#Greenstar's animation | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

karmatrendz · 5 years ago

Text

Text description provided by the architects. A 24 bed luxury boutique hotel in the heart of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. The Okavango Delta is considered one of the seven natural wonders of the African continent. Since the original lodge was built seventeen years ago, it has been declared a world heritage site and in consequence a raft of wholly appropriate, but formidable restrictions have been imposed on building there.

The design of Sandibe not only meets these challenges but is invigorated and inspired by them. It is habitation made manifest of all the creatures that have ever found or made shelter in and beneath the site’s ancient trees. The lodge draws its inspiration from animals that carry their shelter with them or weave it from the organic materials to hand. We chose the pangolin – Africa’s armadillo –as a specific motif because of its shy, elusive and completely harmless nature and its ability to curl into its own protective carapace of scales. The final building appears to have grown organically from its riparian site or, metaphorically speaking, to be some endemic, gentle and maternal creature leading her off spring through the swamp forest.

Although LEED or GREENSTAR ratings tools have not been developed or applied to this sort building – the project proceeded on the basis that if they were, the highest standards of accreditation would be aimed for. The sustainability imperatives of the project were:

The new buildings had to be wholly built of ultimately bio-degradable materials. The site, separated from civilisation by a hundred miles of swampland, river crossings and rough tracks had to be completely cleared of all previous non degradable material – literally hundreds of tonnes of demolished bricks and mortar gently removed from the forest and trucked out of the delta. 70 % of the luxury lodge’s, not insubstantial, energy requirements had to be of sustainable origin. Minimal to zero physical impact of any sort on the site, fauna and flora. Complete treatment of sewerage and removal of waste.

Notwithstanding the above the client expected a boutique hotel that would deliver the very highest standards of luxury to its well heeled and well travelled guests. Essentially this meant, in addition to unique and inspiring design, there could be no compromise on power, copious hot water supply, luxury bathing and food preparation equal to the best hotels in the world. The sorts of compromises that inform most eco lodges were not acceptable.

The completed project meets or exceeds all of the above imperatives:

Sandibe is built almost entirely of wood. Laminated pine beams give curvilinear shape. The building skin is formed like an inverted boat from layers of butt jointed pine scale planks; waterproofed with an acrylic membrane and covered in Canadian cedar shingles. There is no glass other than in the retail shop and library, the “glazing” such as it is, is Serge Ferrari Soltis fabric – a permeable but highly weather resistant and thermally efficient membrane.

External screen walls and balustrades are fashioned from an interlocking mat of eucalyptus laths woven onto stiff wire. Decks and floors use FSC approved hard woods. Power is sourced from a 100 KVA PV array that means generators need only run for 3 to 4 hours a day. Hot water is delivered instantly even at the furthest cabin from a solar array of evacuated tubes backed up by heat pumps continuously pumped through a 2,5km ring main. Notwithstanding the distance the measured loss of temperature between source and furthest tap is 1.7 degrees.

All water and soil waste is collected and pumped through an accredited biological treatment plant that renders effluent certifiably safe for discharge into the highly sensitive environment. Finally, the environmental success of the project is perhaps best judged from the fact that the area’s prolific wildlife including big animals like elephant, hippo , lion and leopard have continued to live on and use the site with such disregard for the emerging and completed buildings that you might imagine they simply don’t see it at all. As IM Pei said: “ Good architecture lets nature in.”

Architects: Nicholas Plewman Architects Location: Okavango Delta, Botswana Area: 5384 m² Year: 2014 Photographs: Dook Manufacturers: Serge Ferrari Architectural Project Team Members : Nick Plewman, Duran Bezuidenhout, Alex Michaelis, Karolina Szarmach) In Association With: Michaelis Boyd Associates Management Company: &Beyond Collaboration: Michaelis Boyd Architects (London, UK) Interior Designers: Fox Browne Creative (Johannesburg, RSA) Engineers: De Villiers Sheard Consulting Engineers (Cape Town, RSA) Contractor: Lodge Builders Botswana (Maun, Botswana) Alternative Energy Solutions: New Southern Energy (Cape Town, RSA) Landscaping: Mr. Gordon W Kershaw Owner: &Beyond

via

Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge by Nicholas Plewman Architects in Association with Michaelis Boyd Associates Text description provided by the architects. A 24 bed luxury boutique hotel in the heart of the Okavango Delta, Botswana.

