Chipotle Mexican Grill - 2314 South Shore Center, Alameda CA 94501 (510) 337-1592

April 28, 2013 – We were so excited to visit Chipotle, our first visit to a restaurant at South Shore. Thanks to the Miss Alameda Says Compost Program, ACI, Jamestown (the property owners), Alameda Public Works, the Stopwaste Partnership, and Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda, all of the restaurants at South Shore Center are now recycling and composting. Yay!

To celebrate, we visited Chipotle and we had:

§  Bean, Cheese and Rice Burrito – Vera says it was really good, but hers exploded on her. Greta’s burrito also unfolded on her, but otherwise it was good. She gives it 3.5 starts out of 5.

§  Sofritas Bowl – Sofritas are shredded tofu and a really good vegan alternative to meat. The bowl is a huge portion which includes rice, beans, cheese and veggies.

§  Guacamole, salsa and chips – These are really good at Chipotle. Yum!

Compost report – Chipotle is doing a really great job with recycling and composting in the back of the house. In the dining room you can recycle your bottles and cans, but they are still working on recycling and composting stations for folks that eat in. We brought all of our stuff home to recycle and compost because at Chipotle you can have Zero Waste!

Dragon Rouge Vietnamese Bistro - 2337 Blanding Ave. Alameda CA 94501 (510) 521-1800

April 13, 2013 - So, we skipped Chipotle and Daphne’s this week because on Monday, April 15^th, all eleven restaurants at South Shore will be joining the MASC program. Woo-hoo!  We thought it would be better to let them get started and check in with them next week.

Today we went to Dragon Rouge, which has been on the MASC program for several years and has been doing a great job recycling and composting even before they moved to their new location at Park Street Landing.

Their new(ish) location is in the old Aroma site, which has a beautiful view of the estuary and Park Street bridge (which went up to let a boat go by while we were there). We had been to Dragon Rouge before (they participated in the MASC restaurant crawl last year) and have ordered out from there many times. The food is great!

Vera was under the weather today, so seven of us showed up for a late lunch. We ate outside and it was lovely. Greta is trying out being a vegan for the next couple of weeks and Dragon Rouge has many vegan options. Not everyone in our party is vegan. Although, Linnea is swearing off red meat. We found out that is called a pollo-pesca-lacto-ovo-tarian.

We had:

§  Crispy calamari – The calamari was light and delicious and served with lemon wedges and a creamy dip with a little bit of kick.

§  Sautéed Tofu Vegetable Sandwich – Pepe ordered this as a departure from the tofu burgers that he makes every day for lunch (he has to travel to the Food Mill in Oakland to get the tofu burger mix in bulk). It was very good with lots of fresh vegetables, a little on the spicy side for him.

§  Lemongrass Curry Stir-fry Pork Sandwich – The pork was delicious and tender. The sandwich was filled with all kinds of vegetables including zucchini, carrots, red and green bell peppers, fresh jalapeños, onion and cucumber. It came with a curry potato soup – very creamy and flavorful. Evil Cousins IPA was a great accompaniment.

§  Dragon Fire Garlic Noodles with Prawns – Edday ordered this “medium spicy,” but thought it could use a little more kick. She added some pepper sauce and found the result delicious. The prawns were cooked perfectly (not too done, not too under done) and the garlic noodles were very good.

§  Dragon Fire Garlic Noodles with Sautéed Tofu Vegetables – Greta ordered this and passed on the parmesan cheese (as she is practicing veganism this week). Greta says, “I loved this wonderful platter. It had so many flavors in one dish. I would give it five out of five stars.”

§  Fresh Vermicelli Noodle Bowl with w/ Chicken, Prawns, & Pork Egg Roll – It was excellent - very fresh, lots of great vegetables.

§  Fresh Vermicelli Noodle Bowl with Sautéed Tofu Vegetables – Huge portion of fresh vermicelli with a huge variety of delicious fresh vegetables. Chili sauce and crushed peanuts on the side were a nice touch.

§  Chicken Pho – It was mild, but good and came with a big plate of bean spouts, basil, lime and fresh jalapeño.

Compost Report – We talked with our server about how the recycling and composting program is going. She said that it was going well and that the dishwashers were especially conscientious. Dragon Rouge is recycling 83 percent and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 19.5 metric tons per year. Yay!  

We know that you will enjoy Dragon Rouge at its great location at Park Street Landing. Make sure you tell them how impressed you are with the recycling and composting program.

Venus - 2327 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, California (510)540-5950

March 22, 2013 – Today the girls had off from school, so we went on a really cool tour as a part of Zero Waste Week with the Northern California Recycling Association [product placement]. First we went to the Davis Street Transfer Station in San Leandro, then to the DR3 Mattress Recycling warehouse in Oakland, then we went to lunch at the Saturn Café in Berkeley [we had potato leek soup, curry cauliflower soup, and vegan jalapeño sliders - yum!], then we went to the Berkeley Transfer Station, the El Cerrito Recycling Center, and we ended up at a huge party at Urban Ore.

