How Italians export sustainable catering to New York

Sustainability in the New York restaurant industry comes from young Italians. Prepared both as chefs and entrepreneurs, they have clear ideas about cuisine, the well-being of the planet and business.

The One More Hospitality Group - which includes Osteria 57, Alice, Travelers Poets&Friends and the Pamina ice-cream parlour, all in the heart of the West Village - led by the young chef Riccardo Orfino (ex Aimo e Nadia and Eataly NY) has chosen not to serve meat in its restaurants.
"I think it is impossible to guarantee a sustainable selection without intensive animal husbandry for a high number of diners as we do with three restaurants working three shifts a day. It is a countercultural choice for the meat-loving US, but the public agrees with us, even coming three times a week,' says Orfino.

Every day the vegetables arrive from the nearby Union Square market. While the fish via a sustainable fishing cooperative. Here nothing goes to waste. With scraps or leftovers, sauces, broths and side dishes are made. In Travelers' multifunctional space, the offer ranges from breakfast to after dinner, from the sale of imported Italian products to the take-away of specialities made on sight such as fresh pasta, delicatessen and baked goods. Sustainability is not only environmental, however.
'Training for us,' Orfini continues, 'is a point of honour: it is often the way for the social redemption of young workers who come from disadvantaged Latin American countries. It's nice to see how, with the right notions and the serenity of a regular job, they become passionate about pulling the pastry or making the focaccia rise'.

No waste in the preparation of dishes also for the U.S. coast of Roscioli, the well-known delicatessen with kitchen in Rome. The restaurant, which is also known for its well-stocked wine cellar, has decided to adopt sailing shipments for wine arriving from Italy, saving 97 per cent energy.
"The travel times," explains Alessio Piccardi, founder together with Stefano Tavella of Fieramente, a company that deals with services, logistics and the promotion of wine in the world, "are the same as those of traditional sailing: the extra days at sea are then discounted at customs, since sailing boats benefit from a preferential lane and bureaucratic simplification.

The keywords quality, sustainability and the relationship between land and product are also at the heart of Alessandro Trezza's thinking. Known in Italy for the ice-cream parlour L'Albero dei Gelati, the 'farmer's ice-cream' that emphasises seasonal and local raw materials, later exported also to São Paulo (Brazil) and New York. Today he is the owner, between the lively Brooklyn and Manhattan neighbourhoods, together with his wife Monia Solighetto, also of Have & Meyer, Terre Pasta and Natural Wine, Spes Natural Wine and Pop Cuisine, and D'Antan, where they serve strictly natural wines and traditional dishes of recovery.
"Only three to four ingredients on the plate," he explains, "but always genuine and fresh, with respect for agriculture. Our wine list is not about the wine, but about the producers behind it'. For 25 years, Trezza has been financing agricultural realities and cooperatives to promote biodiversity and the local products he uses in his dishes and of which he does not throw anything away, not even the crusts of Parmigiano or bread he uses for delicious risottos. It is among the most well-stocked and important wine cellars in the Big Apple, with over 4 thousand Italian labels, all served by the glass, so as not to waste. "The American is a customer who, if treated well, with seriousness and honesty, repays without sparing any expense and embracing the project, despite the fact that the numbers here are important: without sustainability, including economic sustainability, it closes quickly".