Pie In The Sky

The Plate

Those unable to visit country cousin Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York, can enjoy the same stunningly farm-fresh ingredients at Blue Hill’s elegant Manhattan outpost just off Washington Square Park. Here, too, vegetables are celebrated, even flaunted. An amuse-bouche may offer a baby carrot and two cauliflower florets skewered on tiny spikes atop a block of wood. Seasonal salads present, quite literally, pick-of-the-day produce—jewellike peas or shell beans or beets served on a bed of dazzlingly delicate greens. A must-eat: This Morning’s Farm Egg, a soft-cooked wonder served with vegetables and greens in an herb broth.

—John Grossmann

BLUE HILL, 75 WASHINGTON PLACE, NEW YORK; 212-539-1776; www.bluehillnyc.com

The Cocktail

Patrons at Abode, across from California’s Santa Monica Pier, can go green—and go pearl diving—by simply bending an elbow. That is, if they order the restaurant’s $300, eco-friendly Heal the Bay Martini. Named for the local nonprofit (www.healthebay.org) that receives the entire price of the drink toward its efforts to keep local waters clean, the charitable, sea-blue concoction contains a black Tahitian pearl in the bottom of each glass. Owning partner Anastasia Israel buys the 12 mm, AAA pearls wholesale for $300, but they are appraised at $800—and the tippler, after a careful bottoms-up, gets to keep the pearl. Indeed, one buyer promised she’d be back. She was thinking earrings.

—J. G.

ABODE RESTAURANT & LOUNGE, 1541 OCEAN AVENUE, SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA; 310-394-3463; www.aboderestaurant.com

Heal the Bay Tahitian Black Pearl Martini
4 oz. Pearl Lo Coco Coconut Vodka
Dash of Blue Curaçao
Shake and garnish with one black Tahitian pearl.

Order of the Day

INTERVIEW With a Chef

It’s not just the heat of the kitchen, but also the glare from the spotlight on their increasing celebrity status that now challenges top chefs like Traci Des Jardins, chef/partner at San Francisco’s esteemed Jardinière and a 2007 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef Pacific. High among her priorities: How Green is the glow of her restaurant?

SKY: I understand that when you were a girl, convenience food was not allowed to enter your house.
TRACI DES JARDINS: That’s right, it wasn’t something we ate. My father, who grew sugar beets and cotton and rice on several thousand acres in California’s central valley, didn’t like any sort of prepared or packaged food. TV dinners or a trip to McDonald’s were a special treat for us. There were no fast-food places in Firebaugh, the small town I grew up in.
SKY: What are your memories of food as a girl?
TDJ: I baked with my mom. My maternal grandparents are Mexican, and my grandmother would make fresh tortillas and beans. I would help her cook. And on my paternal side, my grandfather was from Louisiana and my grandmother was Swedish and Norwegian. She had a huge kitchen garden. That’s the way we ate. My paternal grandfather could have been a chef. The man was obsessed with food. Shrimp creole for special occasions. He’d hunt wild game, wild duck and quail and dove. My father and grandfather farmed together, and they’d allow Basque sheepherders to graze on our land, so we also had fresh lamb.
SKY: More and more, top chefs like you are becoming known for the provenance of the food and, lately, the environmental footprint of the restaurant. Are you comfortable in this role?
TDJ: Absolutely. I think chefs can help change the way that food is approached and consumed, and hopefully address some of the health issues. Plus, we’re supporting local economies, which I think is really important, and seeing that people are connected again with where their food comes from. I’ve started asking people this question: If you had to kill what you ate, what would you eat?
SKY: How do they answer?
TDJ: They’re generally appalled. It’s a scary thought. For me, I think the answer is: I could definitely eat poultry.
SKY: But could you kill that lamb of your childhood?
TDJ: My grandmother had chickens, and she killed them, and I was very connected to that as food. I grew up on a farm. I saw my dad kill a pig. I went to a slaughterhouse when I was young. But a lot of people miss that connection. They think meat comes in a package with plastic on it in a supermarket, and they don’t think about the animal. I love pork. Bacon is like a food group for me. Could I adapt to the idea of killing a pig a couple times a year? I probably could.
SKY: How Green is Jardinière?
TDJ: We’re not perfect. We’re lucky in San Francisco to have an incredible recycling and composting program. About eight years ago it started in restaurants, and it’s now moving to residences as well. Basically, we have a Green bin, a separate trash container, and in it we put anything that was ever alive. Coffee grounds, coffee filters, any animal products. You don’t bag any of the garbage; you put it straight into the bin. It sounds really disgusting, but it doesn’t smell. Garbage smells because it’s bagged and it can’t breathe. We’ve reduced our garbage bound for the landfill to about 8 to 10 percent. Everything else is being recycled or composted.
SKY: So we need more cities doing this?
TDJ: We need every city to be doing this. That’s kind of my new soapbox.
SKY: What else are you doing?
TDJ: Green cleaning supplies. Natural, citrus-based ingredients, not chemically laden degreasers. And energy consumption. We lowered our energy consumption by about 50 percent by keeping lights and air conditioning off during the day. Water flow: We put in low-flow faucets and toilets. We print our menus on recycled paper.
SKY: Do you think diners are starting to put their food dollar where their environmental leanings are?
TDJ: I think it’s still a very small percentage of people who come to Jardinière specifically because they’ve heard we’re a green restaurant. So I don’t consider it a marketing tool. It never has been.