Greta at the Berkeley Transfer Station

Vera at DR3 Mattress Recycling

Before the party, we had time to do a guest blog at Venus Restaurant in Berkeley. It was so awesome because Miss Alameda, Jessica Robinson, was along to help us!'

Greta, Vera and Miss Alameda at El Cerrito Recycling Center

We had:

§  Mount Lassen Rainbow Trout braised leeks, Brussels sprouts, white beans, preserved lemon vinaigrette – Greta says, “The trout was absolutely delicious and I loved the Brussels sprouts and the giant beans. I really enjoyed it. I give it five out of five stars.” The waitress said, “My mother would have loved it if I loved Brussels spouts that much!”

 

§  Roasted Butternut Squash Gnocchi roasted cauliflower, nettles, thyme crème, parmesan – Jen says, “The gnocchi was tender and delicious.”

§  Fish and Chips crispy potatoes, house made slaw, roulade – Vera says, “It was awesome, the mini potatoes were so cute and good.” Jessica says, “It reminds me of the first time I had fish and chips in Scotland with my father.”

The girls also had: blackberry lemonade – very delicious

The grownups also had: the Venus Bloody Mary, Pomegranate Mimosa, and a yummy Gimlet. All were great!

Compost Report – The best part was that Venus had just started up their new compost program in the dining room that day. So we took lots of pictures with Miss Alameda. We wonder if Miss Berkeley is as enthusiastic about composting.

Since we had been to Saturn and Venus that day, we stopped by Jupiter just to say we did.

China House Restaurant - 2328 Santa Clara Ave, Alameda CA 94501 (510) 521-2500

April 6, 2013 -- Today we are back in Alameda (after some guest blogging in Berkeley - stay tuned). We went to China House Restaurant which is a venerable old school Chinese restaurant upstairs at the corner of Santa Clara and Park. Some of us have been going to China House for over 30 years, but it's not in our usual rotation, so we had no specific expectations. We were psyched that they are now on the MASC program and are recycling and composting. Yay!

Five of us came for lunch and ordered six dishes (but we had to cancel one because we had too much food). The portions are enormous, so we had plenty to bring home to Jen and Kevin (who were taking a self-defense class at Team Silva Brazilian Jiujitsu [product placement]).  We had:

- Chicken and Corn Soup - This was very delicious (mostly because we were very hungry and it was on the house). Greta enjoyed it (avoiding the chicken, since she is a pescatarian).
- China House Tofu - Greta ordered this thinking it was vegetarian, but she was able to avoid the pork and loved the prawns. She says, "I really enjoyed it because the tofu was tender and soft and very enjoyable to eat."

- China House Chicken - Vera ordered this and the chicken had white sauce and the tofu had brown sauce. Otherwise they were very similar with lots of yummy vegetables.  Vera says, "It was delicious and I saved the biggest piece of chicken for last."
- Eggplant with Pork - Fred ordered this even though it wasn't on the menu. It was not quite what he was expecting, but very delicious.

- Salt and Pepper Fish - Deep fried and very crispy. It came with fried peppers and onions. This was Linnea's favorite. She says, "It was tender and not too salty. Kind of like fish and chips without the chips."
- Crispy String Beans with Black Bean Sauce - Everyone liked this, but we still had leftovers.

Greta loved the tea. She asked if there was a limit of how many cups she could have. Since neither of her parents were there, there was no limit and she had about five cups (don't tell).

Compost Report -- China House is on the MASC program! Yay! They are diverting 80 percent from landfills and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 15 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Please visit China House and enjoy some good old fashioned Chinese food and thank them for recycling and composting!

Chef's Wok - 1821 Webster Street, Alameda, CA 94501 – (510) 337-9388

March 10, 2013 – Chef’s Wok is one of the early adopters on the MASC program. They are recycling 83%, which is awesome! That translates into 41 tons diverted from landfills every year and over 44 metric tons of carbon emissions reduced each year. Chef’s Wok is a very popular dim sum restaurant. We went on a Sunday, but they serve dim sum from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day.

We love the food at Chef’s Wok and in answer to the question, “Would you rather have two trips to Chef’s Wok or one trip to Disneyland?” Greta says that she would select Chef’s Wok!

We had all of our favorite dim sum specialties:

§  Har gow (shrimp dumplings with a translucent wheat flour wrapper) – We had both shrimp and spinach har gow. Jen says, “They make an excellent har gow here. They were both really tasty.”

§  Shaomai (small steamed dumplings with prawns inside a thin wheat flour wrapper - topped off with crab roe and mushroom) – Jen likes these, “They are like little muffins.”

§  Pork bau (steamed fluffy buns made from wheat flour filled with sweet pork) - Greta (the pescatarian) says, “I had to make an exception (and eat pork) because they looked so delicious.” Linnea had thirds.

§  Lo mai gai (sticky rice with lotus leaf wrap) – Warm and sticky. Vera tried to eat the lotus leaf and found it not to her liking.  We told her to just eat the rice, which she liked.

§  Rice noodle with shrimp (and yummy sauce) – Vera says, “It was awesome!” This was everyone’s favorite.

