An innovative new zero waste and health-driven eatery has just opened in Castletroy, Limerick. Copia Green is committed to reducing the amount of waste they produce and nourishing customers with every plate of food.
The eatery located at Park Point on Dublin Road offers diners breakfast, brunch and lunch menus (a dinner menu will follow in the coming weeks, with takeaway options also available) packed full of seasonal nutrient-rich ingredients.
To make it onto the Copia Green menu, each ingredient needs to be either Irish, organic, seasonal or sustainable. The eatery aims to use 75% organic and Irish produce throughout the year. All of Copia Green’s dishes are influenced by the seasons, focusing on a plant-based lifestyle with menus designed to cater for organic carnivores, vegans and everyone in between. Their meat is sourced from organic Irish farmers, their fish is sustainably caught and they only use organic Irish eggs and dairy. There is no use of refined oils/sugars/flours, hydrogenated fats, additives or preservatives in any of their dishes and they don’t cook with butter.
Copia Green is the brainchild of Pat O’Sullivan, Owner and Managing Director of Masterchefs Hospitality in Limerick and has opened on the former site of Cafe Noir in Castletroy. Pat O’Sullivan said, “This concept has been in the melting pot for over a year and it’s of great personal satisfaction to see it come to fruition. Our stated aim of bringing nourishing, health food to the high street in a zero waste and sustainable environment has been realised.”
Copia Green attempt to reduce the amount of waste they produce as much as possible and strive to be a zero-waste business. Waste is divided into three categories: compost, recycle, and waste and their aim is to throw away less than one bag of waste per day.
The eatery’s commitment to sustainability is conscious in every business decision they make along the consumption lifecycle; what they choose, purchase, consume and discard. They are purposefully creating an impact that lasts and redefining what an eatery can be.
All of Copia Green’s packaging is 100% compostable and made from sugarcane residue and/or corn starch. They use non-chemical eco-friendly cleaning products in their kitchen to wash our dishes, dining space and the bathrooms. Even their j-cloths, teabags, hand towels and toilet rolls are biodegradable and diners orders are taken down using 100% compostable pens on recycled paper.
Professional cellist and certified raw and wholefoods Chef, Tara-Lee Byrne - who trained at the cutting edge Matthew Kenney Culinary Academy in the US - is the Chef and Culinary Creative Director behind the eatery’s innovative seasonal menu. Tara-Lee Byrne said, “The opportunity to create a brand from scratch and channel Pat’s vision for Copia Green has been a synergistic fit for me. Our mission is simple and clear, to create and serve inspiring vibrant sweet and savoury dishes bursting with flavour and nourishing in nutrients. In developing the seasonal menu it was vital each ingredient needs to be Irish, organic, seasonal or sustainable.”
As well as working with ingredients from some of the country’s top artisan producers (including salmon from the Burren Smokehouse, Halloumi from Toonsbridge Dairy and Granola from Wicked Wholefoods), Copia Green make all of their own sourdoughs, breads, almond milk (used as the base for all of their smoothies, soups and creams), cakes and desserts and much more.
Copia Green’s menu has been specially designed to cater for all dietary requirements. The breakfast and brunch menus include items like fig, baked banana, and coconut activated oat porridge with whipped masala chai cashew cream and toasted almonds (gluten free and vegan), the Munster Bircher Muesli Bowl - Kombucha soaked Bircher muesli with seasonal fruits (rhubarb/poached pears/apple/berries), mulberries and toasted coconut flakes (gluten free and vegan).
For lunch, diners can choose from the likes of organic griddled lime chicken with spicy tahini ginger sauce, soba noodle pea salad, radish and coriander salsa, fresh basil and black sesame salt (gluten free and dairy free), the Nourish Bowl - Toonsbridge Dairy halloumi, spiced lentils with toasted walnuts, capers and fresh rocket, honey & cinnamon roasted pumpkin, harmonious hummus, pickled red onions, fresh greens, chickpea sprouts & toasted seeds (gluten free).
Copia Green’s homemade cakes and desserts include their signature raw blueberry, lemon and lavender cheesecake (vegan, gluten free & raw), Tara-Lee’s, not Terry’s ultimate chocolate orange brownie (vegan, gluten free & raw), midnight mint chocolate caramel squares (vegan, gluten free & raw), honeyed walnut, lemon and almond polenta cake (gluten free) and a wild orange, poppy seed and almond cake (gluten free).
