Sustainable Tables: Corrutela makes it organic

Before opening his restaurant Corrutela in São Paulo’s Vila Madalena hip neighborhood, chef César Costa had to hit the road and drive hundreds of kilometers to find the organic ingredients he couldn’t lay his hands on in his city (as it is for many chefs living in a metropolis). With a focus on organic produce, he traveled more than 14,000 kilometers in Brazil to find some specific things — like organic wheat, for example, in order to have the perfect flour to make his bread, among other recipes.

Photo Carol Gherardi

Just one year after the opening, he says organics make up over 90% of everything he uses in his kitchen. But going for the ingredients wherever they were has given Costa another perspective into the kind of cuisine that determined Corrutela's motto: to do everything from scratch. “It also ensures the quality of every dish we serve”, he says.

As a result, he has also begun to buy cocoa beans directly from a farm in Ilhéus — the Brazilian region known for the highest quality cocoa — which are used to make the chocolate for the desserts. In addition to the chocolate (which beans are roasted and shelled in house), Costa also makes his cornmeal (with criolle corn) in a 1989 stone mill bought in the interior of Brazil — older than the chef himself, who was born three years later.

Large quantities, less waste

Photo Carol Gherardi

We also make our preserves and every other process in our kitchen. I like to have control of everything we serve”, he explains. “This has also allowed us to reduce packaging usage dramatically, as products arrive in large quantities (mainly bags over 40 kg), generating less waste”, he explains.

To wrap up the food chain, Corrutela makes its compost (an automatic composting machine was placed at the entrance of the restaurant, right in the middle of the room), and creates its own energy from solar panels installed on the roof. “We want to disturb the planet as little as possible,” he jokes.

Photo Carol Gherardi

For Costa, this is not about marketing Corrutela as a competitive, sustainable distinction, but how he and his team perceive how a restaurant that opens its doors today should take a stand in the food industry. “We can no longer close our eyes to what is happening in the world, we have to assume the responsibility for the damage we have done and do our part to diminish it,” he says.

"Making our part"

Photo Carol Gherardi

He also explains that sustainability is a business model that allows the restaurant to be profitable in a market where every detail counts to make money. “By buying ingredients in bulk, I can bargain for the best price. By utilizing the ingredient from bark to seeds, I get the least amount of waste in the kitchen and optimize everything I buy, ”he explains.

His cuisine focuses on vibrant, contemporary dishes based around seasonal ingredients. “If it's in season, tomatoes are also cheaper, and that goes for any other ingredient. Seasonal cuisine is not only better for the planet because it allows us to have ingredients at their best without using chemicals, but it's also great for the finances”, he says.

Photo Carol Gherardi

Costa believes it is all about embracing the gastronomy of the future, in which sustainability is a central theme. “We understand that it is an internal goal: our obligation, like that of all other restaurants, is only to serve a good dish to the customer. It's not about self-promotion”, he adds. “We only share all the care we have with customers who want to know more about our processes; we don't want to indoctrinate and persuade people toward more sustainable thinking”, he says. “We are just making our part”.