Shangri-La enhances sustainable...

Chefs mark Earth Day with new menus and gastronomic experiences

This spring, Shangri-La is celebrating Earth Day with an enhanced ‘Rooted in Nature’ programme championing sustainable culinary initiatives across the Middle East, Europe, India, the Indian Ocean and North America.

Rooted in Nature, which recognises the exciting differences in the group’s locations, is a gastronomic initiative that presents diners with locally or ethically sourced food. The campaign encourages culinary teams across the hotels and resorts to incorporate sustainable items from local markets into the menus. Guests will be able to identify Rooted in Nature dishes as they will have a pea shoot logo beside the description on all restaurant menus.

Braised local sea bream at Dubai’s Shang Palace

Launching on 22 April, several new gastronomic journeys will be added and will continue indefinitely across the group’sMiddle East, Europe, India, the Indian Ocean and North America (MEIA) region. In addition to raising environmental awareness, the campaign celebrates Shangri-La chefs and hotel teams who source the “best possible ingredients with the utmost respect for nature”. Dishes on offer will include produce and herbs grown on hotel grounds, locally sourced organic fruit and vegetables, line-caught fish and free-range beef.

Dishes in the Rooted in Nature initiative must meet one or more of the following five guidelines set out by the group:

Support local agricultural and fishing communities
Buy chemical & pesticide-free local produce
Source from free-range livestock and poultry products where possible
Acquire sustainably sourced seafood caught through ethical means
Serve organic and fair trade products indicated by national and local food safety standards

Shangri-La Dubai offers Cantonese cuisine at Shang Palace with braised local sea bream sourced from Dubai Khor Fakkan. Continuing its Asian culinary journey, the hotel’s renowned Vietnamese restaurant Hoi An, offers Bò Kho Kiểu Sài Gòn with Saigon-style braised Australian beef cheek, pearl onion and carrot. With sweeping views over the city, IKandy offers an array of sustainably sourced poolside delights including free-range chicken, citrus-cured fennel, local dates, herb-crusted sous-vide cooked chicken and frisée salad topped with date oil.

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Over in North America, Shangri-La Toronto created the B-Wall in partnership with Canada’s leading jeweller Birks and Alvéole, a Montreal-based organisation that promotes and assists with beehive installation, maintenance and honey extraction. One-third of the earth’s food production needs pollination, making bees crucial to the environment and food sustainability. With roughly 50,000 bees, the property’s hives produce approximately 20kg of honey each year. The harvested honey is used in the hotel’s culinary creations including a seasonal B-Wall Afternoon Tea and custom cocktails.

For more information, visit www.shangri-la.com