk garum. Wines and cocktails, too, are similarly ethical and as zero-waste as possible – that doesn’t mean they come without a hangover, though.

SILO LONDON: IS IT SUSTAINABLE?

There’s no doubt that Silo is one of the most sustainable restaurants around. McMaster has a dedicated machine that turns difficult cuts of meat into something edible; the animals are butchered in house and none of it goes to waste; there are no paper menus and everything gets projected onto one of the industrial-chic white walls.

The White Building 1st Floor, Unit 7 c/o CRATE Bar, Queen’s Yard, London E9 5EN