Zero Waste Bistro, an evocation of Helsinki restaurant Nolla, served up food and thought at WantedDesign’s iconic Terminal Stores venue.

A slice of Helsinki took up only a sliver of WantedDesign Manhattan during New York Design Week in May, but it made a huge impression. The Zero Waste Bistro – organized by the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York and envisioned by rising interiors star Linda Bergroth – was a distillation of Restaurant Nolla, a new Helsinki eatery in which every detail, from the locally sourced produce to the re-pulpable takeout cups, nods to the circular economy. And yet, at WantedDesign’s iconic Terminal Stores venue, the slender pop-up stood as its own distinct concept, making a bold statement about how the raw ingredients of interiors can be eco-conscious too.

Zero Waste Bistro was conceived as a nave-like archway made of ReWall Naked Board, a Tetra Pak-waste composite so appealing to the eye and the touch that it resembles a newly discovered type of marble. Inside, Nolla’s chefs prepared and served meals to guests seated at the nine-metre-long communal table made of Durat’s Palace, a recycled-plastic surface with a dynamically speckled finish. Designed by Bergroth, prototype vases in contrasting colours of the same material were displayed on the table along with Iittala classics. Completing the experience, the immaculate rows of Hand Grenade lights (overhead) and Alvar Aalto stools (on the ground) spoke to the intrinsic sustainability of timeless design.

This story was taken from the September 2018 issue of Azure. Buy a copy of the issue here, or subscribe here.