—J.G.

5 Fab Restaurants With Their Own Gardens

Many restaurants and eco-minded chefs now embrace the buy-local movement, acquiring as many of their ingredients as possible from area farmers. But a growing number have gone even greener (and fresher) by harvesting from their very own organic gardens. At some of these restaurants you can all but watch your meal grow.
(Prices reflect the average cost of a three-course meal before wine, tax and tip.)

BLUE HILL AT STONE BARNS 630 Bedford Road, Pocantico Hills, New York; 914-366-9600; www.bluehillfarm.com; $65

Look for vegetables—going field to kitchen to table, often the same day—at this onetime Rockefeller estate dairy in the Hudson Valley. Also on the menu: an incredible array of sustainably grown meat and dairy products, some from an adjoining nonprofit farm and educational center. Yes, the setting is stunning, not to mention the edible art—a long row, for instance, of multicolored heirloom tomatoes previewed tableside on a weathered board. Break the piggy bank if you must, but don’t miss the seven-, sometimes eight-course Farmer’s Feast ($110 without wine pairings).

BLUE VELVET 750 South Garland Avenue, Los Angeles; 213-239-0061;
www.bluevelvetrestaurant.com; $40

With initial harvests expected this month, this new L.A. eatery begins supplying its modern American food and cocktail menu with herbs, veggies and fruit at the push of a button—an elevator button. Blue Velvet’s organic gardens are six stories up, in stainless-steel planters and terraced beds on the roof of a downtown renovation. Plantings include perennial herbs, quince and kumquat trees, and heirloom root vegetables—enough variety, predicts managing partner Robert Hartstein, to anchor the multicourse “chef spontanée” tasting meals.

SUMMER WINTER One Burlington Mall Road, Marriott Hotel, Burlington, Massachusetts; 781-221-6643; www.summerwinterrestaurant.com; $50

As at Arrows—their celebrated Ogunquit, Maine, restaurant—owners Clark Fraiser and Mark Gaier employ a full-time farmer at their new suburban Boston restaurant. The covered raised beds, greenhouse plantings and quarter-acre garden provide a year-round harvest of pristine mini greens and vegetables. Just-picked items, like pea tendrils, perhaps with house-cured prosciutto, star in $3 offerings at the popular Small Bites Bar.

THE VILLAGE PUB 2967 Woodside Road, Woodside, California; 650-851-9888;
www.thevillagepub.net; $45

Some 80 percent of the produce comes from the restaurant’s nearby, 5-acre organic farm, arriving in a sustainably powered bio-diesel truck fueled by waste cooking oil. Emblematic of chef Mark Sullivan’s “hyper seasonal” menu: a red Cinderella pumpkin soup he finishes with pumpkin-seed oil, crème fraîche and toasted pumpkin seeds.