#Architecture #Botswana #Design #Dook #Hotel #Interior #Lodge #Michaelis Boyd Associates #Nicholas Plewman Architects #Resort #Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge

0 notes

number06fan · 6 years ago

Text

Raw Milk Cheese Leads to Listeria – Recall Initiated

For cheese lovers, a cheese recall is a tragedy. One such dreadful raw milk cheese recall was announced in late June when a sample of cheese produced by Snow Farm Creamery tested positive for Listeria monocytogenes. It was a routine inspection by the Division of Milk Control and Dairy Services on June 10th, which discovered Listeria monocytogenes in some of the raw milk cheeses. The recall is for Snow Farm Creamery Baby Swiss and Baby Swiss with Mustard Seed. The cheeses are labeled with the code “02 04 19.” Consumers are also simply advised not to eat those cheeses if purchased after April 24.

Being a smaller operation, the reach for this contamination should be fairly small. The cheeses in question were sold at the GreenStar Co-op on Buffalo Street, Brookton’s Market, the Brooktondale Farmers Market, the Ithaca Farmers Market and the Candor Daffodil festival. Some samples of the tainted Baby Swiss were also served at the Town of Caroline Board meeting on June 12.

At this time, no sickness has been reported in connection with this contamination.

What’s Listeria, and what will it do to me?

Listeria is a bacterium found in soil, water, and animal feces. When ingested, it can cause illness. Like most foodborne illnesses, it causes flu-like symptoms: fever, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhea. It’s rarely diagnosed at this stage according to Foodsafety.gov. It’s a versatile bug, possible of manifesting within just a few days, or even as many as 30 before it takes hold.

If it spreads to your nervous system, the symptoms begin to include headache, stiff neck, confusion or changes of alertness, loss of balance, even convulsions. According to the CDC, some people “develop severe infections of the bloodstream (causing sepsis) or brain (causing meningitis or encephalitis). Listeria infections can sometimes affect other parts of the body, including bones, joints, and sites in the chest and abdomen.”

The people most at risk for listeriosis are pregnant women, those with weakened immune systems, and those over age 60. For pregnant women, the infection rarely appears severe, but can result in still birth or a devastatingly ill baby: symptoms include little interest in feeding, irritability, fever and vomiting.

In the 1990’s, outbreaks were typically related to deli meats and hot dogs. Nowadays listeriosis is most often linked to dairy products and produce. The Mayo clinic recommends those at risk for listeriosis to take special care around soft and Mexican style cheeses, hot dogs, lunch and deli meats, meat spreads, and refrigerated smoked seafood.

Why Raw Milk Cheese is particularly risky

As stated, listeria is found soil, water and animal feces. Facilities are supposed to be immaculately clean, but all it takes is a single bacterium to spread contamination. Bacteria can spread through infected udders, sick cows, direct contact with manure, contact with something else that has had contact with manure, or from bacteria that live on the skin of animals. Facilities at any point in the milk or cheese making process could get contaminated from a variety of sources and taint an enormous amount of food.

Soft cheeses made with raw milk are estimated to be 50 to 160 times more likely to be contaminated with harmful bacteria. Pasteurization is a process of cooking milk to kill all harmful bacteria before the milk is packaged, transported, and consumed. This significantly reduces the chance of tainted food, but an unsanitary facility could still result in unsafe milk or cheese.

Raw milk can house a number of very nasty bacteria, including Brucella, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella. Each of these bacteria can cause terrible illness in those at highest risk among us—children, elderly, pregnant women, and the immune-compromised. Even the healthy sometimes get sick and suffer debilitating infections from these germs.

Germs don’t usually change the taste, smell, or texture of milk—so you can’t tell by looking at a jug of raw milk whether or not it is safe to drink. Isn’t feasible for institutions to test every single jug of milk, however routine checks such as the one conducted at Snow Farm Creamery help ensure the safety of the public.

According the CDC, statistics from 1993-2012 show 1,909 illnesses and 144 hospitalizations linked to raw milk. Of these, more than half involved a child younger than 5 years old. Listeria is one of the least common, Campylobacter, E.coli, and Salmonella being more prominent.

