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Pucker up...

2012-07-28T17:26:18Z

...and kiss these two books on food fermentation. You're gonna love 'em!Keeping your carbon footprint small can involve several strategies, one of which is food preservation. Locavores eat foods that are locally grown, foods that haven’t had to travel by planes, trains, and ocean liners to get to them. But what do locavores do between harvest times? It helps to know something about food preservation. We’re not talking about artificial preservatives, here. No, that wouldn’t be green dining at all. But foodstuffs have been preserved for centuries, long before anybody came up with sodium metabisulfite, butylated ...

They're back...

2012-07-14T16:26:47Z

Hello, friends; long time no see. I know it's been a while since we posted to this blog, but we're back finally, and with a slightly different take on the whole dining scene. We still want to promote green dining, but we want to broaden the scope of our observations to include...well, everything.Ok that's a lot, but as time goes on maybe you will see what we're getting at. We still want to review restaurants and their efforts to serve their customers while remaining environmentally responsible. In fact, we plan to revisit those dining establishments that we have previously ...

Davio's

2010-08-28T21:24:00Z

Lucky us, we were invited to attend the soft opening of Davio 's in Phipps Plaza last week, complete with bite-size samples of their fabulous food and an assortment of adult beverages. “Why?” Larry asked when I told him. After all, Davio’s bills itself as a Northern Italian Steakhouse, not normally the kind of place that screams green to folks like us that eat with the environment in mind.

I didn’t know why. Maybe it was because they get their beef from Brandt, the Brawley, California ranchers who feed their cattle vegetarian diets of corn and locally-grown alfalfa, who compost waste and send it back to the alfalfa farm in order to reduce or eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers, who have sworn off hormone and antibiotic injections for their well animals, and who advocate the use of the whole cow as one way to reduce waste. We don’t eat cows but we think people who do should have the choice of purchasing meat that comes from sustainable operations like Brandt, a ranch whose owners care about the humane treatment of their animals. The increasing availability of meat from ranches like this that are both sustainable and humane are likely the driving force behind the increase in the number of flexitarians , those often-former vegetarians that eat limited amounts of meat now that you can get it somewhere besides those nasty factory farms.

Or maybe we were invited because there was a social ecology slant to the event. All attendees were encouraged to make a donation to the Schenck School, whose mission is to educate students with dyslexia and related learning disorders. As we've mentioned before, we think humans are a fabulous species every bit as worthy of love and care as the spotted owl, the snail darter or any of those fellow creatures our type is more well-known for throwing ourselves in front of bulldozers and chainsaws to protect. Telling ourselves that we were going just to support the children, we hopped in the car and took off for Buckhead.

Good food is even better when shared

2010-07-14T00:00:00Z

Oh, this is good. I mean, I'm not going because I'm happily married to the big guy but if I were in the market, I'd be in the market. Whole Foods Market in Roswell, that is, where the Whole Foods Market Singles Meetup Group will gather for the first time on Thursday, July 29, 2010.

I've been telling you for a while where you can find good food that's conscientiously prepared but it never occurred to me to tell you how you could find a good dinner mate to sit across the table from you and look deeply into your eyes while you share it. Luckily, someone else thought up this vast improvement to eating alone for you and I'm just passing it along.

Thriving and diving in Savannah

2010-06-13T15:13:00Z

We went to Savannah last month to dip our feet in the water and dive into the sumptuous culinary offerings of Thrive, a Carryout Cafe . Thrive is the second Georgia restaurant to earn the designation of Certified Green Restaurant awarded by the Green Restaurant Association (GRA).

Since we've already gone on and on in this blog about what it takes to be a Certified Green Restaurant (be Styrofoam free, use sustainable furnishings and building materials as well as sustainable food sources, efficiency in water and fuel consumption, waste reduction and recycling, chemical and pollution reduction, and the use of eco-ware if disposables are used at all)...why not go on about it again? It's quite an accomplishment for a restaurant to meet these standards and to commit to the GRA's requirements for ongoing progress in reducing their carbon footprint.

