Small Green Business Tuesday: Contest Edition

Last week, when I was contacted about doing a contest for the two local restaurants, Sonoma Grille and Seviche, I scoffed. What could these downtown restaurants have to do with a "green" blog? Then I looked at their menus and talked to their chefs.

Seviche

When I asked about local foods, Mark, the chef at Seviche, pulled out his iPhone and brought up the extensive order form for Penn's Corner Farm Alliance. Though he complained that in order to get their great selection, you need to order early in the week. His backup choice is Green Grocer. He says that whenever he can he uses local foods in the restaurant. (As a side note, Mark told me a little known fact, most mushrooms in the United States are actually grown in Pennsylvania. So anyone who eats mushrooms is basically eating locally. Did you know that Penn State has a mushroom research program?) But back to the food, clearly a fish and mojito restaurant like Seviche can't survive only buying local meats and vegetables. However, if you order their salmon, you can rest assured that it is farmed sustainably. I can't assuage your doubts about the limes in the mojitos though. Even if you don't win the gift certificate, I recommend stopping by Seviche in downtown Pittsburgh for happy hour to try their drinks and tapas at a great price.

Sonoma Grille

Drew, the chef at Sonoma Grille, has a passion for local meats. In addition to using sustainably farmed salmon, he has also incorporated local beef and lamb on the menu. When he brought my partner and me a burger, he asked us to savor it. "Can't you just taste the grass? Cows are intended to eat grass." He's especially proud of his kitchen-made corned beef and swears by the grass-fed beef from Ron Gargasz. Drew says that when the restaurant changes their menu every season, he attempts to introduce another local item, but he has to do it slowly in order to insure that they stay in business. Green meats are not cheap. Randy, the wine guy who talks to everybody to insure they're having a good time, told us that 1/4 of their wine list is organic or sustainable and they even have a vegan wine offering. He gave us a few samples of these "green" wines. In particular, I recommend the Parducci "Sustainable Red" as a reasonable, tasty, feel-green wine on their menu. This Pittsburgh restaurant also has a great happy hour and one of the best wine selections in the area.

The Contest

Now, I'm pleased to announce the first ever "Green is Good" online contest. Leave a comment on this blog entry with your favorite local food (or place to eat it). Next Tuesday March 16, I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner of a $50 gift card good for each restaurant. May the luck of the Irish be with you!

*Disclaimer* I received a free, delicious tasting at these restaurants as part of this contest. I get free food. You get free food. We all win.