What's a chef to do when a favorable newspaper review sends you more customers than you could ever handle? Sydney chef Yukako Ichikawa found an opportunity to enforce her own radical method for reducing food waste. Ichikawa, chef owner at 30-seat restaurant Wafu, began offering a 30% discount to patrons who ate all the food they had ordered. And if you don't finish everything, you're not welcome back.
"Finishing your meal requires that everything is eaten except lemon slices, gari (sushi ginger) and wasabi,'' says the menu, which is tagged ''guilty-free Japanese food."
"Please also note that vegetables and salad on the side are NOT decorations; they are part of the meal too."
The chef says, "If you don't appreciate those philosophies, if you don't appreciate whole food and sharing, and you condone wastage, you should go somewhere else. There are plenty of options in Sydney."