Category Archives: Going Green and Sustainable

A Whirlwind of Information on Sustainable Seafood

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Gravlax topped with a creamy sauce of Greek yogurt and Dijon mustard.

That’s exactly what my buddy,  Jacqueline Church, has created in her 2008 “Teach a Man to Fish” blogging extravaganza.

Church, a Boston food writer and the creator of the LeatherDistrictGourmet blog, asked notable chefs, homecooks, seafood experts, and food writers from around the world — including yours truly — to submit a favorite recipe, and our thoughts on why we so strongly champion sustainable seafood.

You’ll find a wealth of seafood resource links, video clips, and 37 mouth-watering recipes you can enjoy without environmental guilt.

I hope you enjoy my contribution on the “Teach a Man to Fish”  roundup: New York Times food writer Mark Bittman’s Gravlax, served with Carolyn’s Creamy Greek Yogurt-Dijon Sauce.

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Take Five with “Iron Chef America” Star, Cat Cora, on Life After the Bay Area

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Why can't we all look this glam when we cook? (Photo courtesy of Cat Cora)

A decade ago, Bay Areans might remember Chef Cat Cora as manning the stoves at Postino Restaurant in Lafayette, and writing a regular cooking column for the Contra Costa Times’ food section.

How times have changed.

The 41-year-old Culinary Institute of America grad has gone big-time. You’ll now find her beaming from TV sets across the nation as the only female “Iron Chef America” star on the Food Network.

Her second cookbook just came out this year: “Cooking From the Hip” (Houghton Mifflin), which bears the same name as her former newspaper column.

Cora is set to open a new restaurant in Costa Mesa in December. And she and her partner, Jen, who have been together a decade, are expecting their third child in April 2009.

I caught up with the petite culinary star with the charming Southern twang at the recent “Worlds of Flavor International Conference” at the Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone Campus in St. Helena.

Q: Does it feel like a lifetime ago that you were at Postino and writing for your local newspaper?

A: It does feel like another lifetime ago. It feels like I’ve had three lives between then and now. But it was a fun time for me doing the column.

Q: Why did you decide to settle in the Santa Barbara area?

A: I get to live by the beach, mountains and vineyards. Plus the public schools there are probably better than most private ones around the country.

Q: You’re opening a barbecue joint, CCQ (Cat Cora’s Que) at the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa next month? Why barbecue?

A: It was a fluke. I’m on the Macy’s Culinary Council. And I had one conversation with them, and they said, “We want you to do a fast-casual concept.” I thought of barbecue immediately. I’m from the South, and this will be global barbecue. Everyone around the world barbecues. I grew up around it. I wanted to expand on the flavors I love. We’ll use all natural meats and organic products.

Q: Will there be more CCQs around the country?

A: Yes, we own the concept, and we are working on opening others. I’m also working on a new signature restaurant concept. It’ll be fine-dining, and opening in larger cities in 2009.

In 2010, I also hope to roll out my first products — bakeware, cutlery, and pots and pans. We’re going green as much as possible with the product lines. We hope to do things that are innovative, and not just the same ol’ pot or pan.

Q: Why did you want to do “Iron Chef America”?

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Food Gal Makes Her Debut In San Francisco Magazine

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One of the new sustainable sushi guides. Pick up a copy of the November issue of San Francisco Magazine now on newsstands to read my short piece on three new sustainable sushi guides.

A year in the works, the guides were put together by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Blue Ocean Institute, and the Environmental Defense Fund.

On each of the organization’s Web sites, you’ll find a copy of a free guide to download. All three are sure to make your next meal at a sushi bar more enlightening.

The Only Sustainable Sushi Bar in North America

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At Tataki Sushi & Sake Bar, it\s not business as usual.

That is just what Tataki Sushi & Sake Bar in San Francisco is believed to be.

The tiny, seven-month-old restaurant serves only seafood that isn’t overfished, farmed without proper management, or contains high levels of mercury and other contaminants.

Find out more about why business partners, Chef Kin Lui, Chef Raymond Ho, and Casson Trenor (a sustainable fisheries expert) decided to open such a restaurant by reading my story today in the San Francisco Chronicle Food section.

Tataki, the site of a former Subway sandwich shop, grabs your attention right when you walk in. A Monterey Bay Aquarium “Seafood Watch” pocket guide, which lists best and worst sustainable seafood species, is front and center on every table. A copy is also tucked into every take-out menu.

Co-chefs Raymond Ho (left) and Kin Lui (right).

Oct. 22, Tataki will be the site of the official launch of three new, ground-breaking sustainable sushi guides created in partnership with the aquarium, Blue Ocean Institute, and Environmental Defense Fund. Each will include information on as many as 60 different seafood species commonly found on sushi menus.

Sustainable artic char, similar to farmed salmon in taste and texture, but without environmental and health concerns.

Want to do the right thing? Then, you’ll stop eating unagi, bluefin toro, hamachi, octopus (tako), monkfish liver (ankimo), farmed salmon (sake), imported King crab (kani), imported albacore tuna (shiro maguro), and sea urchin (uni) from Maine — all of which are unsustainable, according to the aquarium’s new guide.

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A Trip Down Memory Lane at the New California Academy of Sciences

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Soft pork taco is served at the new California Academy of Sciences -- a vast improvement on what once was offered.

As a kid growing up in San Francisco, I happily remember elementary school field trips and teen-age outings to the magical Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.

I recall sitting back in pitch darkness and watching the stars overhead in the Morrison Planetarium, thinking this was the absolute coolest place on Earth. I remember staring at the antelope and cheetah on display in the natural history museum. I remember how I couldn’t take my eyes off the ancient manatee in the Steinhart Aquarium, even if he hardly moved much.

And I remember listlessly eating burgers and fries in the museum cafe that had been left under heat-lamps for god knows how long.

Well, Dorothy, we’re not in that Academy of Sciences any more. Welcome to the revamped, utterly dazzling new California Academy of Sciences that will finally open its doors on Saturday. I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview on Monday night.

The original 1953 museum was the first scientific institution in the West. After being damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta quake, it was closed. After a $488 million renovation and expansion, the new institution is now the only one in the world to house an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and world-class research and education program under one roof.

Light fills the building designed by a Pulitzer-Prize winning architect.

It was redesigned by Pulitzer-Prize winner Renzo Piano, who also created the Pompidou Center in Paris. Like that fanciful French center, the academy boasts an extensive use of glass, giving it a modern, airy, and organic feel. Designed to be the greenest museum in the world, it is expected to earn a “platinum” rating (the highest possible) by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The living roof.

There is a “living roof” planted with native species, which is expected to reduce storm water runoff by up to 3.6 million gallons of water annually. A glass canopy with 60,000 photo voltaic cells will capture sunlight and is expected to produce up to 10 percent of the building’s needs. Additionally, building walls are insulated with old denim jeans.

The food also has gotten a much needed update, and how. San Francisco culinary legends, Charles Phan (chef-owner of the Slanted Door) and Loretta Keller (chef-owner of Coco500) have partnered to create the casual food-court-like Academy Cafe, and the full-service Moss Room. All the food served will be local, seasonal, and sustainable.

Charles Phan's newest venture, the Academy Cafe.

The cafe is arranged into stations such as “Slow Cooked,” “Steamed,” and “Sizzle.” Think soft tacos filled with juicy, slow-cooked pork; Vietnamese spring rolls; steamed chicken buns; tamales; fish & chips; green papaya salad; and vegetarian paninis.

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