How Michelin Guide’s Green Star is fuelling sustainability in the restaurant industry, and the chefs in Hong Kong leading the way

‘Sustainability … nobody knows what it means,’ says Alvin Leung, Michelin-star restaurant chef. For him, at Cafe Bau it means working with Hong Kong farmers

The Michelin Guide has begun awarding Green Stars to restaurants that source sustainably and minimise waste. Awardees in Hong Kong explain what they are doing

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Representatives of the three Hong Kong restaurants awarded Green Stars in the Michelin Guide 2023 Hong Kong and Macau, including new awardee Mora, on stage with their awards at the launch of the guide in Macau in April. Photo: Michelin Guide

Published: 12:45pm, 5 May 2023

In 2020, the Michelin Guide introduced its Green Star, awarded to restaurants championing sustainable practices. Since then, wherever you look in the world, bars’ and restaurants’ focus on sustainability has only grown.

According to Michelin, the Green Star is awarded to restaurants that “hold themselves accountable for both their ethical and environmental standards, and work with sustainable producers and suppliers to avoid waste and reduce or even remove plastic and other non-recyclable materials from their supply chain”.

But in a city such as Hong Kong, where only three restaurants have received Michelin Green stars to date, what does sustainability in a dining context really mean?

“Sustainability is a word that’s used a lot but nobody really knows what it actually means,” says Alvin Leung, the chef-owner of Michelin-star restaurants Bo Innovation and The Demon Celebrity, both in the city’s Central neighbourhood.

Chef Alvin Leung aka the Demon Chef, at his sustainable restaurant Cafe Bau in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai neighbourhood. Photo: Cafe Bau

What is considered sustainable can look different depending on the context.

A paper published in 2022 in the journal Science Progress and Research, “A Critical Analysis of the Restaurant Industry’s Effect on Environment Sustainability”, focuses on environmental hazards caused by the restaurant industry.