Last night we ate at Milltown Arms Tavern in Cabbagetown, a cool but unassuming little space with outsider art on the walls and comfy seating around the bar. The menu is primarily made up of standard pub fare but with some interesting twists, such as the wasabi mayonnaise cole slaw. The crispy home-made chips, topped with a generous serving of bleu cheese (not that bleu cheese salad dressing that some bars are using for this app) were some of the best we've had.


We were glad to discover that there were more vegetarian options on the actual menu than there are on the virtual one. We'd gone in thinking we'd be having yet another black bean burger, that omnipresent token vegetarian offering, but instead enjoyed the fried green tomato sandwich we discovered once we got there. At meal's end, Jeremy, our friendly bartender, set us up with owner Barbara Keeney to talk about the tavern's sustainability practices.


Barbara was eager to talk about the progress she is making toward greening her establishment. She is moving toward compostable to-go containers, including flatware and glasses made from vegetable products, but will be using up some of her older stock as she makes the transition. She does a robust take-out business through Zifty and will soon be able to advertise her restaurant through this delivery service as utilizing only biodegradable products for packaging and transport.

Barbara said that she learned a lot about how to make her business practices more sustainable through her consultation with Green Plate, a non-profit that specializes in educating restaurants about how to go green. She gave us a copy of the Cabbagetown Neighbor, a community newsletter that tells the story of her contact with Green Plate at the Cabbagetown Olympics, and her desire to learn all she can about how to run a business in accordance with the best environmental practices.



She knows that the changes she is making will increase the cost of some of her supplies but is willing to pay the extra price in exchange for the environmental savings. "It's about values," she told us. "When you get to be my age (a youthful middle) you know that the most important thing is to live according to your values."

Love ya' Barb.