Photograph by Katherine Bish
A Green Dining Room
Local architectural firm Space is flying high, incorporating green design principles into many St. Louis restaurant projects. The Maplewood-based firm used salvaged materials for the construction of Franco in Soulard as well as Amigos Cantina in Kirkwood. “At Franco, the whole bar and wine storage wall are made from wood reclaimed from an old barn that coincidentally was being demolished by our HVAC contractor,” says Tom Niemeier, owner of Space. While his firm and his clients are happy to be using salvaged wood and metal destined for the landfill, eco-friendly materials still have to match the concept of the restaurant. “Amigos wanted an authentic, small-town cantina feel. It’s hard to get that look using new wood,” he says.
Simple, poured concrete finished with a low VOC (volatile organic compound) sealer is a green flooring material Space used at the newly opened Bobo Noodle House. “We pour the concrete, seal it, and we’re done,” says Niemeier. “It’s a clean look with no off-gassing … and no waste.”
Bamboo has also become popular in restaurant construction, due to its strength, durability and beauty. Niemeier’s firm used it as a wall finish to contribute to the Asian vibe at Bobo. Specs for the bar countertop at Club Exo, a downtown nightclub that was set to open in September, called for Plyboo bamboo. According to Sherry Lung, commercial sales director at All Surface Design, a local company specializing in alternative interior-design materials, “Plyboo is the only company that’s certified by the Forest Stewardship Council for bamboo, so you know the bamboo is being harvested at the right time and you know the tree was replaced.”
Energy Strategy
Food products must be maintained at proper temperatures, kitchen areas must be livable and a special atmosphere must be created—but can restaurants meet these needs in an eco-friendly manner? Unglamorous changes, like high-efficiency HVAC systems and energy-efficient lighting, reduce utility consumption. Niemeier says advances in lighting technology have made it more appealing for restaurants to switch away from inefficient incandescent lighting: “LED lighting has only recently been able to achieve a warmer color range—similar to incandescent—that can ‘project’ the light and still be dimmable to set the mood, unlike fluorescents, with the bonus of being very energy-efficient.”
Some area restaurants have shown a commitment to clean energy use by enrolling in Ameren Pure Power, a voluntary renewable energy program in which customers agree to purchase energy credits to support wind power and other forms of renewable energy generation. The Saint Louis Brewery, which operates The Tap Room downtown and Schlafly Bottleworks in Maplewood, prevents 312,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year through its participation. Among the first food establishments to sign up for Pure Power were El Maguey, Guido’s Pizza and Deli, Harvest, Imo’s Pizza, Local Harvest Grocery and the pizza restaurant Pi. “It’s costly, especially during the summer months, because we’re using a lot more power to cool things,” says Steve Gontram, owner and executive chef at Harvest. “But it’s the right thing to do.”
Behind the Double Doors
Eric Brenner, owner and executive chef of Moxy Bistro and advisor for L’École Culinaire St. Louis, provides kitchen consulting services to several local design firms. For Brenner, a low-impact kitchen is one that uses very little cooking equipment and pays attention to energy consumption. The small kitchen he helped Space design for Club Exo is efficient and 100 percent electric: “I found a self-contained fryer that uses a form of induction heating. There is no heating element per se, so it doesn’t require a hood—a huge cost-and-energy savings. It only draws power when needed. The hamburger press cooks a hamburger till just done then shuts itself off.”
Brenner says that more American chefs are practicing sous vide, a slow-cooking method of placing vacuum-sealed plastic pouches in hot water below the boiling point. Sous vide–prepared foods, like the beef tenderloin on Harvest’s popular “wellness spa” menu, are full of flavor but lighter and healthier. “Any fat in the dish is there naturally,” explains Gontram. “Sous-vide cooking lends itself well to this kind of menu.” Sure, but is it safe? “One hundred twenty degrees is prime bacteria-growing temperature, but in a vacuum there is no bacteria growth,” adds Brenner.
Local department of health codes, which vary from county to county, determine whether or not “green” is clean enough. Not long ago, the St. Louis Department of Health recommended a high-temperature, energy-hungry commercial dishwasher. According to Brenner, the department now prefers low-temperature dishwashers that better utilize newer sanitizing agents. The downside is that drinking glasses come out with more water spots. “You have to polish every glass,” says Brenner. “Sometimes the health department doesn’t like that, because using a towel to clean could be less sanitizing.”
