Category Archives: Going Green and Sustainable

Sustainable Sushi

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Sit down at your favorite sushi bar to order mirugai, bonito, hotate or akame.

Chances are that you’re not really sure what you’re always eating, given that the seafood names are in Japanese. Moreover, chances are even greater that you’re unsure whether what you’re eating is sustainable or being over-fished to extinction.

You may remember my post last year about three new sustainable sushi guides by three environmental organizations. Now, on the heels of those, comes “Sustainable Sushi” (North Atlantic Books) by Casson Trenor, a sustainable seafood expert who’s also a consultant to Tataki Sake and Sushi Bar in San Francisco, the first sustainable sushi restaurant in North America.

Author Casson Trenor

At 110 pages, this book is a more in-depth look at 39 species found on sushi menus. Trenor includes information on such crucial issues as mercury levels, dredging, and crowded fish farms. The species are color-coded so that you can tell from just a glance whether it’s sustainable, unsustainable, or one that you should proceed with caution about. It’s a must-read for any sushi aficionado.

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Awesome Abalone

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"Super'' red abalone. (Photo courtesy of Steve Lonhart, SIMoN/NOAA)

Face it, not many of us can sport six-pack abs.

But the Highlands Inn in Carmel can give you “Super Abs” — for a price.

That’s short for abalone that’s farm-raised in a sustainable manner by the Monterey Abalone Company. And these particular ones are ”super” because the red abalone (the most common type raised off California waters) are being cultivated wtih a new method that results in faster growth, a brighter color, and apparently more flavor. (Yours truly has only tasted the “regular” Monterey Abalone Company abalones. And those are mighty fantastic already.)

Abalone ceviche. (Photo courtesy of Steve Lonhart, SIMoN/NOAA)

The abalone company is working in conjunction with Moss Landing Marine Laboratories to do this. Highlands Inn has exclusive rights to all of the “Super Abs” now available to be harvested.

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Sneak Peek: Mayfield Bakery & Cafe

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Flaky, buttery croissants at the new Mayfield Bakery & Cafe.

When restaurateur Tim Stannard was just a kid and his father a professor at Stanford University in Palo Alto, he remembers riding his bike through the campus and across El Camino Real to buy candy bars at the drugstore that once stood on this spot.

Now, Stannard and his Bacchus Management Group have transformed that icon of his childhood into his newest restaurant venture, Mayfield Bakery & Cafe.

It opens for dinner on Monday, Feb. 9, and will add lunch, breakfast, and brunch service in the weeks to come. I got a sneak peek on Saturday night of the newest restaurant to open in the Palo Alto Town & Country Village, which will serve up wood-fired American cuisine.

Mini versions of the restaurant's Niman Ranch chuck burgers with fried onions and remoulade were served at Saturday's invitation-only, opening party.

On the opening menu, find burrata bruschetta ($12); griddled artic char with cracked wheat, herbs, olive oil and dates ($22.50); braised lamb cheeks with gremolata and parsley paparadelle ($19.75); and spit-roasted Fulton Ranch chicken with rosemary polenta and green olive-melted tomato sauce ($19).

Diners also will get a choice of sparkling or still filtered water served in carafes gratis — a nice, and environmentally-sound touch. All the coffee served will be organic, fair-trade, and roasted by Bacchus’ ROAST coffee company in Oakland. The beans will be ground and brewed to order.

The bakery.

The bakery, overseen by Pastry Chef Nancy Pitta, formerly of San Francisco’s Boulevard restaurant, will supply fresh-baked bread twice a day to all Bacchus Management restaurants, including the Village Pub in Woodside, and Spruce in San Francisco.

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Charlie Ayers’ Calafia Cafe Opens

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Inside Calafia Cafe & Market A Go Go. (Photo courtesy of Ben Mayorga)

The long-awaited debut restaurant by the former executive chef of Google has opened for business at Palo Alto’s Town & Country Village.

Calafia Cafe & Market A Go Go is the brainchild of Charlie Ayers, one-time private chef to the Grateful Dead. Although the cafe is open, the market  — with its planned salad bar, rotisserie chicken, and pre-cooked meals to reheat at home — won’t open its doors until February.

The eclectic, global menu of the casual eatery emphasizes fresh, healthy, local, and sustainable. You’ll find everything from brown rice sushi ($9) to Crouching Chicken Pizza (Five-spice chicken, tiger sauce, mushrooms, white sesame seeds, and greens; $9), Chinese Chicken Salad ($7.50), Lacquered Beef Short Ribs ($16), and Vegan Sticky Buns with Maple Syrup ($7).

Carafes of house-filtered still or carbonated water are set on the tables. Lumber from a 1910 Pennsylvania barn was reclaimed for the ceiling. A chandelier of 66 recycled milk bottles graces the front dining area. Other custom table lamps are constructed from a found gas can and dairy can; and counters are made from recycled paper put under immense pressure to create a hard, dense surface.

Pizza -- Charlie Ayers' way. (Photo courtesy of Chris Schmauch)

The cafe and bar are open daily, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Happy Hour, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily, will feature select wines, beers, and appetizers at a discount.

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Google’s Culinary Star Power

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Google's first executive chef. (Photo courtesy of Charlie Ayers)

If you ever had any doubts about the caliber of food those lucky Googlers get to nosh on for free, check out my story in the new December issue of San Francisco Magazine.

Charlie Ayers got the ball rolling in 1999 when he became the first executive chef at the Mountain View headquarters of that search engine giant. The delicious foundation he established helped nurture and lure a host of culinary stars. Now, Ayers is set to open his first restaurant, Calafia Cafe and Market A Go-Go in Palo Alto’s Town & Country Village. Although anticipated to open this month, due to construction delays, it will most likely open in January now.

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