The Calyx at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney was the chosen venue for an exclusive zero-waste dinner which celebrated biodiversity and nature.
Themed ‘ZERO – where sustainability tastes better’, the dinner was hosted by Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust’s Principal Environment Partner, HSBC Bank Australia.
The venue and its award-winning on-site event firm Laissez-faire Catering, partnered with one of Australia’s leading sustainable chefs, Matt Stone, to curate a sustainably-sourced menu highlighting some of the country’s best produce.
With unique dishes such as fried akoya oysters, cricket balls and steamed grouper with greens and bone broth, Laissez-faire Catering general manager, Sara Flaksbard, said the creative recipes were designed to create minimal waste and a reduced footprint, with strategically sourced local and seasonal ingredients selected.
“Food wastage is a big by-product of events, so we carefully planned the amount of food to match attendees, limiting supply to minimise the environmental impact,” Flaksbard said.
“Produce was requested to be organic or biodynamic with no single use plastic items being used (not even cling wrap) and any unused produce was recycled and used in the cooking process or composted to grow more ingredients.”
Elevating the environmentally themed event, The Calyx’s moveable floral displays and the green wall made up of over 18,000 plants offered guests an immersive experience. An organic style runner featured as the table centrepiece and included cabbages, pumpkins and radishes, which were donated to OzHarvest after the event, along with any leftover prepared food. Even the napkins were washable velvet to reduce the paper waste.
The event was an opportunity to celebrate the work HSBC’s clients are doing to transition to net zero, and the plant-inspired space offered by The Calyx was chosen as the perfect location to share how HSBC is supporting the delivery of nature and biodiversity related outcomes.
HSBC Bank Australia head of sustainability, Alpa Bhattacharjee, said HSBC’s 25-year partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust has always focused on biodiversity conservation, so The Calyx was the ideal choice to highlight their environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments.
“We needed a venue that was flexible enough to showcase and deliver the zero-waste goals that we had set for the evening whilst providing an immersive and memorable experience,” Bhattacharjee said.
“The Calyx is a physical embodiment of what our partnership aims to deliver, and the team were able to translate this vision from start to finish.”
