GREEN POWER
Every day more than 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed across the globe and, as a result, nearly 6 million tonnes of spent coffee grounds are discarded. STEPHENIE GEE talks to two Rosewood Hong Kong chefs who are promoting sustainability in a way that is tangible for diners without sacrificing taste via a new menu in collaboration with Nespresso and its coffee-grounds-based compost greens
HONG KONG IS home to a coffee culture that rivals those of the better-known coffee trendsetters across the globe, but it’s happening at a cost to our planet. The roughly 12 tonnes of grounds that are typically dumped into general waste and sent to our landfill each day emit methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide and that accounts for roughly 30% of the rise in global temperatures.
Yet as it turns out, the coffee experience is one that can extend far beyond your last sip: mix your grounds with equal parts coconut oil and you have a DIY body exfoliator that is said to reduce the appearance of cellulite; place a small dish of grounds in your refrigerator to absorb unwanted odours; or, as Swiss coffee giant Nespresso is doing, add them to your compost – which, due to its nitrogen content, is highly beneficial for plant growth – and enjoy your very own nourishing greens.
Bringing this journey of sustainability and reducing food waste into the kitchen by way of a special menu that utilises these Nespresso grounds- compost-grown greens are chefs Fabio Nompleggio and Manav Tuli of Rosewood Hong Kong’s Asaya Kitchen and Michelin one-star Chaat. “I feel the responsibility of having this menu goes above the average dining experience,” says Nompleggio via email. “It’s meaningful because each one of us has the responsibility to protect the planet and support local organisations like Common Farms.”
Sustainability is at the centre of Asaya Kitchen’s ethos, with a menu that offers Mediterranean flavours while showcasing produce sourced as much as possible from local vendors. But for the Italian native, the notion of sustainability in the kitchen is not just about where food is sourced but also how the restaurant and staff members operate. “Sustainability is a long process, and every action can make an impact. In our daily routine, we are trying to avoid any use of plastics and give the right platform to empower the team and have them understand what is the deep meaning of sustainability,” he says.
While the greens provide the main source of inspiration – “Herbs play a huge role at Asaya Kitchen. They are not just there to garnish the dish; I consider them to be ingredients. That’s why in the soup there’s marigold, which reminds you of liquorice. Somehow,
I find that herbs bring their own contribution to the dish,” Nompleggio says – the flavours of the coffee also played an integral part in the curation of the menu.
“At the beginning, I was very conservative about this collaboration because I felt that Nespresso is just about coffee capsules,” the chef recalls. “But after I opened the coffee capsules and experienced their scent, it inspired me to create different combinations between each type of coffee and our culinary offers.”
For example, a coffee grounds and olive number that repurposes leftover grounds powder by smoking it, and his signature langoustine tart with “Pil Pil,” red mizuna and Nespresso India- and Brazil-infused caviar, which he notes is a “risky combination” that may seem strange but surprisingly works. “On the day I received the [coffee] sample, one of my kitchen guys was preparing the langoustine tart and I was next to him with a bag of Nespresso India coffee,” says Nompleggio. “I asked the guy to give me a piece, I put just a bit of the raw coffee on top, and when I tasted it I found out there is a connection so I started to think about how to make this combination a successful marriage.”
Not so much about the beverage but rather serving Indian cuisine with a sustainable approach, chef Manav Tuli’s collaboration with Nespresso marks the second time they’ve partnered to create a new menu, the first being during Nespresso Gourmet Weeks in 2021 when eight of the city’s leading chefs unleashed the possibilities of coffee-forward fine dining. “Nespresso as a brand is a well- established one that has been on the forefront of quality and sustainability since the beginning, with principles that are very much aligned with the ethos and fundamentals of the Rosewood hotel group,” he says.