First 5 Green Thumbs!
Reviewed by Phil
Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen does a mean brunch, provides group cooking classes, and sells take & bake (Heat & Eat) individual or family meals. We purchased one of her holiday specials and were thrilled by the efforts this local business has made into reducing their take-out waste footprint. Details below:
General Information
- Restaurant: Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen
- Chain, Franchise, or Single: Single
- Style: American
- Location: South End – Charlotte, NC
- How many people: 2 adults, 2 children
- Takeout/Eat-In/Drive Thru: Takeout
- Delivery method: Self Pick up
- What was ordered: 3 mains and 1 appetizer and 1 fresh loaf of bread
Food Packaging
- Food Packaging: 5 ‘cardboard’ takeout boxes with ‘plastic lids’
- Utensils: None
- Condiments: 6 plastic to-go sauce containers (~4oz in size)
- Other: Brown paper bag for bread
Bag/Storage Material
- Plastic, single use
Other
- Brown paper bag for bread
- Food was good and on time
Final Rating
At first blush it looked like I had on my hands another series of plastic and cardboard packaging, but upon further inspection, everything was compostable and labeled ‘turns to soil in 60 days’ – even the small condiment/sauce to go container! Even better – the fresh baked loaf of bread was provided in a reused local grocers paper bag and was 100% recyclable and made from 40% post consumer recycled content itself! – triple earth score!
Hats off to the owners as they are certainly doing their part to minimize their waste and leading the way locally. It is not lost on Takeout Dilemma that sustainable packaging can be more expensive than cheap one-time use styrofoam or similar alternatives – so the lengths and costs that eateries such as Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen is going should be commended and acknowledged as not just an investment in their community and the earth but into their business itself.
5/5