Audi’s Michelin-Starred Sustainability Dining Series: Fine Dining & Forward Thinking Collide
You might be wondering: what does a German automaker have to do with Michelin-star chefs? As it turns out, quite a lot. Put them in the same restaurant and you get something rare — a dining series where the future of cars meets the future of food.
Continuing its commitment to sustainability in all facets of modern life, Audi Canada recently hosted the fourth and fifth instalments of its Sustainability Dining Series.
Audi Sustainability Dining Series, Toronto
Chef Daniele Corona. Photos by Sam Santos/ George Pimentel Photography.
Audi Sustainability Dining Series, Toronto
Chef Jérôme Schilling. Photos by Sam Santos/ George Pimentel Photography.
Audi Sustainability Dining Series, Toronto
Chef Daniele Corona, Audi Canada CEO Vito Paladino, Chef Jérôme Schilling. Photos by Sam Santos/ George Pimentel Photography.
Audi Sustainability Dining Series, Toronto
Chef Daniele Corona and Chef Jérôme Schilling. Photos by Sam Santos/ George Pimentel Photography.
The first took place on April 24th at Toronto’s Michelin-starred DaNico, where Chef Daniele Corona teamed up with Chef Jérôme Schilling, the two-Michelin-starred French talent behind Restaurant LALIQUE at Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey in Sauternes. A few days later, the collaboration moved west to Kissa Tanto in Vancouver, where Chef Joël Watanabe hosted an evening of sustainable fine dining alongside Chef Davide Ciavattella of Toronto’s Don Alfonso 1890.
“As Audi Canada has maintained its overarching commitment to responsible and sustainable development, this dining series continues to let us shine a spotlight on how sustainability plays a part in every facet of modern life. It allows us to tell the story of sustainable practices in one area that we all have in common — sharing a meal,” said Cort Nielsen, spokesperson for Audi Canada.
“When you talk about sustainability, my mind goes to my nonna in Europe. She’s the most sustainable person in the world. Everything she cooked came from her garden and there was zero waste. It’s part of our culture.”
Chef Daniele Corona
This isn’t just about well-plated food. It’s part of a broader philosophy. As Audi accelerates its electrification strategy — with a goal to phase out combustion engines by 2033 — the brand’s ambitions go far beyond the road. Its upcoming entry into Formula 1 in 2026 will be powered by a hybrid unit with a heavy emphasis on electric drive and 100% sustainable fuels, aligning motorsport innovation with the realities of a changing planet.
But back to the dinners.
At DaNico, Chef Corona’s refined take on modern Italian served as the perfect stage. He and Chef Schilling co-created a three-course menu rooted in local, seasonal, and sustainable ingredients. Highlights included a delicately constructed seabream tartare with dashi pearls, Hollandaise, smoked guacamole, and grapefruit bark, followed by P.E.I. lobster with ponzu-marinated white asparagus, nettle tapenade, and organic trout roe foam. Dessert was a cheeky yet elegant closer called “Save the Coffee” — a silky namelaka (a creamier, more delicate take on ganache) with a soft caramel insert, a mousse made from repurposed coffee grounds, and tonka gelato.
“Sustainability starts from our roots,” said Chef Corona. “When you talk about sustainability, my mind goes to my nonna in Europe. She’s the most sustainable person in the world. Everything she cooked came from her garden and there was zero waste. It’s part of our culture.”
At Kissa Tanto, Vancouver’s beloved Japanese-Italian hybrid, Chef Watanabe and Chef Ciavattella presented their own interpretation of a sustainable three-course menu. It began with Il Cannellone di Cipolla Rossa, a striking dish made from raspberry vinegar-marinated red onion gel, stuffed with organic vegetables, and served with horseradish gelato and a spirulina seaweed tuile. The gel was made with the finest scrapes of onion—no waste at all.
Audi Sustainability Dinner at Kissa Tanto, Vancouver
Chef Davide Ciavattella (left) & Chef Joël Watanabe. Photo by Wayne Parsons / CNW Photo Desk.
Audi Sustainability Dinner at Kissa Tanto, Vancouver
Chef Joël Watanabe (left) & Chef Davide Ciavattella. Photo by Wayne Parsons / CNW Photo Desk.
Audi Sustainability Dinner at Kissa Tanto, Vancouver
Chef Davide Ciavattella (left), Vito Paladino, & Chef Joël Watanabe. Photo by Wayne Parsons / CNW Photo Desk.
Next came BC kelp–poached spring salmon. For dessert, Ciavattella showcased a resourceful twist: broken pasta, typically unusable in a fine dining setting, was transformed into a whipped pasta cream layered with white chocolate ganache, olive oil sponge cake, and cocoa crumble. The use of seaweed across the menu, one of the world’s most sustainable ingredients, added both texture and a nod to coastal cooking.
For Chef Watanabe, sustainability isn’t just about what’s plated, it starts at the source. He now buys fish directly from local suppliers, prioritizing relationships and accountability. “One fisherman told me, ‘I take care of these fish, but I never know where they end up,’” Watanabe recalls. “So I told him—I’ll buy from you directly. I ended up buying 700 pounds of salmon that year at a better price than he’d get from the docks. It supports his family, and I get the best-quality fish.”
“Back then, the mindset was: make it perfect, and toss the rest. Now, across the industry, there’s more thoughtful use of ingredients.”
Chef Joël Watanabe
You might expect that being thrown together for a one-night-only collaboration would be a challenge for the chefs. But for each I spoke to, a kitchen is a kitchen—and the experience was more camaraderie than chaos. “It’s nice because of the cooperation—you never stop to learn,” said Ciavattella. “It felt like we’d been working together for ten years, even though we just started today.”
As for balancing sustainability with the pressures of fine dining, the landscape has changed dramatically since Watanabe began his career. “Back then, the mindset was: make it perfect, and toss the rest,” he said. “Now, across the industry, there’s more thoughtful use of ingredients. I think you’re seeing much less waste. We really think about what’s not going in the bin, and how we’re going to process it.”
It’s not every day you pair P.E.I. lobster with hybrid vehicles, but Audi’s dining series wasn’t about the spectacle, it was about the signal. “It shows that fine dining can carry a message—and it should,” said Chef Daniele Corona. “Whether it’s a car brand or a restaurant, we have to send a signal to the next generation: sustainability needs to be the first thought.” In the end, it’s not about high-end dining, it’s about making sustainability feel real, thought through, and maybe even a little bit delicious.
