Lemon peels, bread ends, cilantro stems, and other ingredients often tossed will feature prominently on select DC menus from July 13 – 20, as sustainable restaurants across the city partake in RescueDishDC. They’ll be out to fight food waste and demonstrate how a little ingenuity can turn underutilized ingredients into amazing taste experiences.

In the U.S. more than a third of food goes to waste, with environmental consequences ranging from carbon emissions to habitat loss. About 80 percent of that waste has been traced to consumers and consumer-facing business. The mission of RescueDish, whose signature event is the weeklong RescueDishDC, is to celebrate restaurants that actively work to reduce their waste, and to use the fun of dining out to inspire consumers to rethink what they are tossing at home.

Chefs at participating restaurants (for a full list check out RescueDish.org) will make use of ingredients that many homecooks usually throw away—think the leftovers from a marinade, corn cobs or even charred eggplant skin. Some will look to their own operations and supply chains—ANXO’s serving ciderhouse punch made from cider used to clear the lines between batches and The Pig will offer pig ear lettuce wraps. Fancy Radish is even using upcycled bottles to serve the Ancient Mariner, a cocktail crafted with bar extras like lime peels and orange juice, as well as pickle brine and pineapple skins.

Often such waste-reducing work happens quietly in the kitchen, but during RescueDishDC, restaurants will be engaging with their diners, tableside, at the register, on the menu and on social media to share how they use ingredients to their fullest potential.

Examples of RescueDishDC specials include:

Equinox

Bar snacks: corn cob soup, crispy potato skins with lemon truffle sour cream

Cocktail: Summer berry shrub with local gin and seltzer

Note: Available during Commuter Hour, 5 – 7 p.m. weeknights

Fancy Radish 

Ancient Mariner cocktail, spent lime infused Batavia Arrack, pickle tepache with ginger, bartender’s OJ, served in reused ginger beer bottles (uses limes leftover from juicing, pickle brine, orange juice from oranges used for cocktail garnishes, and pineapple skins)

Maitake Potato Taco, extra maitake mushroom scraps and potato ends served on a flour tortilla, topped with a poblano salsa and curtido (a Salvadoran lightly fermented cabbage relish, which will be made with cabbage leftover from stock preparation)

Little Sesame

Watermelon and tomato “migas,” with burnt eggplant tahini and pickled cilantro stems, served with 7-minute egg. Uses leftover marinade from tomato and watermelon fattoush salad, which will be cooked with yesterday’s pita and topped with tahini made from smokey charred [and usually discarded] eggplant peels. Note: Only available at Little Sesame Chinatown location

Teaism

Rescue Panzanella, with bread ends, juicy tomato bits and broccoli stem pesto. Also includes fresh cucumber, heirloom cherry tomatoes, lettuce and a sauce infused with Lapsang Souchong black tea.

 

For a full list, including destinations like The Salt Line, Sababa and Blue Duck Tavern who will be highlighting existing dishes with great sustainability stories, head to RescueDish.org.

Social media contest

From July 13 to 20, social media posts—on Twitter, Instagram and publicly posted on Facebook—with the hashtag #RescueDishDC will be entered into a drawing to win gift certificates to the participating restaurants.