Simon Rogan’s restaurants are a testament to the chef’s vision – celebrating the relationship between quality produce and fine dining. Rogan established his own produce farm in Cartmel, northwest England, to supply his first restaurant, the highly acclaimed L’Enclume, and the beginning of his sustainable dining empire.

Combining a passion for sustainability with an innovative approach to British cuisine proved to be a winning formula for the chef, who opened Roganic in London in 2011 and, eight years later, in Hong Kong. It’s no wonder, then, that Roganic Hong Kong – a contemporary British fine dining eatery located in the heart of Causeway Bay – earned the city’s first Michelin Green Star, and has now won 100 Top Tables’ inaugural Sustainability Hero award, which recognises the restaurant’s pioneering spirit in what can, at times, be a challenging city to implement sustainable practices

But Roganic’s philosophy isn’t only implemented behind closed doors, it’s felt by diners, too. Continuing its commitment to waste reduction has been no easy task, particularly in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and a reliance on single-use products to ensure safety and hygiene standards remain high. One step that was possible: menus have been replaced with QR codes, contributing to the restaurant reducing its plastic consumption by 80 per cent.

Meanwhile waste ingredients are repurposed and turned into treasured components of the restaurant’s dishes and cocktails. “We use as much waste product as possible and find value for them, creating a coffee liqueur and caramel used in the cuisine, and drawing flavour from old coffee grounds to infuse in cocktails and bar bitters,” explains Ashley Salmon, who stands at the helm of the Hong Kong outpost as head chef. Coffee grounds, he explains, are then turned into compost with the help of local social enterprise Eco-Greenergy.