Just as cooking your meat thoroughly kills bacteria, pasteurization is the process of heating milk to a high enough temperature for a long enough time to kill any bacteria. Pasteurization started in the 1920s, when tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and scarlet fever were much more common—diseases from bacteria also found in raw milk. By the 1950s pasteurization was common practice and many public health care providers consider pasteurization pivotal in the reduction of many terrible diseases.

Is pre-cooked milk still nutritious?

The good news is that pasteurization doesn’t significantly reduce the nutritional benefits of milk. Some of the enzymes are deactivated, and vitamin C is reduced. However, most scientists don’t think the enzymes are that important, and milk isn’t a major source of vitamin C for humans.

This seems like a very small price for a significantly reduced chance of still-birth, meningitis, or sepsis.

Milk doesn’t come with built in bacteria-fighting white cells or acid that counteract the bad bacteria on your behalf. Your stomach is on its own. Because bacteria are microscopic, it’s impossible to predict when it might get into milk on its journey from farm to your stomach, rendering a jug that was safe yesterday unsafe today. Cooking the milk earlier in its journey reduces the chance of contamination (and cross contamination), making unsanitary facilities (something easier to control) the primary cause of tainted food.

“Organic,” “grass-fed,” and “humane” are good things, but not factors in the likelihood of milk being contaminated (except, probably, “humane,” because clean facilities and un-stressed animals lead to much healthier animals and better products). Organic refers to pesticide usage, and grass-fed refers to the primary diet of the animals. These may affect the health and happiness of the animals, possibly even the flavor of the milk, but are much smaller factors than raw vs. pasteurized.

How can you keep your family safe?

Buy pasteurized products, pay attention to recalls. If you or someone you love is high risk, don’t feed them soft cheeses, queso dips, hot dogs, lunch and deli meat, meat spreads, or refrigerated smoked seafood. Always practice safe handling with raw food or soft cheeses, keeping your hands and utensils and food prep surfaces clean. You should also scrub your raw veggies with a veggie brush while running plenty of water over top. Make sure to cook your food thoroughly, following the FDA guidelines for internal temperatures.

The Lange Law Firm –www.MakeFoodSafe.com

Our mission is to help families who have been harmed by contaminated food or water. When corporations cause Salmonella food poisoning outbreaks or Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks, we use the law to hold them accountable. The Lange Law Firm is the only law firm in the nation solely focused on representing families in food poisoning lawsuits and Legionnaires disease lawsuits.

If you or your child was infected with Listeria after eating raw milk cheeses or products and are interested in making a legal claim for compensation, we have a Listeria lawyer ready to help you. Call us for a free no obligation legal consultation at (833) 330-3663 or send us an e-mail here.

By: Abigail Cossette Ryan, Contributing Writer (Non-Lawyer)

The post Raw Milk Cheese Leads to Listeria – Recall Initiated appeared first on The Lange Law Firm.

0 notes

kenresearchblog · 7 years ago

Text

Asia Complex Fertilizer Market is Expected to Reach over USD 18 billion by 2022: Ken Research

Asia Complex Fertilizer Market by Region (China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Others), by product form (Granulated/Fused or Blended), by type (two or three nutrients), by crops (cereals, oilseeds, fruits & vegetables and others), by grade (NPK 16-16-8, NPK 20-20-15, NPK 15-15-15, NPK 20-20-0 and Others)

· The population of Asia is anticipated to rise to 4,698.7 million by 2022, growing at a CAGR of 0.8% during the period 2017-2022. This is going to increasingly drive the food demand of the continent and need to increase agricultural productivity.

· Asia’s food grain production is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.1% during 2017-2022 from 1,274.5 million MT in 2017 to 1,413.9 million MT by 2022. Net irrigated area is also set to grow at a CAGR of 1.9% to 219.4 million hectares in 2022 from 199.3 million hectares in 2017. Both the factors are expected to augment the demand for complex fertilizers in the near future.

Asia complex fertilizer market is driven by increasing focus to improve agricultural productivity, superior efficacy of complex fertilizers, increasing food demand and need to ascertain food security for countries. The market is also expected to grow due to technological innovations such as slow or controlled release complex fertilizers, water soluble complex fertilizers and bio-complex fertilizers. A number of companies intend to expand their existing production capacity and several others are venturing into the sector in the near future.

