Green Options

Today’s post is by Kristen Honey, EDF Lorry Lokey Fellow.

Are sardines making a sustainable and sumptuous comeback? The Washington Post attempted to address this very question yesterday in a provocative article about the self-proclaimed “Sardinistas.” According to this group of nutritionists, environmentalists and foodie revolutionaries, the answer is a resounding “yes!”  Sardine advocates and cutting-edge green chefs like Dean Gold and David Myers are bringing this smelly canned food out of the cob-webbed cabinet corner and back into the kitchen in innovative new ways. Or they are trying to, at least.

Just recently, I had the privilege of attending a private luncheon with the Sardinistas at filmmaker Mark Shelley’s Sea Studios Foundation on Monterey’s Cannery Row.  The purpose of this luncheon was to highlight their recent efforts to promote sardines as a delicious and sustainable seafood choice.   What struck me was their point that while Americans love eating tuna and other steak-like fish, we need to eat fish farther down the food chain (like sardines) to help alleviate pressure at the top.

After talking shop, we had the chance to eat delectable canned, frozen and fresh sardine dishes by renowned chef Alton Brown of The Food Network!  If you don’t take my word for how tasty these creatures can be, try out for yourself these sardine-centric recipes for Sarde Arrosto (Griddle Roasted Sardines), Stuffed Sardines and Vuido (widowed potatoes).

As part of our Behind the Burner food series, I had the unbelievable opportunity to chat with John DeLucie, Executive Chef and Partner of one of New York City’s top celebrity hang outs, The Waverly Inn, a spot so exclusive, the dining is by invitation only.

Needless to say, this gastronomic gem has catered to the highest of high profile crowds, making it a venue to see and be seen while serving up some of the most extraordinary cuisine this side of Eden.  But thanks to the passion of Divya Gugnani, chef, foodie and founder of Behind The Burner, a website that brings the most coveted tips and trends in the culinary scene to the masses, dining like a star is as close as this blog post.

So, read on as we literally go Behind the Burner of the Waverly Inn and inside the creative mastermind that has turned dining into a red carpet event.  

William J. Garry, editor of Bon Appetit magazine in the September 1997 issue wrote:

The view is put forth that chefs, at least when they are at home or at play, are indeed much like everyone else: They have husbands and wives (or not), kids and dogs (or none), chores and hobbies, good times and bad times and even death and taxes and cable TV.

So far, I don’t disagree. I’ll even go further: Most chefs of my acquaintance are certifiable members of Homo Sapiens, though I have met some who would give Professor Darwin pause. And most chefs put on their white tunics one arm at a time: the fact that those tunics bear more than a passing resemblance to straitjackets is probably not worth mentioning. Without the tunics and the silly hats, most chefs look quite normal.

But they aren’t. They’re different. They’re a breed apart. And they’re mysterious.