Thursday, February 17, 2005
Hey, I know that guy! My brother's restaurant-- the first restaurant in California to become organically certified-- reviewed. "For Altreuter, whose job is to keep customers satisfied with hearty pub fare -- burgers, steaks, hefty salads -- while keeping prices reasonable, being limited to buying organic makes running the kitchen a balancing act.
When bell peppers are available for a good price in the summer, he buys enough for the year, roasting and freezing them. He cans apricots and puts the preserves away for the winter, when there is no local, inexpensive organic alternative.
Altreuter's menu is eclectic, and some of his biggest challenges are finding organic ethnic ingredients like spicy hoy sin sauce, rice noodles or dried chilies. Exhaustive searches often end in Altreuter just making his own condiments -- or tossing the entree idea and starting over.
Even common ingredients can give the chef trouble. The restaurant tries to rely on small producers in Mendocino County like Gaska. But sometimes small farmers just can't come up with 50 pounds of tomatoes on demand, Altreuter says. The menu warns, "items are subject to availability of organic ingredients."
(Via Saute Wednesday.)
// posted by Bill @ 12:33 PM 
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