The Perennial, San Francisco

San FranciscoEating Out

The Perennial, San Francisco

Eco-minded San Francisco restaurant The Perennial pull out all the stops on their quest for sustainability...

Eco-minded San Francisco restaurant and bar, The Perennial, is a torch-bearer for progressive farming, believing that agriculture has the potential to reverse climate change; and doing lots of notable things to mark that belief.

The Perennial San Francisco

Top quality food and drink with a sustainable approach, all going on within an eco-friendly space is the name of the game here; furniture and fit-out starring recycled, reclaimed, and efficient materials wherever possible. Designed by master woodworker Paul Discoe, you’ll find a long Douglas Fir bar, a ceiling woven from wood shavings, 100% recyclable rug and barstools, and menus printed on recycled Neenah paper.

Vegetables, herbs, and micro-greens are integrated into the dining room’s interiors, which — along with a fish-filled aquarium — reflect the restaurant’s offsite aquaponic system, a mutually beneficial arrangement, where the plants send their roots down into water fertilised by the fish; food waste is cut by scraps (and even worn-out menus) being dropped off at their aquaponic greenhouse, where their ‘closed-loop system’ begins all over again.

Along with the delicious food provided by the fascinating greenhouse, The Perennial are working with local soil-based farms to source the ingredients and produce they’re currently unable to produce themselves. Beef and lamb comes from a carbon farming project at Stemple Creek Ranch, their pastry chef is experimenting with Kernza, a new kind of wheat with ‘superpowers to fight climate change and stop soil erosion’, and they’ve got a non-profit partner in Zero Foodprint, which should be self-explanatory. To cut a long story short, you will feel good, very good, about yourself after eating here.

@theperennialsf

The Perennial San Francisco
The Perennial San Francisco
The Perennial San Francisco
The Perennial San Francisco
The Perennial San Francisco
The Perennial San Francisco
The Perennial San Francisco
The Perennial San Francisco

Interiors photography, Helynn Ospina. Food photography, Alanna Hale