Chef Arina Suchde doesn't like to use the word 'trash' to define the ingredients of a line of low-waste cocktails that she has helped put together for Woodside Inn resto-bar at Colaba. "By-product is a nicer word. Trash gives the wrong impression," she says. The unassuming citrus peels, carrot skin and corn stalk that would typically get trashed, have turned into hero ingredients on Suchde's sustainable special bar menu.

Having worked at commercial kitchens in Mumbai, she is aware of how wasteful the restaurant industry is. "I would say, 33 per cent of the produce we acquire goes into the bin," she says. It's not the first time that she has helped make trash tasty. The 34-year-old's first go at it was in 2019, when she collaborated with the Woodside Inn founders, Abhishek Honawar, Pankil Shah and Sumit Gambhir, for their sister establishment, The Pantry at Kala Ghoda. Here, she launched a sustainable food menu. Its success inspired the team to extend the idea to cocktails. "Sustainability is catching on across the world. India, unfortunately, has been slow in getting there. Curiously, we, as a culture, have always been conscious of using ingredients to their full potential. But to keep up in a fast-paced life, our generation has forgotten its importance."