We knew going in that we were going to be really happy with Thrive's greening efforts. What we didn't know was – Can they cook?

Green your kitchen

2010-04-16T03:31:12Z

Ever since we started viewing the world through green-colored glasses, we've gotten increasingly aware of ways we can make more sustainable choices in the details of our day-to-day lives. That's important because as much as we love going out to eat at all the conscientiously managed restaurants we've been telling you about over the past year, most of our meals are still prepared in our very own kitchen, thanks to Chef Larry, and it's there that the choices we make will have the greatest impact on our world.

We've been composting, recycling, and keeping an eagle-eye on packaging waste for awhile but it was just last week that I started catching the gray water in our kitchen sinks. It was quite a surprise to see how much of it was going down the drain when it could be put to so much better use raising petunias.

There are probably all kinds of little actions like that we could take and changes we would be happy to make if the need for them were brought to our attention. That's why we were so glad to learn about Food + Shelter , a benefit taking place this Sunday, April 18, between the hours of 2-5.

Passionate Duo - Park's Edge offers Great Food and Warm Hospitality

2010-03-31T23:49:00Z

Wow, what a dinner experience we had at Park's Edge, a tony Inman Park restaurant and bar. Tuesday Night Dinner Group (Larry, Kathy, Linda, Karen and I) walked into the very friendly and open arms of owner Richard N. Wadlington, Jr. After a short while, Chef Jorge I. Pacheco came out and spent a fair amount of time chatting with us too. It felt like they had personally invited us over for dinner and were cooking up something special for us alone. Given that Atlanta is in the worse recession in recent history it's amazing that Park's Edge just recently celebrated its one year anniversary. The quality of the food and the hospitality feels like a harbor in the economic storm.

Ooh la la - the food. Chef Pacheco is from Mexico City and Mr Wadlington is from Los Angeles. As a result, the food has a clean California style with innovative and bold Mexican flavors.

Viva Java Vino!

2010-02-13T17:03:00Z

We heard about Java Vino from Phil Palmer, chief cook and bottle-washer (and owner) of Radial Cafe. As of a couple months ago, Java Vino is the exclusive coffee roaster for Radial and this is a good thing 'cause they surely have some fine coffee! Since Palmer is so intent on being green and buying from sustainable sources, it comes as no surprise that we found a story in all this, one suitable for the GGDG.

We dropped in at the coffee and wine shop, all unannounced of course, to speak with Steve Franklin who, along with his wife Heddy Kuhl, are the owners and operators of Java Vino. Steve was there and he was very busy, it being an especially good day for a cup of good coffee (the temperature was in the teens!) and the place was bustling.

Come in out of the cold!

2010-01-06T12:03:00Z

Atlanta Green Drinks, a networking group for people interested in environmental issues, is having their first mixer of the year tonight at Radial in Decatur. Atlanta green brewer SweetWater, has graciously donated beer for the event (muchas gracias) and you're invited to bring your own bottle if you have a taste for other adult beverages, since Radial doesn't have a liquor license. Even though they can't serve alcohol, Radial will be cooking up some light apps for us and if you've ever eaten there, you know you are in for a treat. If you've never eaten there, well, it's about ...

Radial Revisited

2009-12-21T22:08:00Z

As soon as Lisa and Dee told us that Radial Cafe was their new favorite place for a weekend breakfast, we started planning a meetup with them there. Not that I need an excuse to eat at Radial, but it was handy to have one. If you remember, we have an early post about Radial, wherein we praised them for being the only restaurant in Georgia to have gotten certification from the Green Restaurant Association. Well, I just checked and they still are the only restaurant in Georgia to be GRA certified. That says a lot of good things about Radial, not so much for the rest of the state. Come on, people.

