At long last the restaurant industry and public are beginning to reject the trend for exotic, out of season and ultimately tasteless produce now available all throughout the year. Riverstation have always been renowned for our seasonal, local ethos and we are delighted that this movement is now gaining momentum.
We are excited by the quality and variety of local produce but also conscious of the vital role we must continue to play in supporting our local farmers and growers.
At the forefront of environmental responsibility since its inception, riverstation manages its minimal wastes of glass, cooking oil, vegetable peelings, bones and cardboard with care. Being efficient in terms of waste vis-a-vis the amount of food and drink we serve, our focus is on the key issues in restaurants of heat recovery from cooking and refrigeration. Having begun sometime ago with remote cooling of kitchen refrigeration, we now have ongoing plans to recover kitchen heat.
No 'greenwash' here! Our building was externally insulated back in 1997 - this greatly reduces our radiated heat characteristics. So successful has the building’s low emission characteristic been, we have now removed all the underfloor heating originally installed but still have to pay the climate change levy on utility bills.
Rosemary grows on our green roof. Even the air conditioning is naturally generated – by the outside air and the ingenious design of the building maximising natural lighting. And we provide blankets to keep you warm outside on cold days.
In our bid to become carbon-neutral, we have already planted 2 acres of woodland (3 photos above). We will continue to buy our citrus fruits and olive oil from beyond a 50 miles radius of our restaurant until such time as they grow closer to home. Our floors are Forest Stewardship Council certified oak.
