Trash Talking

At Shuggie's in San Francisco, everything is garbage and that's a good thing

- MacKenzie Chung Fegan

Any savvy restaurateur has an eye toward reducing food waste; sustainability aside, it’s simply good for the bottom line. But when they opened Shuggie’s Trash Pie + Natural Wine (yes, this is the official name) in the spring of 2022, Kayla Abe and David Murphy had ambitions that stretched beyond carrot-top pesto and clear-out-the-fridge frittatas. They envisioned a business that could divert the waste not just of their own kitchen but also of local farmers, fishermen, ranchers, and manufacturers. Murphy, a chef with 21 years of experience under his belt, designed an entire menu to absorb the trash of his producer partners—from a hundred decorative pumpkins set to be landfilled post-Halloween to 90 pounds of mussels that need to be gone today.

According to the nonprofit Project Drawdown, reducing food waste is the number one most effective solution to our climate crisis. But while Abe and Murphy want to bring their clientele along on their crucial planet-saving journey, they also want people to party. “First and foremost, the food has to be really good, and the atmosphere has to be really fun,” Murphy says, “because the subject that we’re broaching is doom and gloom. People can come in and slam back wine and do the Instagram thing, but we’re also going to tell you about upcycling. If you want it, it’s there.”

Here’s how the team’s waste not, want not philosophy plays out, from the dishes to the decor.

1. THE VISION