Fancy Nancy, a neighborhood restaurant in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, received a microgrant from the Foundation for New York’s Strongest — the official nonprofit organization of the NYC Department of Sanitation — in 2019 to create a local restaurant guide to composting. The restaurant applied for the grant to figure out how to manage postconsumer food waste. It already practiced food waste reduction. An example is its Sunday Supper tradition where chefs use remaining food from the week to create a fun pre-fixe menu, as well as feed employees before closing on Monday.

The guide was recently released, and has a cool name: “Fancy Restaurant Composting Guide: No Fuss, No Funk! — Organics Separation in Three (Really) Easy Steps.” Step 1 is call a carter (hauler). The advice from Fancy Nancy? “Organics pick-up twice a week is usually sufficient. You can adjust to your needs later if necessary. Either way, your costs should even out (even lower) as your trash pick-up becomes smaller than your organics. Don’t be afraid to haggle!”

Step 2 is front-of-house and back-of-house set up, for which they recommend “any not-too-deep vessel” that fits your space and is distinctive looking enough to not be confused with a trash can. As for what to include, Fancy Nancy says “Anything grown or raised!” Step 3 is storing the food scraps prior to collection — from a basic lidded can to an upgraded outdoor can enclosure.