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The Front Burner Your guide to knowledge for the restaurant industry

Bringing MORE To The Table

Understanding Green Terms

How To Get LEED Certified & Why You Should

The Conflict Between Local Food & Local Government

5 Water Saving Tips for Your Restaurant

Going Green

Achieving a level of service that exceeds your customer’s expectations isn’t easy. We know how hard you work to make that happen – and just how difficult that can be. Even so, great customer service can be ex-tremely rewarding, both personally and pro-fessionally. We certainly believe that here at Tundra. Like you, we understand that excel-lent service is a cornerstone of our success.

One thing is certain: attention to detail is the foundation upon which all great customer service is built. From a chipped water glass to dirty hood filters or fry pans, keeping your restaurant up to date tells your customers exactly how much you care long before a server ever touches the table.

Updating equipment and supplies in your restaurant have other benefits as well. Prod-ucts in the food service industry are advanc-ing at a fast pace, and the newest releases from the major manufacturers you’ve been using for years are more efficient, better de-signed, and heavier duty than older versions.

Better tools means improved labor and en-ergy efficiency in addition to creating an aesthetically pleasing environment not only for your customer, but your employee’s ex-perience as well. Labor efficiencies gained from better designed equipment allow you to serve customers faster and with a better quality product. Energy efficiency, and in-deed sustainability as a whole, is something your customer cares about deeply, and that makes it an important part of your customer service efforts.

Regular replenishment of the supplies and equipment that make your restaurant work requires steady investment, to be sure. Yet the opportunity to improve your customer’s experience, streamline operations, and cut energy expenses all at the same time makes the effort more than worthwhile.

Michael Lewis

Tundra Founder

The food service industry is no exception, and as the importance of the green restaurant trend has grown, so has confusion about what “green” re-ally means and how to implement green programs in your restaurant.

This edition of The Front Burner is intended to help clear the air for restaurant owners. From discerning what green terms like “biodegradable,” “com-postable,” and “recyclable” really mean to practical advice on how to save water, the articles you’ll find inside cover practical ways to make your operation run in a more sustainable way.

Perhaps more important than the question “How?” is “Why?” There are two main reasons why an effective green program is

important for your business:

Customers appreciate your efforts. The National Restaurant Association has listed green restaurant programs as one of the hottest trends of 2010. As time goes on, customers are becoming more and more aware of which food service operators are investing in green practices and which ones are not, and making their buying decisions accordingly.

Green programs increase your efficiency and save you money. Conserv-ing water doesn’t just sound good to your customer, it also reduces your monthly utility bill. There are many ways you can improve your operating ef-ficiencies and market those improvements to your customers as legitimate parts of your green program.

Whether you’re interested in going green out of personal conviction, a de-sire to connect with your customers, or a drive to reduce operating costs, the reasons for developing an effective program for your restaurant are clear.

The products and strategies you need to get started on your own green program are all right here in this edition of The Front Burner!

“Going green” – it’s something most companies want to do,

or at least appear to be doing, for their customers.

Any restaurateur interested in making their restaurant more green has encountered these terms before. The problem is, just because a product claims it is compostable, biodegrad-able, or recyclable doesn’t make it so.

Making the right decisions to green your restaurant in a way that makes sense for your busi-ness means you need to know the difference between these terms and the impact they can have on your buying decisions.

The most common product used in restaurants that uses all three of these terms is plastics. More than likely your restaurant uses small wares like cups and utensils, and many products your kitchen uses are packaged using plastics.

Here are some tips to understanding your options when it comes to plastic products:

CompostableCompostable plastic products have the highest green threshold. This means any product claiming to be compostable should be viewed with a certain skepticism because it really is hard to make a plastic that conforms to the definition of compostable.

Compostable products break down naturally into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass at the same rate as cellulose or paper (usually about 180 days) in an industrial or municipal composting facility. Compostable materials do not leave a toxic residue and cannot be distinguished from the rest of the compost after full degradation.

The most important issues in this definition are where the plastic is put to compost and whether any toxic residue is left after degradation.

A municipal or industrial composting facility breaks down composting materials differently than a farm or in-house composting unit. Plastics are given a com-postable designation based on how they degrade in a larger industrial facility, which means they may not be compostable using other methods.

