Doggy bags are so tomorrow

As children, even the smallest mouthful left behind on a dinner plate could set it off. First the parental glare, swiftly followed by the guilt-ridden reminder that there were less fortunate people in the world. Then came the command to hoover up every last morsel. There seemed to be only one message at meal times: waste was sin.

Fast forward into adulthood and many might admit neglecting this edict. In fact, the latest figures from the Sustainable Restaurant Association show that, on average, London restaurants annually discard more than 21 tonnes of wasted food - an appalling statistic that results partly from leftovers.

But now there appears to be light at the end of the dustbin. Enter the doggy bag. Once known as the fad reserved solely for American restaurants and their infamous gargantuan-sized portions, the environmentally and financially friendly trend for leaving a restaurant with one's leftovers has become a social must.

This began last year with the launch of Too Good To Waste, a campaign promoted by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Wahaca's Thomasina Miers advocating bio-degradable "Doggy Boxes" in participating restaurants around London.
Eco-friendly doggy boxes with the motto "Be a lover, not a leaver" on the side began to appear in Ping Pong chains, Feng Sushi, Leon and places such as The Cinnamon Club, Dishoom, Bumpkin and The Modern Pantry.

Now a new wave of restaurateurs is following suit. While five-star hotel bar The Foyer Bar at Claridge's has begun to offer a takeaway option for its afternoon tea, Caprice Holdings' owner, Richard Caring, has taken things to a
new level.

At his recently opened restaurant, 34, in Grosvenor Square, he makes sure that guests wishing to recycle their grub do so in style. The doggy bags - offered to every diner - couldn't be more authentic: little brown packages adorned with a Tracey Emin drawing of Caring's very own German shepherd, Roxy.

At Russell Norman's new Jewish deli, Mishkin's, he says he has the doggy bag trend all "wrapped up". "The sandwiches, particularly the mighty Reuben and the salt-beef sarnie, are so big that people are often defeated by the second half. We always offer to wrap the remaining portion, neatly fold it in greaseproof paper and put it into a brown paper bag, true deli-style,"
he says.

Among the others involved are Soho's Dean Street Townhouse, the Gaucho restaurants, Big Easy in Chelsea, Wright Brothers Soho, East London's Delhi Grill, Bunga Bunga, Mon Plaisir and both Pizza East chains, which like to point out that "everyone knows that pizza is just as good the morning after".

Charlie Gilkes, co-owner of Battersea pizzeria Bunga Bunga, agrees. "Sometimes people's eyes are bigger than their stomachs and they over-order. At Bunga Bunga we love the idea of people taking home in a pizza box what they can't eat. After all, it's a fun and important measure to ensure sustainability."

Today, Londoners rightfully want more for their pound. Sustainability in these straitened times is a priority, and stopping spoilage seems like a worthwhile place to start.

Atul Kochhar, who owns Michelin-starred Benares and also offers containers, says: "By offering [these], one improves the experience for guests. After all, they've paid for a meal and ultimately should have the choice to enjoy it at a later time if they cannot finish it at the restaurant."