The MICHELIN Green Star is awarded to restaurants who are at the forefront of the industry in sustainability. From sustainable cocktails to sustainable dining being a way of life in Baja California, these restaurants prove that being green can be just as tasty as their counterparts.
That’s why, whether it's educational workshops and internships or the world's first zero-waste restaurant that's transforming recycled bags into plates, we highlight Green Star restaurants across the United States to share their sustainability stories.
For Green Star Bramble and Hare, sustainability is the name of the game. “It’s the foundation of everything we do,” explains Chef Eric Skokan. “The very first ideas for the restaurant started from our commitment to healing the planet and our community. Through collaboration, recycling, and shrinking our carbon footprint, we are able to weave our farm, restaurant, chefs, and farmers together.”
That ethos, combined with their close proximity to their farm fields (less than 10 miles), allows the restaurant to do exactly that—shrinking their carbon footprint, reducing food waste, and diminishing plastic packaging.
The result is a straightforward yet inspired menu filled with creative hits like salted turnips served with pistachio purée and house-cured prosciutto.
But don’t take our word for it, check out what our Inspectors have to say here, and below, learn from the team about what it takes to go green.
Tell us about a few of your most impactful initiatives.
1. Shrinking carbon miles to carbon meters: between 80 and 90 percent of the food we serve in our restaurant is produced on our farm. As our farm is located adjacent to the city where or restaurant is located, we've been able to reduce the shipping of supplies to a bare minimum.
2. Food waste and composting: as we own and operate our own 500-acre certified organic farm, we have taken responsibility for our food waste by composting for almost two decades. (That's a lot of happy worms.) Further, we have begun a collaboration with a local nonprofit to collect food waste from restaurants beyond our own to compost at our farm. We then use that compost to reclaim and regenerate degraded lands adjacent to our farm. We use food waste to heal the lands on our farm and beyond.
When did Bramble and Hare start implementing sustainability changes?
For us, sustainability is the foundation of everything we do. As we began to envision and plan the restaurant, from the very first ideas, we started from our commitment to using the restaurant as a way of healing the planet and our community. Even prior to opening day we were weaving our farm and restaurant, our chefs and farmers, together through collaboration, through recycling, and through shrinking our carbon footprint.
What would you say is the biggest challenge in utilizing sustainable practices?
Being wasteful is easy. Being sustainable is difficult. It requires one to think and plan into the past as well as the future to understand the consequences of the present moment.
What do you view as the future of zero waste/sustainability in gastronomy?
Restaurants are, quite often, spectacular consumers of resources whether that is foods and beverages shipped around the world, fossil fuel energy, water, or packaging. Just the amount of packaging a restaurant discards daily is simply staggering.
On the one hand, it can be rather depressing to be part of an industry that is so utterly wasteful. Especially so as some parts of the industry seem to champion their cavalier disregard for the environment whether through massive portion sizes that guarantee food waste or menus based on internationally shipped ingredients or menus that don't follow the seasons. (Red peppers in January, really?)
On the other hand, we can only do a better job at tackling these problems than we have in the past. So, the future looks hopeful. Leaders in the zero-waste restaurant community, which includes many of the best restaurants in the world, demonstrate that it is not only possible to act sustainably, but it is to our advantage to do so. At Bramble and Hare/Black Cat Farm we see ourselves as simply a model for what change is possible. We are certain that many future restaurants will take what we've done and improve on it. And we're really excited about that future.
What can other restaurants do to be more environmentally conscious?
First and foremost, buy locally and buy seasonally. Develop a one-on-one relationship with a farmer, a collaboration. It is harder than it sounds as the devil is in the details. While the "buy locally" challenge is foundational to the operation of the restaurant the benefits are powerful, substantial, and gratifying.
What’s one thing everyone can do to be more environmentally friendly in their daily lives?
Each person could take a moment to think about what they want the future to look like. Whether as a chef, a restaurateur, or customer, it's important to remember that one's purchases are more than just transactions. For sustainability, purchases are choices, and they are like the water plants need for life. When we purchase an ingredient or a dinner we are choosing to water those plants in the garden. Plants that are watered will grow, ones that are dry will wither. We all choose what we want to grow and what we want our garden to look like.
What is one thing people should be more respectful of in terms of food and the environment?
For home cooks, consider limiting plastic packaging. The reality is that little to none of the packaging we see in stores can or will be successfully recycled. Really. It is almost none as many cities across the country have thrown in the towel on plastic recycling. Paper and aluminum fare better so I opt for those products. Like milk in old fashioned glass bottles and meats from the butcher counter wrapped in paper. Then, cook real, whole foods for dinner. What’s even better? Harvest from your own garden.
Hero image: Bramble & Hare / Black Cat Farm