In the next five years, consumption of complex fertilizers is expected to grow at a CAGR of 1.9% during the period 2017-2022. Consequently, production of complex fertilizers is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.1% during the same period.

Growing emphasis on curbing water and soil pollution and urgent need to improve agricultural productivity is expected to augment the demand for complex fertilizers in Asian countries, according to Analyst at Ken Research.

Ken Research in its latest study, Asia Complex (NPK) Fertilizer Market Outlook to 2022 - by Grade (NPK 16-16-8, NPK 20-20-15, NPK 15-15-15, NPK 20-20-0 and Others), by Region (China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and Others) suggests that Kingenta, Coromandel International, Binh Dien Fertilizer, Petrokimia Gresik and Thai Central Chemicals will remain the major players in this space in China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand respectively. However, these major players will witness rising competition from existing and new entrants launching reasonably priced products in the market.

Asia complex fertilizer market is expected to register steady growth in the near future owing to anticipated rise in international market prices of Urea, DAP and MAP.

Companies mentioned: Kingenta Ecological Engineering Group, Hubei Xinyangfeng, China XLX Fertiliser, Sino-Arab Chemical Fertilizers, Coromandel International, Indian Farmer Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), Paradeep Phosphates Limited (PPL), Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited, Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Limited, Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals, Madras Fertilizers Limited (MFL), Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited (MCF), Zuari Fertilsers and Chemicals Limited, Tata Chemicals Limited, Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation, Greenstar Fertilizers Limited (GFL), Binh Dien Fertilizer, Lam Thao Fertilizers and Chemicals, The Southern Fertilizer Company, Japan Vietnam Fertilizer Company, Baconco Group, Petrokimia Gresik, Pupuk Kalimantan Timur, Pupuk Kujang, Pupak Sriwidjaja Palembang

Keywords:

Asia Complex Fertilizer Demand

Asia Complex Fertilizer Consumption

Asia Complex Fertilizer Production

Asia Complex Fertilizer Market

Asia Granulated NPK Consumption

Asia Blended NPK Consumption

Asia NPK Fertilizer Demand

Asia NPK Fertilizer Consumption

Asia NPK Fertilizer Production

Asia NPK Fertilizer Market

To know more on Research methodology, Price and other information on report, refer to below link:

https://www.kenresearch.com/agriculture-and-animal-care/crop-protection/asia-complex-npk-fertilizer-market/143884-104.html

Related Reports by Ken Research

India Seed Coating Market Outlook to 2021 - Surge in Seed Production and Demand for Polymer Coatings to Shape Future

Philippines Seed Industry Outlook to 2021 - Rising Government Support to Improve Agriculture Sector with Demand for Hybrid Seed to Foster Growth

US Micro Irrigation Market Outlook to 2020 - Growing Water Scarcity and High Efficiency of Drip Irrigation to Stimulate Growth

0 notes

zillowcondo · 8 years ago

Text

The 5 Best Green Restaurants In the US

The French painter Paul Cezanne once wrote that, “The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution.”

His pronouncement has proved prescient, if not necessarily in the way he predicted. The first shots of the food revolution in the United States were, arguably, fired by Alice Waters at Berkeley’s Chez Panisse, who raised the banner on behalf of local, organic and sustainable cuisine.

The political implications of mixed seasonal greens with local goat cheese have become clear over the decades. She, joined by other chefs and food critics, has educated diners about the health risks of pesticides, the environmental costs of factory farms and the carbon footprints of certain fruits and vegetables imported from South America during our winter.

The solution proposed by countless politically-minded chefs has been to support small-scale farms close to home. And while the cause has been advanced by both humble food co-ops and celebrity chefs, spurring a locavore and farm-to-table movement that has swept across America in recent years, there are a few chefs and restaurants that have garnered particular attention for their use of local ingredients. Many of these chefs and their respective restaurants have also taken the extra step toward environmental practices, in some cases earning LEED-certifcation for their low carbon outputs and sustainability.