Since the availability of large scale composting facilities is limited, it’s important to know that a compostable plastic may degrade more slowly before deciding

if it can be used in a smaller scale compost facility.

PLA and Master-Bi corn starch based plastics are the two most common types of composta-ble plastics. However, these resins are also sometimes mixed with inorganic substances to make them more heat resistant or for other purposes, meaning they do not always qualify as compostable.

Plant-based plastics have the added benefit of being “carbon neutral,” meaning that the carbon dioxide emitted to produce them is offset by the carbon dioxide absorbed by the plants used to make the plastic.

Any plastic that leaves a toxic residue after degrading is not compostable but can be des-ignated biodegradable.

BiodegradableBiodegradable products break down over time into smaller and smaller chunks as a result of the action of agent enzymes produced by bacteria or fungi. This process can leave behind toxic chemicals and still be designated as biodegradable.

The problem is, no standard exists for the amount of time a product takes to biodegrade. And no requirement exists for the addition of agents like bacteria to aid the degradation process.

This means that most products are labeled “biodegradable” as a way to promote their sup-posed environmentally friendly capabilities when in fact most of these products do nothing to help reduce waste or emissions. Biodegradable sounds good to the consumer but really doesn’t help green your restaurant at all.

If you are looking to improve the green practices of your restaurant, go for compostable products over biodegradable ones whenever you can.

RecyclableThe truth is, just about anything can be re-cycled, and surely you have seen the little tri-angle with a number inside it on most plastic products claiming it’s recyclable.

The problem? The company or local govern-ment agency that does your recycling limits what they recycle.

Check with your recycler to verify which types of plastics they accept. Training staff and getting customers to re-cycle the right products can be very difficult, but many restaurants have had success with comprehensive recycling programs.

The main ingredient to success is creating a clear set of guidelines and communicating those guidelines to your staff and customers.

What Should Your Restaurant Do?

Compostable products are more expensive to buy. But in many cases the extra expense can be at least partially recouped through re-duced waste disposal.

Leftover food makes up 50% of the waste produced by a typical restaurant. If this plus compostable plastics like cups were removed from the waste you produce and composted instead, significant savings can be realized.

Perhaps more importantly, a majority of con-sumers respond favorably to restaurants that engage in green practices.

Get feedback from customers before invest-ing in more expensive compostable products. If it looks like you can improve customer loy-alty and branding by doing so, and the addi-tional expense makes sense after accounting for marketing benefits and waste disposal sav-ings, then there’s no reason why your business shouldn’t invest.

Chances are the products you use now are biodegradable, so there’s no real benefit in pursuing products that market this designa-tion. And as long as you’re reducing waste costs, implement a recycling program that saves the types of plastics local recyclers ac-cept and gives you some real credibility when you say “green restaurant.”

Understanding Green Terms Leftover food makes

up 50% of the waste

produced by a

typical restaurant

If you’re at all familiar with the favorite local haunts of Boulder and downtown Denver, then you probably know a Big Red F restaurant or two, even if that name doesn’t ring a bell. Big Red F is a group of unique concepts started by Culinary Institute of America graduate, former Q’s Restaurant owner, and Boulder native Dave Query. Big Red F’s concepts are as varied as they are fun, including Zolo Southwestern Grill, Jax Fish House, Centro Latin Kitchen & Refreshment Palace, and The West End Tavern.

As differently as each concept approaches their cuisine, all of Chef Query’s restaurants take a singular approach to guest services, and anyone who has visited a Big Red F restaurant can tell you exactly how that feels. Anyone who walks through the door is treated as a friend and a welcome guest at an exclusive party where the host knows ex-actly what he’s doing.

Chef Query sums it up the best: “Running a successful restaurant is like juggling ice cubes on a hot day: you have to be quick and precise, sourcing the freshest foods, being the home of all things seasonal, and keeping the chalkboards constantly fresh in an effort to do your very best to serve an incredibly fresh product smack in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. This is what we try to accomplish at our restaurants every single day.”

