SILO'S INVASIVE SPECIES DINNER SERIES

Silo, the world’s first zero waste restaurant, is delighted to announce its Invasive Species Dinners, a series of bi-monthly, collaborative supper clubs serving a menu made of invasive and overpopulated edible species. Following on from 2022’s sell-out dinners, the aim of the series is simple; to draw attention to invasive ingredients damaging our environment.

Founder of Silo, Douglas McMaster, will be joining forces with some of the world’s best and most respected chefs for the series, which will begin on Tuesday 6th June. For the first dinner, McMaster will welcome Matt Orlando, previously of leading sustainable restaurant, Amass, in Copenhagen, and will tackle foraged Japanese Knotweed in a six-course tasting menu. Although seen as a delicacy in its native Japan, the knotweed provides a threat to the British countryside, outcompeting native vegetation and exacerbating flood risk.

Dishes will be designed to spotlight the weed, which has a tart rhubarb-like flavour. For instance, the Invasive quaver, a snacking crisp glazed with knotweed treacle, will be served at the beginning of the meal and a sweet-sour Knotweed ripple ice cream will conclude. To drink? Silo and sister business CRATE Brewery are collaborating to brew a Knotweed and rhubarb sour - their first ever beer made using Japanese Knotweed.

July’s dinner will see acclaimed chef Skye Gyngell of London’s Spring restaurant in Somerset, collaborating with McMaster on a menu highlighting American Signal Crayfish, the delicious, yet dangerous species devastating life in UK waterways since the mid 1970s. Finally, in September, multi-award-winning broadcaster and chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall joins the team in Hackney Wick with the contribution of Himalayan Balsam, which is abundant along the waterways at River Cottage.

Silo’s revolutionary approach to food waste has long been revered and recognised within the wider UK dining scene and globally further afield. Each individual element in the restaurant and on the menu is considered, from the milling of their own flour, to the plates made from crushed glass bottles in the building’s own in-house pottery. McMaster and his team have created a space in which functionality, sustainability and innovation work perfectly in tandem, producing bold dishes with phenomenal flavour at the very centre. Current menu highlights include smoked Heritage carrots served with a house-made garum made from surplus chicken wings, and the much-loved Siloaf ice cream sandwich, a sweet, salty and indulgent crowd-pleaser that closes the loop on surplus bread and butter.

Tickets to the Invasive Species Dinners will be available to book via Resy from Thursday 4th May.

For more information, please contact Alicia on alicia@gemmabellandcompany.com.