Of course, sourcing from local farms and adhering to the latest practices sustainability means nothing if your food is average. Thankfully, when it comes to the food, some of the most environmentally mindful restaurants across the country are now also some of the best, with Michelin stars to prove it. Here are a few that stand out:

Founding Farmers, Washington, D.C.

Quite a few eateries in the Washington, D.C. make area “best of farm-to-table” lists but Founding Farmers stands out from the rest of the pack. And no, it’s not because President and Michelle Obama are frequent visitors. It was Washington, D.C.’s first LEED Gold Certified restaurant and the first upscale-casual, full-service LEED Gold restaurant in the country.

Since 2008, Founding Farmers has been an eco-friendly leader in the food and beverage industry. The 8,500-square-foot restaurant was built out of reclaimed and recycled materials—heart-of-pine wood from an old textile mill was used for the flooring—and utilized VOC paints and adhesives in its construction. Ninety percent of the construction waste was recycled. The restaurant has an in-house water filtration system, installed low-flow toilets in restrooms and uses biodegradable garbage bags and recycled paper products (even on menus) throughout the space. The restaurant is carbon neutral, offsetting 100 percent of it’s carbon emissions by purchasing green power credits.

Then there’s the food. Founding Farmers doesn’t always use locally sourced produce and meat because it feels it doesn’t necessarily imply the smallest carbon footprint. Instead, the restaurant buys ingredients from 42,000 family-run farms around the country, thereby helping small farmers, ranches and fisheries and farming communities. Farms and fisheries include Anson Mills in South Carolina, Piedmont Ridge Farm in Maryland and Cleanfish in California. As a result, the food is flavorful and hearty and most importantly, good for you. Brunch showcases regional specialties such as New Orleans–style stuffed French toast and glazed yeast donuts. Supper draws in crowds because of its friendly atmosphere and lovely farmhouse setting. Diners relax at communal wooden tables or comfy booths under reclaimed wood beams and dine on dishes such as line-caught plank salmon and southern pan-fried chicken with white gravy. Even the wines, spirits and beer are organic or from small town distilleries and breweries.

1924 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20006 202.822.8783

ABC Kitchen, New York, NY

In 2010 we saw one of New York’s – and America’s – most important culinary figures embrace it as well. Simply put, a man synonymous with fine dining today has gone green.

This is not to say that before the opening of ABC Kitchen, Jean-Georges Vongerichten was serving inorganic or unsustainable dishes, but one of the trademarks of his cuisine has been the exotic touches that can be traced back to his stint at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok. Vongerichten’s dishes have long been scented by chilis, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves at his flagship Jean-Georges and his Spice Market restaurants. At Prime, another if his restaurants, the grass-fed and organic steaks that dominate the menu are delicious but not especially sustainable. At ABC Kitchen, on the other hand, the menu is inspired more by the Hudson Valley than Southeast Asia, and while it isn’t vegetarian by any means, meat serves more as an accent rather than as slabs of beef. Here, Vongerichten explores the possibilities of local and sustainable cuisine: whole wheat pizzas are topped with Jersey tomatoes, the potatoes served with his classic blackened sea bass come from upstate.

The décor of the restaurant also reflects the sustainable ethos: The menus are printed on recycled paper, tables are made from reclaimed wood and the vintage dessert plates and flatware reflect a commitment to reusing and recycling. The waitstaff is outfitted in studied casual outfits of Converse sneakers and flannel shirts – sometimes it feels like the entire borough of Brooklyn has been redecorated in a similar country farmhouse look – but we like that.

While admittedly not the first of their kind, Vongerichten and his executive chef, Dan Kluger, have brought their own particular take on this craze. The free-range fried chicken arrives light as tempura, in a beer batter crust, and while I’m not sure what is local or sustainable about the caramel sundae, it would get my nod for dessert of the year. Other authorities were similarly impressed: The New York Times awarded ABC Kitchen two (of three) stars and the eatery also won the James Beard Award for “Best New Restaurant” of the year. Vongerichten’s rebirth as a locavore is, we hope, not a sign that a chameleon chef has found the latest gimmick to attract diners, and instead that when it comes to what and how we eat, ABC Kitchen is a sign that conscious and not conspicuous consumption is here to stay.