Big Red F restaurants view sustainability as an integral part of customer service, and since service is a thing they take very seriously, each restaurant is dedicated to reaching a high bar. All pa-per products and many plastic products, including straws and trash bags, are ei-ther compostable or recyclable. Big Red F offsets 100% of its energy usage with

wind power and CFL light bulbs are used whenever possible. Most Big Red F restaurants are also either PACE (Partners For A Clean Environ-ment) certified or in the process of getting certification.

Bryce Clark, Big Red F’s PR director, explains why sustainable practic-es are so important: “Some things like having CFL light bulbs save us money down the road, but most of our eco-friendly practices are just important to us and our customers. Our customers come into our res-taurants not only for the experience, but also because we care about being socially responsible. To us it goes hand in hand with helping out the community.”

The synergy between Big Red F and their community reveals how pow-erful great customer service can be when you’re in tune with more than just a customer’s desire to eat great food.

One Vision, Many Places

“...our eco-friendly practices are

important to us and our customers”

950 Pearl StreetBoulder, CO303-442-7771

835 Walnut StreetBoulder, CO303-442-3050

1575 Boulder StreetDenver, CO720-570-8686

2525 Arapahoe AveBoulder, CO303-449-0444

936 Pearl StreetBoulder, CO303-444-3535

928 Pearl StreetBoulder, CO303-444-1181

You may make reservations for any Big Red F Restaurant at opentable.com

1539 17th StreetDenver, CO303-292-5767

What if you could take all of the food waste your restaurant produces and turn it into electricity? The East Bay Municipal Utility Dis-trict of San Francisco intends to do just that.

They launched an am-bitious project last year that can convert up to 200 tons of food scraps gathered from area res-taurants into electricity

every week. The power generated from the project is used in some of the very same res-taurants that contribute their organic waste.

How exactly do you turn food scraps into electricity? East Bay starts by breaking the waste down with bacteria in a gigantic un-derground tank. This process gives off meth-ane, which is then burned to heat water and create steam, which drives a turbine that creates electricity. This is the same process used by most coal fired power plants, except the fuel in this case is sustainable.

Currently, food scraps make up a small por-tion of the organic waste that is processed at the East Bay facility. The majority comes from

the wastewater treatment plant onsite and several large-scale local industries like vine-yards and dairies. But 30 million tons of food scraps are sent to landfills each year, which makes up more than 20% of all landfill waste.

That means there’s a lot of room for improve-ment. The best part about the process is that a rich fertilizer is the byproduct of breaking down all that waste, which can help local organic farms supply restaurants with more produce. The primary obstacle to wider adoption of organic elec-tricity is a lack of processing plants. That could change rapidly in the next ten years as sustainable electricity gains more momentum in the American economy.

The restaurants participating in the food scrap collection program did have to put some extra time into training employees to keep contaminants like plastic and other foreign object out of the bin destined to be converted into electricity. Despite the extra train-ing, the savings in reduced garbage production was enough to help some restaurants save money, since the scraps are collected for free.

Only a tiny fraction of the food waste produced in the Bay Area goes to the organic genera-tor run by the East Bay Municipal Utility District. The room for growth is enormous, and if San Francisco could collect almost all of the 1,800 tons of waste produced every day by area businesses, that would be enough electricity to power 25,000 homes. That’s a serious contri-bution San Francisco restaurants can make to the local power grid.

For more information about composting in your area. Visit www.epa.gov - Search: food waste

How Restaurants Can Turn Food Scraps Into Energy

Food Scraps make up more

than 20% of landfill waste.

WATER SAVING TIPS

Restaurants use a lot of water. Between cooking, washing dishes, cleaning up, and serv-ing guests, your water bill takes a good chunk out of your monthly budget on a consistent basis. Water conservation is also a big concern of a majority of your customers, especially if you operate in dry western states like California, Arizona, or Colorado.

Effective water conservation in your restaurant is a lot easier than you might think. It’s also a pretty easy way to gain serious street credit with your customers while also adding green to your bottom line. The nice thing about water conservation is that it takes mini-mal investment to realize some pretty serious savings.

