Steakarar restaurant

A Yerevan-based restaurant and winery group operates four food and beverage venues alongside an organic vineyard in the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia. The vineyard, established around 2008, was the first certified organic winery in Armenia and continues to operate without synthetic chemicals, producing approximately 50,000–60,000 bottles annually. It grows wheat used to bake bread served across the group's venues, cultivates vegetables for kitchen use from August to October, and produces wine vinegar. Compost from restaurant food waste is transported to the vineyard weekly and applied to the soil, while around 400 wild fruit trees are planted annually on the same land to offset the group's carbon footprint. The group runs two venues operating under a zero-waste model: a steakhouse opened in 2022, which became the first zero-waste restaurant in Armenia, and a long-established The Club restaurant, which now transitioned to the same model. Both venues use short, frequently changing menus built around local Armenian ingredients — with the exception of a small proportion of spices — to minimise food waste. Vegetables, dairy, meat, and other inputs are sourced exclusively from Armenian producers. Salads are categorised by colour rather than named, allowing the kitchen to adapt daily to available stock. Meat is selected by customers from a board displaying cuts with their weight and price, then cooked on hot stones at the table. Dish sizes are offered in small and large at proportionate pricing to discourage over-ordering. Waste is separated into food, plastic, paper, glass, and metal streams. Plastic, paper, glass, and metal are deposited in municipal recycling bins. Food waste is frozen on-site and transported weekly to the vineyard for composting or directed to animal farms as feed. The group prints menus every three to four days on locally recycled paper. Napkins and non-recyclable materials are composted rather than sent to landfill where possible. Daily residual non-recyclable waste at the steakhouse amounts to roughly 200–300 grams. The group has planted approximately 400 trees per year through a non-profit forestation company to offset greenhouse gas emissions, and describes the operation as climate neutral on this basis. The group works with a small number of local organic produce farms and collaborates with a diaspora-founded recycled-materials design workshop based in Dilijan, with a planned joint event to mark the formal zero-waste announcement for The Club. It also supports a nationwide children's reading charity active in over 120 schools across Armenia, and hosts free public lectures on business topics at The Club. A forthcoming expansion includes a small agricultural plots near Ashtarak and in Armavir region to extend the growing season for vegetables from May to August, complementing the vineyard's shorter harvest window.