I have been a follower of Amass and Chef Matt Orlando via social media for some years now and it seems some what unreal to have had the privilege to spend time in the kitchen and dine here, it was an awesome experience in not only food but true “hospitality”. Here what a lunch a this fantastic restaurant looked like!
The PHILOSOPHY
“At Amass, we believe in a holistic approach to food that not only prioritizes our guests and gastronomy, but also the environment and our future as an industry. Our gold organic certification, which insures that 90% to 100% of our food and beverages are organic and free of pesticides, is only one of the many initiatives we’ve taken to reduce our carbon footprint. By sourcing nearly 95% of our products locally, minimizing ingredient waste and saving water, we want to go beyond labels and give as much care to how we operate as a restaurant as our farmers and purveyors do with the soil and sea.
Furthermore, we want to prove that both environmental and financial sustainability as well as deliciousness are mutually reinforcing, not mutually exclusive. Food trim and brown cardboard provide compost for our on-site garden. In the kitchen, we are constantly thinking of how to extract the most out of our ingredients without resorting to the waste bin. We use coffee grounds for flatbreads, dehydrate herb stems for seasonings and fry fish bones as snacks.
Everyone, from restaurants to home cooks, can make a difference, but it first requires a will to do so. Many of our ideas are not the most technically advanced, but they do require effort. We hope you are as inspired as we are to make the most of what we have now, so we can protect the food we love for the future.”
taken from the Amass website
The lamb loin was well aged, as all the meats that are used are, upstairs in the specific meat aging rooms.
GARDEN
“The garden at Amass represents the soul of the restaurant. We currently have more than 80 different varietals of plants, including leafy vegetables, berries, herbs and flowers that appear on our menu daily. But our garden is more than ingredients: It’s the inspiration for dishes to come, making each day a work in progress.
Our garden isn’t just for us. We want our garden to be a learning environment and urban oasis for our guests and community. The garden amasses friends, family and neighbors to have a glass of wine next to the sunflowers, a post-dinner coffee by the nightly bonfires, or even a sniff from our lavender patch.
As an educational tool, everyone, from chefs to locals, are welcome to learn from our sustainable agriculture initiatives. We also use the garden as the basis for the Amass Green Kids Program, our farm-to-table initiative for local schoolchildren.
So please come and enjoy our small piece of nature amidst the industrial settings of Refshaleøen.
taken from the Amass website
AMASS & ORGANICS
“Every restaurant has a choice and at Amass we choose to use organic products whenever possible, from beverages to produce to meat and even some of our linens. Because of this commitment to organic sourcing, the Danish Ministry of Agriculture and Environment has given us the Gold Organic Certification, which guarantees that 90-100% of our products and ingredients are organically certified.
The Danish Gold Organic Certification is an assurance to our guests that their food and wine are free from pesticides and the meat on their plates comes from livestock in which animal welfare is paramount. Gastronomically, we depend upon the health of farmland to deliver superior ingredients not only in the present, but also year after year. By relying upon pesticides and chemical fertilizers, we don’t have that guarantee: we will eventually have to pay the price in degraded soil and inferior crops.
For us, organic products are just the beginning of a much larger dedication to ethical procurement. We want to work with vintners and farmers who also believe that organic principles are not simply a series of checks on a spreadsheet. In our kitchen, we respect the product as a whole and by visiting nearly all our purveyors, we can be secure knowing that they treat the land and natural resources with as much consideration as we do with their goods.
We also want to insure the financial health of small farms who produce specialty products. To preserve the forgotten fruit varietals, rare heritage crops and breeds, we collaborate and support those farmers who care more about saving endangered flavors than making profits.
To protect marine health, we carefully research how our seafood is obtained: All of our seafood is wild and caught using non-invasive methods such as line or non-trawler fishing. We also use wild fowl in season and herbs provided by professional hunters and foragers that not only meet but agree with our ethical standards.
We recognize not all goods can be certified organic; however, we would rather adapt our menu than to compromise our sourcing principles.
There are, of course, problems with organic farming, regulations and certification and we realize this. But in promoting organic practices, we hope for an agricultural future not dependent upon chemicals, high yields and minimal environmental protections, but one which has farmers working symbiotically with nature to produce delicious food sustainably.”
taken from the Amass website
Cameron Matthews 