SERVE DRINKING WATER ON DEMAND ONLY

Don’t just assume your guests want water! If you don’t serve water auto-matically, train your wait staff to let customers know they can have wa-ter free of charge at any time (after they get the drink order of course!). And if you’re serving wa-ter, try to use a filtered glass filler to guarantee taste and water quality.

FIX LEAKY FAUCETS

That little dribble coming out of the faucets in your kitchen probably doesn’t seem like a big deal, especially since you’re probably working hell-ish hours as it is. But looks can fool you. That dribble can add up to thousands of gallons of water each month, and if it’s the hot side of the faucet that’s leaking, that’s hundreds of dollars in energy bills going down the drain as well.

CHANGE TO LOW FLOW PRE-RINSE SPRAY VALVES

A low flow spray valve can slash your water us-age at one of its most wasteful points. The best part is, newer low flow spray valves are just as ef-fective at cleaning dishes but they use water at half the rate. Get some real bang for your buck and still clean dishes effec-tively.

WASH FULL RACKS ONLY

The danger is in assuming your kitchen staff is fol-lowing this rule religiously, because chances are they’re not. Employ a constant education and enforcement program to make sure only full racks get put through your commercial dishwasher. Even conserving a small amount of dishwasher water translates into big savings for you because that hot water is twice as expensive after you pay to heat it up.

TRAIN EMPLOYEES.

In the end, all the best water-saving equipment in the world doesn’t do you a bit of good if your staff doesn’t take conser-vation seriously. Make it an ongoing issue in staff meetings and during employee training. More than likely, you will find enthusiasm and a will-ingness to participate in your water conservation programs. Getting good buy-in from your staff will make the job of polic-ing water conservation much, much easier.

1 2 3 4 5

1539 17th StreetDenver, CO303-292-5767

LEED

Every year, your restaurant’s green credibility on the street gets more important. According to the National Restaurant Association (NRA), it’s one of the hottest trends of 2010. Compa-nies across the board, in and out of the food service industry, have scrambled in recent years to label their brands as green, with vary-ing degrees of success.

Some companies have taken advantage of the green mood consumers are in by “green-washing” their business – trumping up a bunch of nominally “green” practices and selling it to customers as a genuine commitment to sustainability. The problem with greenwashing is that as consumers place more importance on sustainability, they’re also becoming more savvy about how effective the strategies com-panies tell them about really are.

This has led to a growing effort by compa-nies that are genuine about their sustainabil-ity commitment to seek official credentials

to back up their claims. In the food service industry, national chains like Chipotle have built flagship locations to showcase their ef-forts and build green credibility.

One of the most respected programs out there is run by the Green Building Certifica-tion Institute (GBCI) and is a well recognized name among consumers: LEED. The Leader-ship in Energy Efficient Design (LEED) certifi-cation process can be long and arduous, but it also carries an official respect that will completely wipe out any lingering customer suspicions about the true purpose of your in-tentions.

What is LEED and how do you get certified? Good question. The name of the game is to earn points when you build or remodel. Out of a possible 110 points, there are 5 cate-gories and 2 bonus categories in which you can earn points for sustainable building and design practices:

SUSTAINABLE SITES. If you’re building a new location, you can earn points by selecting a site based upon sensitivity to several environmental factors including plants, wildlife, water, and air quality. (21 points)

WATER EFFICIENCY. Technology and strategies that cut your restaurant’s water use by 20% over the baseline amount earn you points. Earn even more points for cutting water use even further. (11 points)

ENERGY AND ATMOSPHERE. Maximizing your restaurant’s energy efficiency, managing ozone-deplet-ing CFCs (usually found in refrigerants), and utilizing renewable energy are the three main areas that will earn you points in this category. (37 points)

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES. Selecting sustainable resources for your building or remodel project (i.e. no redwood countertops) and developing an effective waste management strategy earn you points in this category. (14 points)

INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY. Using sensors and controls to manage indoor temperature, humidity, and ventilation earn you points in this category. (17 points)

BONUS POINTS. These can be earned if you’re building or remodeling in a region that has been deemed a priority by the GBCI, or if your project shows exceptional innovation and leadership in design. (10 points)

How To Get LEED Certified & Why You Should

One of the HOTTEST Trends of 2010

For More Info Visitwww.usgbc.org/LEED

Obviously, LEED certification isn’t for everyone. That’s why it’s called a Leadership program. But for those brave enough to try for certification, the payoff can be incalculable.