Rosebud blooms in Virginia Highlands

2009-12-13T00:16:00Z

Our Saturday night out with friends Lee and Peter started pretty well - rock star parking right in front of the restaurant - and it got better as the night progressed. We were dining at Rosebud in Virginia Highlands, the restaurant which occupies the space formerly known as Food 101 Morningside. Ron Eyester, formerly a chef at Food 101, is the executive chef/owner of Rosebud and has created a classy-casual place that still has the feel of the true neighborhood gathering place. Ron can be seen regularly out in the dining area, meeting and greeting patrons, obviously enjoying himself and making everyone feel welcome. When he's not out front, he's cooking up marvelous goodies, like the cream cheese and rosemary pound cake with whipped cream and blueberries pictured above.

Send a flood of support Gloria's way

2009-09-28T18:21:00Z

Remember this picture of Gloria taking our money at The Mercantile register?

Well, she needs some more. The home of Mercantile manager Gloria Limanni and her husband David was badly damaged in the 100 year flood that recently took Atlanta residents by storm. Since the Limanni's followed FEMA's recommendation to drop their flood insurance (I'm from the government and I'm here to help), they're now up a creek, so to speak, and could really use your help with covering some of the expenses they'll be incurring in the work to restore their home.

Gettin' 10 cents off coupons wherever I go

2009-09-24T17:15:00Z

Last Friday I stopped by Whole Foods to pick up a few things for dinner. I'm ashamed to say I've never noticed before that they give people a ten cent discount for bringing in their own bags. I've been giving credit to Earth Fare and IKEA and Sam's Club for offering incentives for people to bag the bags but somehow I glossed right over the fact that Whole Foods has been doing the same thing all along.

Flying Biscuit

2009-09-22T14:05:53Z

I met Linda for dinner at the Flying Biscuit in Candler Park last week. If you haven't had their fried green tomatoes, which I have learned are not actually fried (but in fact are green tomatoes), I recommend you fly on over there and place your order. Manager Jeffrey told us that the (unfried) green tomatoes are first baked and then finished off on the grill before being topped with a luscious cashew-jalapeno relish and a big fat dollop of goat cheese. They were then finished off again by Linda and me and would be by anybody else that orders them, I'm quite sure.

Great American Dine Out

2009-09-20T17:24:00Z

We're so dad-gummed fortunate to be able to go to all these fabulous restaurants (in our own car, no less), order exquisite dishes, pair food with wines, chat up servers and chefs, leave tips and go to sleep at night with full bellies. When it comes to food, our worst problem is that sometimes our bellies are too full.

It's not like that for everyone. Some people go to bed hungry. Some of those people are children.

August 8, 2010 - Put it on your calendar

2009-09-19T20:54:00Z

I wish I'd written this article about the Killer Tomato Festival. We had such a juicy time there.

And speaking of killers, I could have choked Larry for forgetting to bring the camera. There was so much eye candy (by which I mean good-lookin' food and drink) at this event that we could have captured for your viewing pleasure, if only we'd been more prepared.

The organic tomatoes were supplied by local farmers, mostly by our neighbors at Whippoorwill Hollow Farms, so all the chefs had high-quality ingredients to start with and their abundant creativity carried them from there. We learned about new restaurants we haven't visited yet (but will) and saw chefs (like Billy Allin of Cakes & Ale) and mixologists (like Miles of Leon's Full Service) from some of our favorite eateries. Fresh, local, organic produce was the star of this show and it shone for an enthusiastic audience of boozy foodies.

GIANT shrimp festival

2009-09-19T01:39:00Z

The Wild Georgia Shrimp Festival got underway today at the Jekyll Island Landmark Historic District with the $3 Shrimp Sample Night, which gave attendees a chance to taste recipes from the each vendor for the low, low price of (you guessed it) only 3 dollars. Highlights of tomorrow's programming will include an Amateur Cooking Competition, cooking demo by Chef Robert Tulko, entertainment by the Big Dawg and Paul Show, music by the Randall Bramblett Band, magic shows and more.

