Chefs and Restaurants

A Low-Waste Ethos is Helping these Restaurants Start Up Again

Maggie Hennessy

When acclaimed sustainability-minded bartender and consultant Claire Sprouse opened her all-day café Hunky Dory in Brooklyn in January 2019, she had a hell of a time finding the right recyclable cup. A lot of restaurants and cafés had embraced compostable cold cups for iced coffees and teas. The problem? They’re made from bioplastics—which require specific conditions to be composted that exist only in industrial facilities with big machines outfitted...