There are also three levels beyond a basic certification: Platinum (80+)Gold (60+)Silver (50+)

40 POINTS ARE REQUIRED FOR LEED CERTIFICATION

The Conflict Between Local Food And Local Government

As you have probably heard, more and more restaurants are sourcing their food locally. Restaurants in urban areas are even turning vacant lots, empty roofs, and bare terraces into herb and vegetable gardens, yielding fresh produce for their customers. The trend has taken off quickly, and, at least in Culver City, CA, the municipal government is grap-pling with how to regulate urban gardens.

The problem started when the owner of the Bluebird Café in downtown Culver City ap-proached the owner of a long-vacant strip of land near the restaurant that was formerly part of a railroad spur. The restaurateur soon convinced the developer to let him use the land to grow crops that would supply fresh produce for the restaurant, including 535 to-mato plants and 40 fruit trees.

Everything was going fine until municipal officials caught wind of the operation and pointed out that city zoning laws prohibited the pair from selling any of the produce that came out of their impromptu garden. Any-thing used for personal consumption was fine, but for sale was illegal.

As cities and suburbs have grown bigger they have covered more and more farmland,

and as consumers demand locally sourced, organically grown produce, a conflict has arisen between antiquated zoning laws and the realities of the modern landscape. The result is a growing need for more progressive municipal laws that allow both citizens and local businesses to maximize land use in their communities. Such progressive thinking not only addresses the growing desire for locally sourced foods but improves the municipal scenery and helps the local economy.

Concerns over water use, toxins and pollut-ants in urban soil, and the taxation of sold produce are all things that can be readily addressed by revised zoning laws. It’s merely a matter of pushing those changes through the bureaucracy of local government.

For the Bluebird Café, updated zoning or-dinances might come too late. All the hard work the restaurant’s owners put into their ur-ban garden hasn’t altered the city council’s concerns over toxic soil, taxation, and water.

Fortunately, the fate of the Bluebird isn’t slow-ing down other restaurants from developing urban gardens of their own, and many have been quite successful in their endeavors.

Is Your Commercial Dishwasher Energy Efficient?

Booster heaters, internal tank heaters, and commercial water heaters can all be adjusted to optimize water temperature and minimize waste. It’s important to continue checking water tem-perature as well because over time, use and wear may change the water temp in the dishwasher, requiring further adjustments.

TURN OFF BOOSTER AND TANK HEATERS.

The booster heater and the internal tank heater on the dishwashing unit should be turned off at the end of the night. Otherwise, they will continue to heat water needlessly while you are shut down, wasting a ton of energy in the process.

CHECK WATER PRESSURE.

Many larger dish machines have a pressure gauge that indicates the water pressure in the unit. More than 25 Pounds per Square Inch (PSI) could mean you are using more water than necessary, as most dish machines require only 20 PSI. Check with the unit’s manufacturer to see what the optimal PSI is for that machine and to learn how to adjust the PSI.

Commercial dishwashers are energy hogs, pure and simple. There’s no way to get around it, and the best you can do is try to mitigate the costs associated with dishwashing by em-ploying a few effective strategies.

WASH FULL RACKS ONLY.

It’s so obvious it almost seems dumb to say, but train your kitchen staff to never, ever, run anything less than a

full rack through the dishwasher. The temptation to run the dishwasher half full is much greater than you might realize,

and it’s a colossal waste of energy.

CHECK WATER TEMPERATURE.

Use a dishwasher thermometer to check the temperature of the wa-ter during the rinse cycle on a regular basis. This is especially impor-tant for high temp dishwashers, as you want to ensure you are hitting

180 degrees Fahrenheit on every cycle. However, a temp check will also help kitchens with a low temp dishwasher because often the unit runs water that is too hot, and the water temp can be turned down to save energy.