My sweet compostable you

2009-09-18T02:21:00Z
Here's a great article from Biocycle magazine about the impressive increase in compostable packaging products that are available to restaurateurs and grocers who want to green up their operations and to individuals who want to green up their homes. This may be the most thorough and informative article written for a general audience that I've seen yet but if you're not interested in all the technical details of different compostable materials, let me share one idea from the article that caught my eye.

Buzz Chandler, President of Asean, a manufacturer of compostable products, is quoted in the article as saying, "...when something goes to a landfill, it’s being sealed in a mummy’s tomb where nothing goes away.”

Uh-huh. So true. And he's not just talking about Styrofoam here; he's talking about his own (and everyone's) compostable products.

Happy birthday, Mercantile

2009-09-16T17:37:00Z
The Mercantile in Candler Park is celebrating its one-year anniversary on September 20. They'll be handing out chocolate chip cookies between noon and 3 and Larry and I plan to be eating chocolate chip cookies between noon and 3. Sweet.

Want a side of milk with your cookie? Russell Johnston of Johnston Family Dairy near Madison (no Georgia; I know what you're thinking) and a Mercantile vendor, will be a featured guest at the soiree. The Johnston Family Dairy does what unethical producers(un)scrupulously avoid - invites people to come in and take a look at their operations.You can arrange to visit the farm, tour the milking barns in between milkings and even pet and feed the cows.

Brunch at Wahoo! Grill

2009-09-15T15:35:00Z

After our trip to Cedar Key, when we first started noticing all the trash that gets dispensed in the service of carrying out leftovers so as not to waste food, Wahoo! Grill in Decatur was one of the first restaurants we saw using compostable take-out containers. WooHoo!
We were already crazy about their food and observing this act of thoughtfulness toward the world made us feel even better about them. It was like finding out that someone you've already fallen in love with just happens to be independently wealthy and you didn't even know it. It was icing on an already sweet cake.

The REAL green beer - with all due respect to Saint Patty

2009-09-13T14:49:00Z

We recently had dinner at Max Lager's American Grill and Brewery in Atlanta with our beer-loving Athens friends. When JR, Max Lager's owner, manager, CEO, executive chef and brewmeister, stopped by our table to see how we liked the beer (as brewers always do when we're with Owen) I took the opportunity to snap his photo and ask about the brewpub's green practices.

I was happy to hear that this restaurant is taking steps toward the greening of their operations. Max Lager's has recently switched to compostable take-out containers, which was especially good news for me since we were running behind to catch the Los Lobos concert at the Botanical Gardens (great show) and I had forgotten to bring my little plastic tub in with me. The veggie Maxadilla was just too good to leave half-eaten on the table like a tip, so it was nice to have something I felt okay about carrying it home in. Well, to the concert and then home.

Keeping dry in WaterHaven

2009-09-11T00:40:00Z
Last month Larry and I attended the first meeting of the Mission Zero Meetup. We met some very nice, smart people whose mission is to treat the world with care and integrity so that it will last long enough to host the next generation and beyond. Not a bad goal, eh?

When we left the Interface building it was pouring outside so we decided to dash over to WaterHaven and ask them to pour us one inside. Behind the bar we met Tom, a 30 year veteran of the restaurant industry and another nice, smart person who aims to treat the world with care and integrity so that it will last... It seemed to be the theme of the evening.

Eat wild

2009-09-07T00:59:00Z

For the locarnavores out there who are interested in purchasing meat, cheese and dairy products from farmers who raise animals with kindness and engage in sustainable environmental practices, eatwild.com is a superb resource.

The Eat Wild web site is owned and operated by Jo Robinson, author of Pasture Perfect, a book that educates readers about the superiority of grass-fed livestock over animals that are raised in factory-farm conditions. Robinson's research into this subject has concluded that meat from grass-fed animals is higher in Vitamin E, beta-carotene and omega-3 fatty acids than meat from animals raised with more conventional farming methods.