§  Jin deui (chewy dough filled with red bean paste, rolled in sesame seeds, and deep fried) – We requested them specially because they are Greta’s favorite. The manager, Steven, brought us some on the house. THANKS!

Plus, we tried some new things:

§  Crispy pork belly – Served chilled. Very crispy.

§  Chinese doughnut – Big, fluffy and deep fried.

§  Fried shrimp dumplings – Folks in our party raved about it.

§  Fried rice – Different from standard fried rice, this one had seafood and peanuts.

Compost Report -- Chef’s Wok doing an awesome job at recycling and composting and they have one of the highest recycling rates in Alameda. We talked with Steven, the manager, and thanked him for composting. He said that the owner, Rick, is also considering getting solar!

Trinity Lutheran Church - 1323 Central Avenue, Alameda, CA 94501 - (510) 522-5220

March 2, 2013 – Today we went to the annual Crab Feed at Trinity Lutheran Church, so we had to blog about it. Many organizations in Alameda have crab feeds and the discarded shells can all be placed in the compost bins for collection from ACI. Trinity has been composting its crab shells for many years, but we don’t know about all of the other crab feeds. Sounds like a project for MASC!

 We had:

§  Green salad

§  Fresh bread (donated by Semifreddi’s – thanks!)

§  Potato salad (house-made with fresh Yukon gold potatoes selected by a professional green grocer, who also plays the flute at church)

§  All-you-can-eat crab! – The crab comes pre-cracked and chilled. At Trinity they serve it in reusable plastic buckets (Zero Waste) and provide little paper bags taped on the edge of the table at each place, so that you can dispose of your crab shells appropriately (and the whole bag is composted). The crab was wonderful. There are two types of crab pickers, those that pick their crab and eat it as they go along and others (like Greta and her cousin Elizabeth)  who pick a whole big pile of crab and eat it all at once. Each picker thinks their style is best.

§  Roast chicken – There is always an alternative menu item for those (like Pepe) that don’t prefer to pick their own crab. Pepe said it was excellent.

Compost Report – Trinity has taken part in the CASA (Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda) Faith-Based Initiative, which assists all faith organizations in Alameda to recycle and compost and reduce their carbon footprint. Trinity has formed a Green Committee which meets regularly to implement sustainability programs throughout the church community and to assist its congregation to undertake these practices at their homes and places of business. Trinity has been recycling and composting for many years and last year expanded recycling and composting in their sanctuary, fellowship hall, kitchens and restrooms (where paper towels are being diverted for composting). If your house of worship is interested in getting some help to expand recycling and composting contact CASA at info@casa-alameda.org.

China Gourmet - 2210 H South Shore Center, Alameda, CA 94501 – (510) 521-6337

February 19, 2013 – We had a rare weeknight outing because V&G’s folks went to see “Lincoln.” The movie is three hours long, so we had plenty of time to have a great Chinese meal. Somehow with all of the other good Chinese restaurants in town, China Gourmet had not been in our regular routine. China Gourmet is in the Southshore Shopping Center. We knew that Stopwaste and MASC were working on a project to expand recycling and composting through the whole complex. More on that later.

We had:

§  Salt & Pepper Calamari – We had heard about calamari on NPR’s “This American Life,” so we were relieved when it came out as calamari steaks, deep fried with salt & pepper. Greta says, “I liked the salt & pepper calamari because I already like calamari and since there were seasonings it tasted even better. I would give it five out of five stars.”

• Stir-fried Mixed Mushrooms – Several unusual types of mushrooms, stir-fried along with snow peas. Greta says, “The mushrooms tasted yummy. I especially liked the big stir-fried mushrooms because they had the most flavor out of them all. I also like the shiitake mushrooms.”

§  Crispy Fried Sole (deep fried and topped with soy sauce) – Vera says, “It had fish on both sides.” We ate all of the fish on one side and turned it over and had more fish on the other side. It was even saucier on the second side. Both Vera & Greta like to eat whole fish and often order it at Juanita’s. We looked around for the eyeballs (a treat), but couldn’t find them. Did you know that sole (like flounder) has both eyes on one side of its body?

§  Bok Choy – We ordered Bok Choy (to get some more veggies) which was steamed in a mild sauce. A nice accompaniment to the other spicy food.

§  Indonesian Fried Rice (curried fried rice with chicken, shrimp, pineapple cashews, and red pepper) – This was an unusual example of fried rice. Very tasty.

Compost Report – Jessica is working on getting all of Southshore optimized for recycling and composting. It is complicated because there are so many businesses and over 10 restaurants. Several of the larger anchor tenants (like Safeway and Trader Joe’s) have their own collection service and their own recycling and composting programs. But all of the smaller stores throughout the mall share recycling and trash service, so it will take some effort to increase recycling and add composting. China Gourmet cooks from scratch and so they have a lot of vegetable trimmings. We gave a MASC brochure to the manager and she took great interest in the program. She said that she would share the information with the owner.

So, check out the yummy Chinese food at China Gourmet. They even have a full bar (which is an extra bonus). Tell them that you are really looking forward to all the recycling and composting that they will be doing once the whole Southshore Center complex is maximizing recycling and composting.