Copenhagen Restaurant Serves Grocery Store Leftovers

A new restaurant in Copenhagen opened last night with a unique concept: it serves food prepared with ingredients discarded by grocery stores and other retailers. According to the AFP, Rub & Stub (which roughly translates to "lock, stock, and barrel") has secured donations from two of grocery chains and is actively looking for more donors. Apparently these two donors aren't enough to sustain service yet, and ingredients had to be purchased to round out the opening night menu. AFP also notes that "Denmark is already home to an active community of 'freegans,' people who eat discarded edible food to reduce waste."

The restaurant mainly uses food that grocery stores would likely toss for nearing expiration, and from that creates an ever-changing menu that varies in price (currently the website puts main courses at 60 - 130 Kr, roughly $10.75 - $23.25 USD). So it's not quite on par with other freegan-types, a la Portlandia-style dumpster diving, but it's not that far off, either.

Reducing waste isn't the only goal of the restaurant, which is run by volunteers. All profits will be donated to charities in Sierra Leone. Seeing as their ingredients and labor are free, it seems margins could be high; that is, of course, if they can convince people to eat food waste.

· Throw Away Replaces Take Away for Danish Restaurant [AFP]
· All Copenhagen Coverage on Eater [-E-]