Nov 21 2007
Restaurant owner advocates “30 mile menus”
THE OWNER of a restaurant in Marsh Benham has said that restaurateurs would earn more respect from their communities if they sourced food locally.
Xavier Le-Bellego, who owns The Red House, believes that buying locally produced food to put on the menu cuts his business’ carbon footprint, bolsters the local economy and ensures that his customers are fed fresh ingredients.
“We need to use produce which reflects the season. It’s no good using strawberries in the winter. And what is the point of buying things that come from miles away and travelling miles when you have the food right on your doorstep,” he said
Mr Le-Bellego’s turkeys and lambs come from Benham Stud, a farm 300 yards down the road from his restaurant, his beef comes from Highclere, and his pork and chicken is all locally sourced.
“Only restaurants with a bit of personality can sustain this. Others do not have the demand or the skill to do it,” he said.
The Red House is on the verge of introducing a “30-mile menu”, which will only use food bought within a 30-mile radius of the restaurant.
Mr Le-Bellego wants other restaurants to follow suit and said more should be done to support local food producers.
The avian flu outbreak in Norfolk and the foot-and-mouth scare in Surrey were additional reasons for buying local produce, he added.
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