When I started working for Bon Appétit back in 1999, I never would’ve imagined that I would get the opportunity to work with and learn from so many different people, and learn how to combat the challenges that stand in between people and accessing great food. While it’s been great for me to learn how to cook with fresh, quality ingredients that are grown locally, one of the biggest challenges I have is educating guests about the impact that food has on climate change. I believe that through the food we cook, we can create impact in the world today that will contribute to a better tomorrow. This is why we partner with local farmers to source sustainable ingredients to decrease our café’s carbon footprint.
Our guests may be familiar with some of these local farmers, like Nic Romano of VR Green Farms in San Clemete who is diligent about the quality of his produce and strives to spread the message of eating local food through the biweekly farmers’ markets we host in the café. Our goal of sourcing locally doesn’t just stop at fresh produce either — we partner with Farm to Fork vendor 5 Bar Beef in Silverado to source delicious meat.
When I joined the Bon Appétit at Capital Group team in January 2017, one of the luxuries I was pleased to discover is that we have a garden on site. It doesn’t get more local, sustainable, or fresh than that! At one point this summer, the garden was bursting with three types of basil, mint, rosemary, celery, peppers, jalapeños, strawberries, bay leaves, zucchinis, eggplants, green onion, Swiss chard, kale, and green beans. We used 100% of these items in the café, mostly at the Farm to Fork station.
On September 26, we’re excited to host Bon Appétit’s annual “Eat Local Challenge,” with the added twist that we’re going to try to surprise everyone by featuring an ingredient that you had no idea was grown right around here. It’ll be my first Eat Local Challenge with Capital Group and with the help of VR Green Farms, 5 Bar Beef, and our onsite garden, we will create 100% local dishes to share with the Capital Group community.
Click the image to download a recipe for RED WINE BRAISED SHORT RIBS which will be featured at the 2017 Eat Local Challenge!