Watch | How to build a zero-waste restaurant. And why no Indian chef has succeeded - yet

Imagine a restaurant where every morsel and package is repurposed, recycled, or composted – sounds like a challenging goal, doesn’t it? Chef Douglas McMaster of the world’s first zero-waste restaurant, Silo, in London, put it bluntly in his TED talk, “Waste is nothing but a failure of imagination.” One chef who has embraced the challenge is Rahul Sharma, head chef of ARAKU Coffee, who believes that zero-waste cooking is not just about reducing waste but also creating value from discarded ingredients. She notes, “We need to alter people’s attitudes towards these ingredients, making them more receptive.” She stresses the need for chefs to play a part in reducing food waste. She explains, “A couple of the biggest barriers to introducing zero waste cooking in a restaurant are changing the mentality that you’re not literally using rubbish, both from the consumer front and the kitchen or the business owner front.” To overcome these barriers, Arina educates staff and customers about the benefits of using all parts of an ingredient, citing the example of the edible and nutritious carrot skin and watermelon rind. “But the kitchen staff’s hesitation is that they don’t think consumers want to pay for it because they assume that consumers are used to a specific taste and quality.” Despite these challenges, Arina remains committed to reducing food waste and ultimately implementing zero-waste cooking practices in restaurants, homes and corporations through her workshops.