Celebrate Provenance: Selvaggio

The benefits of local sourcing 

The benefits of this sourcing strategy are clear to the team at Selvaggio; sourcing local food and cultivating real, personal relationships with the farmers has strengthened the team’s connection to the food they prepare. “By actually visiting the fields and working with the farmers, we get to know their personalities and thoughts. Just one day's work is enough to make our backs ache,” Yudai says. This approach means the team places a high value on every piece of produce, finding new ways to avoid waste.  

“Our role is to use the vegetables they have worked so hard to grow in creating delicious dishes. Our farmers often come to our restaurants to dine, so they’re able to see how their vegetables are prepared,” he continues. “As a result, they might offer us better vegetables or introduce us to other farmers they know. The fact that we are physically and psychologically close to our producers helps to maintain a relationship of trust.” 

What provenance means to customers 

This effect extends to their customers, too – even the little ones. “Often, children who say they don't like vegetables will visit the restaurant and change their minds,” Yudai continues. “We believe that, by celebrating provenance in a natural way, we can be a restaurant that benefits not only the local producers, but also our community. Buying food locally at a fair price – and creating a restaurant that our wonderful producers truly want to supply – keeps our business and our producers’ businesses viable, and makes the entire area more economically sustainable.” Their sourcing policies also led to the restaurant winning the Best Sourcing Award at the Food Made Good Japan Awards 2023. 

One dish that does a particularly good job of showcasing provenance is their venison hamburger steak, Selvaggio’s most popular order. With the Riverside Lodge located deep in the forest, wild deer are abundant in the area – so much so that culling of populations has had to be increased in recent years to minimise their impact on the forest ecosystem. The restaurant has established a good partnership with a local butchery facility specialising in wild game, or ‘gibier’ as it’s often known in Japan – a heritage food for this region that has been making a comeback in recent years. “In fact, the meat is so delicious that even I am captivated by it,” says Yudai, “and I don’t usually like venison! Many of our guests who have discovered the quality of this venison have gone straight to the producer to buy some to bring home. We are happy to be able to showcase the excellence of our local food through our restaurant.” 

The Food Made Good Standard at Selvaggio 

“Today, Japan is becoming more aware of sustainability, but I feel that few people have a firm understanding of what the term means and are taking action,” says Yudai, observing that we’re at a critical point when it comes to our food systems. “If we do not have a serious sense of crisis now, people will be unable to eat in the future.” 

Selvaggio completed its first Food Made Good Standard in 2023, earning an exceptional three-star rating. “By signing up to the Food Made Good Standard, we wanted to learn about the global food issues that are critical for restaurants and how to put sustainability work into practice. While working on the Standard, we learned so much about sustainable food, global standards and how we can take action.”  

This work has helped attract customers and guide their sustainability initiatives. “While we don’t track statistics, we feel that – as our three-star Food Made Good Standard becomes more widely known – more customers with a high level of awareness and interest in food are visiting our restaurant,” says Yudai. “At the same time, having measurable indicators for our sustainability work helps us know what to work on and how to go about this. We can see where we need to improve and aim for even higher goals.” 

The team at Selvaggio plans to keep moving forward on the same path, building more relationships within their locality. “We want to further strengthen our partnerships with local communities and forge new connections with local producers with whom we do not yet do business,” says Yudai, wrapping up our chat. “Our goal is for our restaurant to help regenerate the environment while also revitalising economic cycles."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Learn more about Selvaggio restaurant at their website. For more insights into how restaurants in our network are celebrating provenance among other fantastic sustainability initiatives, check out our News & Insights page and make sure you're signed up to our newsletter!