From Pasture to Plate
For most chefs, “local” takes precedence over “organic,” but sourcing locally grown food is not easy. “You can’t run a restaurant using local products in St. Louis,” comments Dan Kopman, vice-president of The Saint Louis Brewery. “There is a fair amount of protein available, but you can’t buy ocean fish locally. The Midwest is where you grow grain. California and Florida are where you grow veggies. You lose your subsidy if you are a grain farmer in the Midwest and try to grow vegetables.”
When Andy Ayers, the former owner of Riddles Penultimate Café & Wine Bar, formed Eat Here St. Louis this past April, he made it easier for restaurants to support local farmers. Ayers buys produce from Missouri and Illinois growers who can no longer afford to ship it themselves and then distributes it to area chefs. Credit his one-man show with delivering 2,000 pounds of locally grown asparagus last spring.
One solution to sourcing fresh food is to grow your own. Gardener Jack Petrovic works full-time tending The Gardenworks, a quarter-acre garden nestled behind Schlafly Bottleworks. By mid-June, Petrovic had already harvested more than 200 pounds of greens and was snipping 10 pounds of basil a week. Petrovic has also introduced the kitchen to unusual foods like Italian dandelions and nopal, a prickly pear cactus that appeared as a summer menu special at the Bottleworks.
Waste Not
Plastic, aluminum, glass, paper, cardboard … Restaurants generate tons of waste. While quite a few establishments have implemented recycling programs, those with single-sort recycling are making it easier on the staff. “I have a bin behind the counter. I can throw plastic, glass and paper in it—even customer tickets and cocktail napkins,” says John Brombolich, bartender at Mike Shannon’s Steaks & Seafood downtown.
“It’s amazing how little trash [we accumulate]—less than a Dumpster a week,” says Chris Sommers, owner of Pi. “Our recycling is three to one in volume. But because we don’t serve bottled beer, the single largest contributor to recycling doesn’t even exist. So we’re eliminating the waste in the first place by using a sustainable product—draft beer.”
Where does all the food go? Each week, Terrene generates 300 to 400 pounds of preconsumer compostable material that is hauled away by Gateway Greening and New Roots Urban Farm, one of the restaurant’s vegetable suppliers. Schlafly Bottleworks has on-site composting that it uses to fertilize the garden. “We can only compost kitchen scraps, because health codes require restaurants to discard any food left on customers’ plates,” states Tom Flood, properties and sustainability manager for The Saint Louis Brewery. Route 66 Landscape Supply Center may have solved his dilemma: the Pacific, Mo., fertilizing company recently became the only facility in St. Louis County licensed by the county’s department of health and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to accept food scraps of all kinds. “The food is thrown into a biodegradable bag and then incorporated into our compost to make a recyclable entity. That keeps that many tons per year out of the landfills,” says Route 66 president Mike Bacon.
Even leftover fryer oil can merit a second life. Terrene and Harvest both donate waste vegetable oil to the St. Louis Biodiesel Club. “This requires very little effort on our part to do something that is fantastic for the environment and that is good for business,” says Gontram. The Tap Room contracts with an oil management company to retrieve its spent oil from an enclosed tank system, which prevents grease and oil from entering the sewer system.
Greenspeak
Pi and The Saint Louis Brewery are two local businesses that promote environmental activism. Schlafly Bottleworks hosts the outdoor Maplewood Farmer’s Market, Slow Food meetings, garden workshops and Green Drinks, a monthly discussion group about the green movement. “If you own a Hummer, sell it” or “Conserve water, shower with a friend” are just a couple of the quips that have been posted on Pi’s “Green tip of the day” chalkboard. Adds Pi’s Sommers, “What’s more interesting are the conversations they spawn, getting our guests speaking to our servers and me about what they do at home, how their municipality supports green efforts through recycling, composting, et cetera.”
The St. Louis restaurant industry is addressing sustainability on many levels, yet most area restaurateurs hesitate to call their business “green.” “We’re doing everything we can, but that’s not to say we’re doing enough,” reflects Moxy Bistro’s Brenner. For those restaurants that haven’t joined the green bandwagon, The Saint Louis Brewery’s Flood has a simple answer: “Start with just one thing: Eliminate Styrofoam.”