35 E 18th St, New York, NY 10003 212.475.5829

Uncommon Ground, Chicago, IL

Chicago’s Uncommon Ground is the poster child for green restaurants in the United States, and we aren’t the first to have noticed. In 2013, they received recognition from the Green Restaurant Association as the “World’s Greenest Restaurant.” Mayor Rahm Emanuel stated, “Uncommon Ground is a great example of what our city can do and what our country can do, use water and energy more efficiently, grow more sustainable food, while boasting the world’s most sustainable businesses.”

Not only does the restaurant divert 95 percent of its waste from the landfill through a robust composting and recycling program, but they also produce onsite renewable energy. The interior design is warm and earthy, donning wooden table tops from trees that came directly from ones downed in Jackson Park in Chicago.

Most notably, they built the first Certified Organic rooftop in the nation, which patrons can go up and visit. When dining there once, I was pleasantly surprised at how much time their rooftop farmer spent giving me the grand tour of his elevated bounty and explaining the building process. The rooftop is fit with solar panels surrounded by manicured raised garden beds of herbs, tomatoes and more.

Obviously a rooftop can only supply so much for the restaurant, but the local concept goes beyond just their own building, to a commitment to source the majority of their food from local, sustainable organic producers – 24 percent of which comes from within 300 miles of the restaurant. Their menu is constantly changing according to the seasons, which makes each visit a unique experience that gives patrons a strong sense of time and place.

While people rave about the fried chicken and collar greens, true midwesterners like myself will can vouch for their hearty meatloaf, made with local grassfed beef and of course, wrapped in bacon and served with mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, and fried nordic creamery cheese curds (a product commonly found amidst Chicago’s lively farmers markets). For dessert, I’d venture toward the seasonal crème brulee or s’mores tart.

They support the local economy by more than just helping out local farmers, but also local artisans, as you will regularly find local artist’s work featured inside and local musicians entertaining diners.

They’ve even gotten into the local brewing business, boasting their own in-house brewery at one location called Greenstar Brewing, where they brew up seasonal, sustainable concoctions that are served up at the restaurant.

On the spirits side, Uncommon Ground created what they call an “eco-cocktail”, the Agripolitan, featuring organic vodka and orchard fruits. This eco-cocktail program has raised funds to plant over 10,000 trees in India as well as to work with Chicago Rarities Orchard Project (CROP) to build a community rare-fruit orchards in Chicago. The eco-cocktail’s ingredients change according to the seasons with varying orchard fruits.

They’ve also received accolades as a World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) Humane Restaurant, The Governor’s Sustainability Award and the Green Business of the Year by the Chicago Chamber of Commerce.

Original Lakeview Location: 3800 Clark Street Chicago, IL 60613 773.929.3680

New Edgewater Location: 1401 West Devon Ave. Chicago, IL 60660 773.465.9801

Bar Agricole, San Francisco, CA

Bar Agricole is right at home in its stark, industrial surroundings of San Francisco’s SOMA (South of Market) neighborhood. Intentionally austere and minimalist, the restaurant’s sustainable design is how they earned Gold LEED certification. That, combined with their local, seasonal, farm to table fare (this is San Francisco, after all) makes Bar Agricole a green giant.

It’s no wonder Owner Thad Vogler speaks of his tavern endearingly as the “Farm Bar.” As Erin Archuleta of Tablehopper observes, “Thad believes his tavern in this SOMA outpost will truly uphold a San Francisco tenet: the intersection of urbanity and agriculture in our daily lives.”

In fact, Bar Agricole says it could not exist without the organic and biodynamic farmers from which they source and claims these farmers are one of the main reasons why the restaurant came to be in the first place. “It’s a mutually beneficial setup: we get amazing stuff that makes our food nourishing and intensely flavored, while supporting the people who have made it their life’s work to care for the land, preserving and improving it for future generations,” touts their website.

A main source of meat and produce for the establishment, Heart Arrow Ranch, started a RSA, or restaurant supported agriculture program (in the same line of thinking as a CSA, community supported agriculture program for individuals). The restaurant supports the farm financially in the early season in order to ensure they can acquire the necessary seeds and equipment up front. Eventually Bar Agricole reaps the benefits in the spring and summer of the cornucopia of fresh veggies and meat.

