Restaurants

By Guy Dimond

London Lite, one of those free papers that blows around London like tumbleweed, is 'carbon neutral'. It seems you can produce environmentally damaging products (newsprint) that no one actually needs, yet feel better about it because the 'bad' is offset by the 'good'. 'Carbon neutral' is of course a good thing, but the term is susceptible to widespread abuse; how long before long-haul flights, 4x4s or arms for Iraq are 'carbon neutral'?

Cafés and restaurants are also starting to use the term 'carbon neutral', but there are a great many other ways these businesses could be more environmentally-friendly and demonstrate a broader social conscience. The Last Word, the Leith's-run brasserie of the British Library, is doing more than most. It has signed up to Climate Care, an organisation that helps businesses offset carbon emissions. The packaging is all bio-degradeable. The Rainforest Coffee is fair-traded. Lots of the snack food is organic; it strives to use 'local' produce.

But is the food and drink any good? Mostly, it's okay - though snack food is the usual Innocent smoothies/muesli-bar spectrum you find everywhere now, and the toasted panini breads were pappy and dull. The food and drink offer is little better, or different to, scores of other cafés around London.

On our visit, the Last Word's glaring problem was a lack of staff training. Service was slow, the servers didn't know prices or recognise food items, and they couldn't operate the juicer. Social awareness has to start at home, and good staff training is the first step.

Time Out London Issue 1890: November 8-15 2006