Givin' it the greenwash

2009-09-03T16:39:00Z
Who wouldn't want to cash in on a trend? Now that green is all the rage, it can be hard to distinguish the restaurants and groceries that are really making substantial changes to lower their carbon footprint and which are just trying to cash in on the public's interest in all things sustainable.

The latter often engage in a process called greenwashing. Greenwashing includes all actions that are adopted in an attempt to appear to be green, without any real consideration as to what impact, if any, these actions will actually have on the environment.

Take plastic bags (please...). True green practice in this area means not contributing to the world trash problem by handing out plastic bags to your customers. There are environmental problems with paper bags too, primarily in the energy spent to produce and recycle them, but they aren't going to last past your lifetime in a landfill, leaving your children and grandchildren to solve the problem that you (we) created.

James Joyce - a "touch" o' the green

2009-09-02T00:25:00Z

Larry claims that James Joyce in Avondale serves the best Guinness on tap in Atlanta, so we pop in every so often just to make sure he doesn't develop some kind of crazy beer deficit or something. Although you couldn't exactly call it green yet, James Joyce is starting to make some changes in its restaurant operations. They recently coaxed chef Bobby Hall out of Five Seasons in Alpharetta, which is more than I can do with Larry at times, and he is starting to tweak the menu in the hopes of bringing in new diners. As for us, we would appreciate a few more vegetarian offerings, even though we plan to keep on ordering that roasted garlic/olive app as long as it's available.

Get half off at area green restaurants!

2009-08-31T01:12:00Z

Now you can be good to the planet and to your pocketbook at the same time. Half Off Green, a joint venture between the Atlanta Intown newspaper and restaurant environmental educators, Green Plate, are issuing coupons that are good for deep discounts at select Atlanta area restaurants.

Locals do us proud

2009-08-21T13:52:00Z
Bon Appetit included Billy and Kristin Allin's lovely green Decatur restaurant, Cakes & Ale, on their list of the Top Ten New Restaurants in America. Bon Appetit noted that the theme for today's most exciting restaurants, including the ten that made the final cut on their list, "support local farmers, sustainable agriculture, and regional cuisine." That's good news for the environment as well as for diners who desire fresh and healthy food.

Zoës Kitchen: The fresh future of leftovers

2009-08-20T02:28:00Z

It’s fast. It’s fresh. It’s far from foam. You won’t find a lick of that satanic Styrofoam at Zoës Kitchen in Buckhead. In the restaurant’s quest for greenhood, the first overhaul has been in the packaging. This location is the first in Georgia of the chain which originated in Birmingham, Alabama, and having been open only a few months, my hat is off to Zoës for entirely converting to sustainable takeout packaging.
Zoës is essentially a fast food restaurant, but not in a greasy, sketchy, corner-drive-through sort of way. I mean that one orders at the counter and can expect their meal to be ready in minutes, whether for a dine-in experience or a takeout delight—yes, it’s delightful to walk out feeling guilt-free with recycled Enviroware and Greenware cartons, cups, lids, and all. Plus, in the place of a typical fast food garbage bin, I found three separate recycling receptacles for paper, glass, and the sustainable ‘plastics’. If you’re not driving back to work with your Greenware corn cup in hand, indulge in a beer or wine to add an upscale, Euro-chic flair.

Mob rules!

2009-08-18T12:15:00Z

Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo.

Here's another group that uses their greenbacks to encourage green business practices - the Carrotmob is a new breed of activist organization, one that uses incentives such as improved customer relations, PR opportunities and everyone's favorite, cash, to facilitate change. This is a much more effective approach than the old "beating them over the head with a stick" tactic that has been the norm for reform until very recently.

Milltown Arms Tavern

2009-08-14T13:35:00Z

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.