Facts
- Country: France
- Type of provider: Restaurant
- Focus:
- Refuse: By refusing to use plastic material in Le Mirazur's operations through different cooking techniques and influencing suppliers to do the same
- Rethink: How to create dishes with minimal waste, in other words how to use the full potential of food products.
- Reduce: By practicing the 0 kilometer philosophy, Le Mirazur minimizes the fossil fuels that its supply chain uses; by keeping its suppliers very close to Le Mirazur, they can be influenced to reduce their impact on the environment as well.
- Recover: The unusable parts of food products are composted and given back to the earth which recovers the energy spent to produce the product.
Summary of the project
Le Mirazur is a 3 Michelin-star restaurant located at the Italo-French border in Menton. It is owned by chef Mauro Colagreco who has a great passion for nature and food. In addition, his restaurant was named best restaurant of the world in 2019, by The World's 50 Best Restaurants organization. Recently, the restaurant was also certified as completely plastic free and performs several other environmental friendly initiatives.
Chef Colagreco decided to make his restaurant plastic free after he and his family spent their vacation in Mexico. While visiting the beaches there he noticed severe plastic pollution. Among the plastic which was scattered around he recognized many forms of packaging used in his restaurant. This created an emotional response which fueled Le Mirazur’s transition to a plastic free business.
One of the actions Colagreco took to help avoid plastic use in his kitchen is eliminating the 'sous-vide' technique which requires products to be cooked in plastic vacuum bags. In order to substitute this technique he invested in terracotta pots which provide an alternative way of cooking products at a stable temperature without immersing them in water directly.
Furthermore, Colagreco invited his suppliers to join him in eliminating plastic usage and helping him in his plastic free efforts. In order to formalize his efforts, Colagreco called on the organization 'Plastic Free Organization' to certify his operations as plastic free. After the acquisition of the certificate, Colagreco became the organization’s ambassador.
Moreover, as mentioned before, Le Mirazur is devoted to sustainable practices in other aspects as well. One of them being biodynamically growing products in its 5 gardens in the area totaling 12 acres, completely in sync with nature. The style of cooking is also devoted to being in sync with natural systems. The dishes are made with what nature can provide at that precise moment, 365 days a year. According to chef Colagreco, this makes up the DNA of Le Mirazur - "dishes that play on the beauty and power of small nuances, like a beautiful musical composition". Furthermore, the products that enter the kitchen are used maximally, without creating waste. When bio waste occurs, then the waste is composted in order to create fertilizer for the restaurant's gardens.
Lastly, a philosophy of 0-kilometer-food ensures that Le Mirazur's team stays in close contact with the surrounding nature, thereby supporting environmental awareness and respect. The 0-kilometer philosophy aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the use of fossil fuels by having suppliers at the shortest possible distance. Another advantage of this method is that suppliers are close to the organization, which also makes them think about environmental friendly business solutions, such as influencing them to eliminate plastic from their operations.
More information
Do you want to know more about this organization?
Please watch their sustainable story via: Mirazur – Sustainable stories: https://player.piksel.com/v/gbb2z7mp
Or visit their website: https://www.mirazur.fr/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mirazur.fr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/restaurantmirazur/
