Brett Lavendar

Ark, Copenhagen, Denmark

Brett lavender, Executive Chef at Ark and Bistro Lupa, Copenhagen, what’s the biggest challenge for a restaurant aiming to work sustainably?

– For us, sustainability means continuous improvement, not just maintaining standards. A key challenge is balancing staff training with sustainable practices and a healthy work-life balance—something the industry often lacks. Teaching the next generation is central to our mission and how we strive to continuously improve both inside and outside of the restaurant. Through initiatives like Mad Academy seminars and advising Valby’s Green and Sustainable Chef Program, we aim to inspire lasting change. Focusing on staff, is the only way to be truly a progressive.

Your cuisine is very forward thinking. How do you deal with food waste?

– We try to work “full cycle” with all our ingredients, this includes all offcuts, trimmings, pulps from purees, sauces and many other things. Through preservation, dehydration and fermentation, all these by-products become amazing – and they return to our menus throughout the year.