Yougrewupina bigfamily.Wasevery
nighta massivedinnerparty?Absolutely.
Therewereninechildrenandwealways
hadfriendsovereverynight.Myfather
commissionedtheboatyardintownto
buildthisbigroundtablethatsat14,
which was basically full every night.You’refroma seasidefishingtown
inMassachusetts,USA.Whataresome
dininghighlightsfromyourchildhood?
Chatham,Massachusettsis knownfor
itscodfish,whichyou’llfindinsomeof
thebestrestaurantsintheUnitedStates.
Codplayeda veryimportantroleat our
table,a fewnightsa week.Weatea lot
ofclams,andlobsterwasa bigtreatfor
us.Butourmothermadea lotoflarge
casserole dishes to appease the masses.In2012,youhosteda partythatchanged
yourcareer.Whathappened?Theevent
washeldinManhattan’sCentralPark.
Andunfortunately,youcan’tbring
glasswareorchinaintothepark,because
ofsafetyissues.With 1400 guests,I used
somethinglike25,000plasticplatesand
30,000plasticcups.Atthatpoint,I knew
I neededtomakea change.Andthat’s
whenI launchedInwardPoint,which
is a zero-waste events company.Tellusabouta sustainablepartyyou’ve
thrown.Ata lunchI didfor 600 guests
inLA,wetriedtodiverteverything
fromlandfill.Therewerenoflower
arrangements;allthetabledecorations
were succulent plants taken out of theAndyKingrunsInwardPoint,a zero-
wasteeventcompany,inwardpoint.com.
HealsoappearsinFyre, whichis
streaming on Netflix,netflix.comsoilthedaybefore,andputintobeautiful
boxesthatweremadebychildrenwith
disabilities.Theboxeswerere-usedand
succulents replanted the following day.Somecaterersendupthrowingouta lot
offoodaftertheirevents.Howdoyou
stopmealsbeingwasted?Wemeasure
thenumberofgueststhatarecoming
andhowmuchfoodwe’llneedforevery
meal.If thereis anyfoodleftover,we
haverefrigeratedtrucksthatarewaiting
onsitetodeliverfoodtonearbynursing
homes and schools that are underfunded.Tellusabouttheeventyoudidforthe
LeonardoDiCaprioFoundation.It wasa
dinnerfor 500 guestsandit was99.9per
centzero-waste.Wehireda sorter:her
nameis GreenMary.Shehelpsdivert
everythingfromlandfill.Anycoathanger
thatcameonsite,sheputintoboxesand
delivered to dry cleaners in nearby towns.Maryalsoworkedwithlocalwineriesand
foundthatmanyofthemhavebarnsthat
havefallendown,soweusedthatwood
tobuildeverybarandeverytable.We
trytoinspirepeopletoreclaim,re-use,
recycleandrepurpose.Andrejoice,
becauseit’samazingwhatyoucando
with things that people throw away.What’snextforyou?Wehearthere’sa TV
showandpodcastonthecards.Yes,we’re
workingona shownow.Andthepodcast- I’llbeinterviewinga lotoffamous
peopleandwewillbeparticipatingin
a lot of amazing storytelling.
Willyougettoaskthemaboutfood?
Surewill.I stillcookeverynight.
Food is so much of my life.●How I eat
Thezero-wasteparty
organiseronthechallenges
ofmasscatering,leftovers,
and his new podcast.
EATINGWITH
Andy
King
INTERVIEW LEE TRAN LAM. PHOTOGRAPHY STEWART MUNRO.30 GOURMET TRAVELLER