Stockholm's Babajan

The planet is overheating and pollution is spiralling. Where is a girl to dine with her conscience unblemished? Running in Heels says no to sleepless nights and seeks out Europe’s most ethical restaurants.

Organic

Stockholm is Green Capital of Europe 2010, and has ambitions to be free of fossil fuels by 2050.  All very admirable, but where to eat?  Why not feast at Babajan, a melting pot of African, Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine, and 100% organic to boot.  With pesticides blamed for problems from reduced biodiversity to diabetes, going organic is an eco-step in the right direction.

If you fancy dining in sunnier climes, Parawdiso restaurant in Ibiza has a 100% organic and vegetarian menu.  Raw food rules here with spaghetti made from long strands of organic courgette, taco shells made from carrot and burgers that are nutty, not meaty.  Even the cocktails are made from local, organic spirits.  Cheers!

Local

An ethical restaurant should use local produce, so where better to start than Konstam, the brainchild of Head Chef Oliver Rowe.  Tuck into charcoal-grilled Amersham pork chop with samphire & rosemary sauce or crème fraîche & honey sorbet with gooseberry compote & shortbread.  Amazingly, despite its London location, over 80% of the produce used in the Konstam kitchen is grown or reared within the area covered by the London Underground network.  Food miles are low, so you can guzzle guilt-free.

Biodynamic

One of the biodynamic dishes at Geranium

In Copenhagen, Michelin-starred Geranium takes things one step further by using ingredients that are both organic and biodynamic.  Dishes such as king crab with salad cress, cucumber and dill, roe deer with beetroot, mushrooms and herbs or elderberry jelly with white chocolate and elderflower feature on their menu.  According to the Biodynamic Agriculture Association, biodynamic farms are self-sufficient in compost, manure and animal feed and focus on ecological diversity.  Proving that food can be both scrumptious and sin-free.

Renewable energy

Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen in Cornwall boasts low-energy lighting, rain water powered toilets, heaps of recycling and an 80% locally sourced menu.  Fifteen takes on apprentices from disadvantaged backgrounds and gives them a new start in the world of food.  They’re certainly doing a good job judging by the tempting dishes on the Italian-inspired menu.

And when you’ve finished all that food?  You can sleep easy, knowing it’s possible to have your belly full and your conscience squeaky clean.