Woodleaf Farm provides them with delectable local, organic fruits, La Tercera Farm offers chicory and other fresh Italian greens and herbs, Full Belly Farm garlic, and McEvoy Ranch organic olives and olio nuovo, just to name a few local suppliers. The restaurant will even go foraging for mushrooms like white chanterelles in Mendocino during winter, should the rains bring a good harvest to bear.

Brandon Jew, coming previously from notable San Francisco locavore-focused restaurants like Magnolia, Quince, and Zuni, heads up the kitchen, which includes a hybrid gas and wood burning, eco-friendly Beech oven made from the oak at Woodleaf Farm.

Farm to Bar Cocktails

It’s not just their food that receives applause, but their drinks to boot, which contain farm fresh ingredients. The James Beard Foundation named Bar Agricole one of the five finalists for their Outstanding Bar Program award in 2012 and it has been nominated every year since. The emphasis on a killer classic cocktail menu instead of just great food can be attributed to Vogler, who has dedicated the better part of his professional life to being a bar manager or consultant to restaurants. His mission appears to have been to convince these establishments of the importance of tackling their cocktail and edible menus in an equally ingredient-focused fashion. But heck, why not just start your own restaurant and bar where you have complete control over your ingredients?

Keeping Up (green) Appearances

Bar Agricole went to great lengths to ensure that every detail of interior design and décor of this single-story, 4,000-square-foot space reflected Vogler’s and architect Aidlin Darling Design’s sustainable sensibilities and respect for history. The restaurant was built inside a three-story historic corrugated metal warehouse and maintained its historic exterior.

Chairs and tabletops were crafted by Sebastian Parker, a local woodworker, remarked, “All the wood for the chairs came from seasoned red wine barrels. According to the man who sold me the wood, the white oak was originally milled in France, coopered into barrels in Japan, and then sold to Firestone Vineyard in Napa Valley. They used them for half a century before I got to them.” The wood for Parker’s tabletops came from the reclaimed lumber of old Northeastern farmhouses.

Concreteworks built the host stand, custom floors, booths and bar using their ultra-high performance concrete reinforced with organic fibers called Ductal. The coffee and service bar illustrates the simplistic beauty of their poured concrete and is finished atop with a reclaimed wood bar. Concreteworks uses post-consumer recycled material and industrial products to replace the raw aggregates normally used in concrete. They have replaced almost 80 percent of the total product weight of their concrete with material that would otherwise end up in landfills.

The reclaimed whiskey tank oak ceiling supports a green roof above. Three large skylights allow for natural light to come in, decreasing the need for artificial light during the day. Each skylight comes fit with its own winding glass sculpture by artist Nikolas Weinstein and is made from distorted Pyrex cylinders that sieve the day’s light down to patrons below. Outside parking space was minimized in order to build a street-front 1,600-square-foot garden and dining patio surrounded by unpretentious wood paneling and raised beds filled with herbs.

355 11th Street San Francisco, CA 94103 415.355.9400

Providence, Los Angeles, CA

Before he opened a top rated restaurant in Los Angeles (arguably the best if you love fish), Chef Michael Cimarusti grew up on the east coast, in the great state of…you guessed it, Rhode Island, where he spent many a weekend fishing and digging for razor clams.

Cimarusti’s resume is not short on experience, having attending the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY (graduating with honors) and honing his skills at An American Place (NYC), The Forager House Restaurant (New Hope, PA) and Le Cirque (NYC).

Cimarusti is completely dedicated to procuring the finest sustainable seafood—from regional coasts and international waters—and treats those ingredients with uncompromising respect and sophisticated technique. “First and foremost, what guides us here is sustainability,” Cimarusti says. “We use only wild-caught, sustainable products, mostly from American waters, and look to highlight their finest qualities.”

The accolades for Providence include multiple James Beard Award nominations; “Top 50 Restaurants in the United States” by Gourmet magazine; “Best Seafood Restaurant” by Los Angeles magazine; the #1 ranking in “Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants” in the Los Angeles Times; and two highly coveted Michelin stars.

5955 Melrose Ave Los Angeles, CA 90038 323.460.4170

The post The 5 Best Green Restaurants In the US appeared first on Pursuitist.

The 5 Best Green Restaurants In the US published first on http://ift.tt/2pewpEF

0 notes