If you happen to be designing a new kitchen, you should account for a few factors in order to

maximize ventilation efficiency:

Group heavy cooking equipment together. Whatever you’re going to be cooking with the most should all be right next to each other underneath the hood. If you have a single heavy cooking appliance, like a charbroiler, and other lighter cook-ing equipment, it’s a good idea to separate the heavy piece from the lighter pieces and give it a dedicat-ed high volume exhaust. This allows you to run the lighter equipment un-der a hood that doesn’t have to be on full blast all the time.

Create a big overhang. While 4 feet is the industry standard, 5 or 6 feet of hood will capture more smoke and allow you to run your ex-haust system more efficiently.

Making the kitchen ventilation system energy efficient not only saves you money, it ensures that the exhaust is capturing the maximum amount of smoke and fumes and getting them out of your kitchen.

The exhaust system in your kitchen is one of those essential piec-es of equipment you must have in order to operate. And if your

hood is like the ones in most restaurants, it has two settings: “on” and “off.” When your line is operating at full tilt during the dinner rush, the “on” setting is probably perfect, quickly sending heat and fumes straight from your cooking equipment outside. But what about after-noons or during light lunches? You probably still have the ventilation on but your equipment is not creating nearly as much exhaust.

You know how much energy that hood exhaust in your kitchen is us-ing.

Here’s a few tips on making sure it’s running as efficiently as possible:

Get the system rebalanced. Your exhaust system needs some regular maintenance to run at optimal levels. If too much smoke is building up in your kitchen, or if the system seems like it’s on overdrive all the time, a rebalancing by a trained technician is in order. A rebal-ance ensures the system is keeping the kitchen safe but not sucking up too much energy by working too hard.

Maximize suction. If you’re paying to run your kitchen ventila-tion system, it might as well be pulling as much of the stuff you don’t want in your kitchen as possible. To maximize smoke and heat cap-ture, make sure your cooking equipment is pushed all the way up against the wall underneath the hood. This prevents clean air from getting sucked up from behind the equipment and puts the maxi-mum amount of hood over your line. And if your hood doesn’t have side panels, you can install them easily and cheaply. Side panels help trap smoke and fumes, making the exhaust system more efficient.

Install a demand ventilation control. If you really want to save some money on kitchen ventilation then a demand control is for you. It senses the cooking volume in your kitchen and adjusts fan speed accordingly. A ventilation control can reduce kitchen exhaust ener-gy usage by 30% - 50% and can be either ordered with a new exhaust system or installed on an older unit.

Clean and maintain hood filters. The hood filters are the metal squares in the exhaust opening of your ventilation system that catch the grease in air as it gets sucked out. The hood filter plays an important role, since grease buildup can become a dangerous fire risk. As time goes on hood filters become saturated with grease and should be cleaned. The dirtier the filter, the harder your exhaust has to work to suck air through them. Also make sure they are installed correctly (with the baffles, or ridges, in the vertical position) and that there are no gaps between them. Replace damaged filters immediately.

Is Your Kitchen Ventilation Sucking Up Money?

Every year, 19 million tons of food waste ends up in America’s landfills. Not only does that waste have to be hauled and stored, it also takes up rapidly diminishing space in city dumps. Even worse, when food waste breaks down it releases greenhouse gases, especially methane, which is much more harmful than carbon dioxide.

Disposing of food waste is a daily reality for all restaurants. The costs associated with handling food waste have always presented a prob-lem for food service businesses – from the labor to collect and haul waste to purchasing storage materials like trash cans and bags. Add that monthly bill for the garbage truck and you’ve got some pretty significant costs associated with every plate you scrape into the trash.

An in-sink waste disposal is a great alternative. A disposal breaks food waste down quickly and conveniently so that it can be processed by a wastewater treatment facility. The whole process is much faster and more efficient than sending food waste to the landfill. Even bet-ter, more and more wastewater plants are recycling broken down food waste and using it as fertilizer and even to produce electricity.

An investment today in a commercial garbage disposal will pay dividends for your business down the road. Over the life of the dis-posal you’re going to save on trash removal costs. More important-ly, you’ll reduce pressure on landfills, slow greenhouse gas emissions, and maybe even help make some recycled fertilizer. That’s a win-win for any restaurant.

REDUCE WASTE WITH A GARBAGE DISPOSAL