Cutting Back in the New Year

Just like the rest of us, restaurants, chefs, and even food policy makers use the New Year to rethink how they're doing things. And the food world has entered 2011 with a clear message: Do more with less.

On January 1, Italy banned non-biodegradable, plastic bags.

Celebrity chef David Chang, of the Momofuku restaurant group, has declared that this year he will find domestic purveyors of soy sauce, miso, and sake.

Alice Waters, owner and chef of Chez Paniesse is putting a pretty compost bucket on her counter top so she remembers to use it all the time.

When he goes to restaurants, Bobby Flay plans to eat only three-quarters of the food he's served. That way he can enjoy and save calories.

To check out more ways the country's leading foodies are cutting back, read Oprah's line-up of chef resolutions.

-Kazia Jankowski

Kazia Jankowski
Associate Culinary Director