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June 16 2010
Japanese ‘Iron Chef’ ruffling feathers in Australia with her anti-waste movement
SYDNEY —
Mom’s old adage of finishing everything on your dinner plate has been given a new, hard-line interpretation by one brave Japanese chef in Australia.
Failure to sufficiently clean your plate at Yukako Ichikawa’s restaurant ‘‘Wafu’’ will see you banned from returning to the popular Sydney eatery. ‘‘When they try to return, if I remember their face, I say no,’’ Ichikawa told Kyodo News.
Just over two months ago, Ichikawa, 42, became so dismayed at the increasing amount of food being wasted by diners that she temporarily closed her three-year-old restaurant.
According to Ichikawa, a favorable newspaper review of Wafu last December was behind the sudden influx of wasteful consumers. However, spurred on by loyal customers and some legal advice, the Nagoya native adopted a new policy which rewards good eaters and sees ‘‘picky people’’ banished indefinitely.
Diners able to polish off their old-fashioned Japanese meal receive a 30% discount off their bill and an invitation to join Ichikawa’s exclusive list of more than 800 regulars.
No other restaurant owner in Australia has gone to the same length to reduce food waste.
Still, Sydney’s only organic, dairy-free, refined sugar-free, gluten-free and wheat-free restaurant is so popular that Ichikawa is trying not to take any new customers. The indefatigable owner-chef-waitress has also begun restricting regulars to visiting on a one or two-person basis only.
Like Jerry Seinfeld’s ‘‘Soup Nazi’’ from the 1990s, Ichikawa’s tasty cuisine has customers queuing up to get in, despite often being turned away. Ichikawa and her staff direct all diners to the front door, where they must read and, importantly, agree to the new restaurant policy.
The guidelines recommend ordering ‘‘just the right amount of food’’ and suggest sharing meals to reduce food wastage and to increase the number of dishes an individual can experience. ‘‘If after reading this, you feel uncomfortable and find yourself unwilling or unable to respect our philosophy, we will not be offended if you choose to leave,’’ the policy reads.
Patrons refused entry often find themselves dining at Ichikawa’s ex-husband’s restaurant, just 100 meters away. Menus also lay down the rules, dictating everything except ‘‘lemon slices, gari (pickled ginger) and wasabi’’ must be consumed.
‘‘Sometime people can’t use chopsticks (and leave) three or four pieces of rice, I can’t complain,’’ Ichikawa chuckles.
Keen to bring the Japanese concept of ‘‘mottainai’’ to Australia, Ichikawa works hard to conserve the environment through a number of different measures. Stemming from Buddhist philosophy, ‘‘mottainai’’ essentially involves making the most of limited resources and avoiding wastefulness.
The concept has also redefined the term ‘‘BYO’’ (Bring Your Own). Wafu customers keen on grabbing a takeaway meal must bring their own plastic container, or face a surcharge or refusal of service.
Ichikawa said she has already noticed a significant reduction in the amount of garbage she throws away. These days she has to remind herself to take out the trashcan because it takes so long to fill.
One of Ichikawa’s customers also takes the restaurant’s food waste and uses it as compost and to feed his worm farm.
Dubbed the ‘‘Iron Chef’’ by local media for her rigid stance on food wastage, Ichikawa has made both friends and foes with her new approach. ‘‘I get letters, so many emails, even phone calls not for reservations but just to say thank you,’’ Ichikawa said.
While she has received an overwhelmingly positive response to her anti-waste movement, there has also been some grumbling about the way the policy is communicated to diners. Unhappy customers have gone online to the diner-review restaurant guide ‘‘Eatability’’ to lament their treatment.
‘‘I’m all for the sustainable approach too, but managing your customers in a respectful way is surely doable within this framework?!,’’ wrote ‘‘taraw’’ on April 14. ‘‘Their treatment was totally unnecessary, patronizing, and downright rude,’’ ‘‘taraw’’ added.
‘‘Love the concept…in reality the way the philosophy/rules were communicated made for rude and to be honest very weird customer service,’’ ‘‘JRJG’’ wrote.
However, Ichikawa said people simply need to be better educated on food wastage, with restaurants, schools and families bearing the brunt of this responsibility.
The New South Wales government, under which the municipality of Sydney falls, has recently started a ‘‘Love Food, Hate Waste’’ website designed to educate locals about how to reduce food waste. According to the website, NSW, Australia’s most populous state, throws away A$ 2.5 billion (about U.S.$2 billion) worth of food every year.
Australians waste around 3 million tons of food a year, (according to Australian action group ‘‘Do something!’’ and NSW throws away 1.1 million tons, according to Love Food Hate Waste. The website adds the food supply chain accounts for 23% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions—the second highest contributor after power stations.
Looking at the bigger picture, Ichikawa believes there is more than enough food in the world and that with better education, as well as a more equitable distribution of food, everyone can ‘‘share the good feeling.’‘
‘‘In India, Africa, many people die…every three seconds see people die without food, if we can change to four or five seconds I am happy,’’ the chef said with her characteristic iron.
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