POSTE MODERNE BRASSERIE 555 Eighth Street NW, Washington, D.C.; 202-783-6060; www.postebrasserie.com; $55

Chef Robert Weland grows herbs, artichokes, pumpkins, turnips, arugula, and more in the planters and beds right by the brasserie’s courtyard patio. But he’s proudest of his heirloom tomatoes, which he sometimes serves as a dazzling sorbet—or pairs with an equally special mozzarella called burrata. Many Thursdays, Weland leads tours through the garden and the nearby Penn Quarter Farmer’s Market, focusing on a theme ingredient; then he features the ingredient in a five-course dinner ($65) served at a communal table for eight to 10 guests.

—J.G.

Eventful!

Hosting a Green event, whether it’s a small party or a large convention, is not as difficult as you might think. Atlanta event planner Tony Conway says you can entertain with panache and still satisfy a Green conscience by incorporating various practices into your planning. Indeed, Conway suggests myriad ways to soften the blow to our environment without being a party pooper. One of the first things you can do is strategize with your event planner about ways to Green up your event.

PAPER VIEW
Many environmentally conscious planners suggest using e-mail to send invitations. And why not? Still, if you hanker for an old-fashioned written invite, Twisted Limb (www.twistedlimbpaper.com) offers beautiful handcrafted paper made from recycled materials (including soy-based inks). Green Field Paper Company (www.greenfieldpaper.com) carries a line of handmade “grow-a-note” cards with seeds embedded in them. Easy planting instructions appear on the back of each card, along with the species that will sprout. Each handmade card will recycle naturally into the soil as the seedlings grow. Let the paper do double duty: invitation and yard beautification.

A SIGN OF THE TIMES
For signage at meetings, Joseph Malki, vice president at Seven-Star Inc., one of the world’s largest producers of green events, suggests biodegradable signage—made from corn, for instance
(www.fastsigns.com). “Event planners can also draw up a greenhouse gas impact statement of the event you are hosting,” says Malki. “Companies can offset the impact by purchasing a commensurate number.”

RAISING CANE
Consider bio-based/compostable products (www.greenhome.com or www.bambuhome.com) such as bamboo-, sugar-cane-, corn- or potato-based cutlery, plates, napkins and straws. And the Green Glass Company (www.greenglass.com) creates attractive goblets, stemware and vases from old glass (which actually requires less energy than using recycled glass).

CAN(DLE) DO
Fluorescent bulbs certainly do save energy, but they’re not always flattering. Why not arrange a fetching spread of Eco candles from Paddywax (www.paddywax.com) to give your event a festive glow? At the very least, use locally grown flowers to beautify the setting. And why not feature locally farmed produce on your menu? Or you can fashion a party favor from local ingredients, or arrange a selection of organic jams and honey as centerpieces, creating conversation about the products.

IN THE SPIRIT OF GREEN
Many wineries are pursuing organic methods for eco-friendly production. Notable vineyards include Heller Estates, Frog’s Leap, Bonterra and Lolonis. I purchase magnums, rather than the same amount in more numerous small containers, to reduce container waste. McCormick Distilling Company has recently introduced 360 Vodka—the world’s first premium “eco-luxury” vodka—through Earth Friendly Distilling Company. Toast your friends with a martini that’s eco-friendly in every stage of the distilling, packaging and marketing (www.vodka360.com).

Talk to the hotel or venue you are renting about using china and linen rather than disposable items. Provide water in pitchers. Hold your event in a location easily accessible by public transportation, and make a big fuss about offering awards to those who arrive that way or carpool. Work with your event planner to consider alternatives for recycling after the party. Many local farmers will gladly take the compostable leftovers, and of course bottles and cans should be recycled.

Finally, wrap up a stash of organic goodies in biodegradable or recyclable gift wrap for your awards. Paporganics (www.paporganics.com) offers gift-wrap designs printed with vegetable-based inks on generous sheets of hemp-blend paper.