Who are you?
I am Jason from Vancouver. Co-founder & Owner of MeeT Restaurants in Vancouver. I’m passionate about making the world a better place than when I arrived.
I believe business plays a key role in making these global changes. Small social enterprises have the ability to shift communities and make daily changes. At this stage in my life, I want to work on projects that nibble or chomp away at social needs while providing profit to make even greater change in the future.
Why is it important for you to be an eco-friendly restaurant?
After working over 25 years in the restaurant business, I created a new restaurant concept with 2 very close friends, Ivo Staiano & Linda Antony.
MeeT Restaurants mission is to help transition the mainstream to eating more plant-based foods in a friendly, accepting, and engaging venue.
What are the top 2 actions you have implemented to be an eco-friendly restaurant?
The first impactful action that is in line with the respect of the environment is that all the food we offer is 100% vegan.
MeeT intends to show people that comfort food that connects us and nourishes us can be veggie, can be made from scratch, can be delicious, and can be affordable. We also source local and organic food whenever it’s possible.
We do our best to minimize waste as much as possible. In July, we will be part of a new local initiative called Reusables which helps restaurants offer take-out food in reusable containers with a deposit system. Their stainless steel containers can be used thousands of times and fully recycled at the end of their life.
What are the top 3 actions you have taken to minimize food waste?
We use the same ingredient in different meals in our kitchen prep. We give the customers options for side dishes (e.g. fries, salads) to minimize plate waste.
We adjust the amount of food on each plate when we notice something is not eaten even though we can’t decide what the customer will leave on their plate.
How do you control food costs?
We have implemented a Processing Inventory System that allows us to manage the quantities ordered and the number of portions served.
As for waste, we have a traceable waste log (on document) and we train our teams to minimize waste. We also have control processes. Food waste is currently tracked via visual estimates of plate returns. We then adjust the portions accordingly.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
The recipes at MeeT were created by Linda who, after attending culinary school, cut her teeth in the industry at Vij’s and DV8 restaurants – her background also fed into her household recipes – creating sauces and dishes that would be favorites of her Veggie husband and 3 non-veggie boys… no small feat! These sauces and dishes are many of the foundations of MeeT’s most popular dishes that continue to be craved by veggies and non-veg alike!
More information: http://www.meetonmain.com/menu
In the kitchen
Good food for good people.
