Skip to main content

A Peek into Green Restaurant-ing

Well, as if there isn't enough to learn within the context of designing a school building and curriculum, I have taken on another position at a new restaurant set to open at the end of October in Union, NJ that will be Farm to Table.

The restaurant is called Ursino, paying homage to it's historic neighbor, Liberty Hall Museum, that originally used that name. It is being constructed within some vacant space in the STEM building of Kean University.

Although I am not a sustainability consultant within the context of Ursino, my position as a Hostess is giving me incredible insight on restaurant operations, union county food systems, and the cost effectiveness of balancing local, organic and sustainable.

I have not yet been able to narrow in anyone who can knowledgeably speak to the sustainable design aspects of the physical restaurant; but, being food people, I have learned a lot about the sustainable food aspect.

Under the guidance of executive chef Peter Turso, the restaurant is aiming to earn Green Restaurant Certification. They have made a guarantee that 70% of their food will be local, which they define as sourced within 100 miles. Many items will be grown less than 500 feet from the property, within the boundary of Liberty Hall's gardens.

The expansive liquor selection features organic, local, biodynamic, and or sustainably achieved wines, beers, whiskeys, etc. Several large bee boxes near the gardens not only encourage constant pollination, but will create honey for the restaurant's use.

Scraps created during food and meal preparation will be composted- covering most of the food cycle within the restaurant.

Some things I would like to see: more descriptions and stories about where the food came from, what practices are being utilized to get food, and how much intent went into the design of the restaurant.

Furthermore, in my interview I was told the restaurant would not initially be composting the meal remains. But, since Ursino is uniquely within Kean's property, they should be able to gain access the the University's rocket composter- which can digest meats, bones, and cheeses in addition to traditional 'green' matter. I hope they reconsider, since eliminating food waste could eliminate almost the entire footprint of the restaurant!

I invite readers, friends, family, and foodies to make a reservation and try out this Contemporary-American menu and judge for themselves how good green can taste!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Breaking News- Renewable Energy can STILL power our planet!

Yesterday, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released an exciting report about the potential of Renewables and the world energy market. Over 120 world experts produced a scientific document over 1,000 pages long that provides a solution to 'business as usual' carbon emissions. They believe that we could meet the globe's energy needs with 80% renewable energies by mid-century . This would be a socially, politically, and physically strenuous task. If we eliminate all the complications and shift our paradigm, we still have issues like that which Ramon Pichs, Co-Chair of the Working Group III, added: “The report shows that it is not the availability of the resource, but the public policies that will either expand or constrain renewable energy development over the coming decades. Developing countries have an important stake in this future—this is where most of the 1.4 billion people without access to electricity live yet also where some of the best conditi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Eating Garbage

Garbage is Beautiful. And let me tell you why. In 2010, the EPA estimated the US produced over 240 million tons of municipal solid waste. That is over four pounds of garbage, per person, per day. We travel through our day throwing things ‘away’. But where do they go? Does your trash go to a landfill, incinerator, or Waste to Energy Plant? Currently in NJ, thirteen counties have solid waste landfills and five counties have resource recovery facilities (incinerators). Of the five counties with resource recovery facilities, three also have landfills to receive waste that cannot be burnt. Eight counties have awarded waste disposal contracts and require that all waste be sent to one facility for disposal. The remaining thirteen counties have a free market system and transporters may send waste out of the county or state. The majority of us don’t know information like this, and don’t care as long as we don’t have to look at it. But if we were forced to look at the garb...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Bit About the Challenge of Living...Buildings

Just because I'm an Environmental student does not mean I was born wanting to make my clothes out of hemp, live in a cobb house, and eat only raw/vegetarian friendly foods. I'm a Jersey girl at heart, who happened to spend her summers camping in the Northern part of the state canoeing, swimming, hiking and singing. I really grew to love spending time on the Appalachian Trail, the challenge of long, multi-day hikes, the danger of bears and other large animals, and the wonder of how life goes on despite everything happening in our cities. As I got older, I could feel the natural world around me start to change. Summers got hot- like 106 degrees hot. We couldn't hike the normal trails because water sources were dry, we couldn't swim in the lake because so much water evaporated the fecal count was unsafe, and something called the gypsy moth was plaguing the entire county, devouring everything green in its path. I realized then that maybe things don't continue on despit...
Post a Comment
Read more