Support local, green dining and join in the conversations of fellow environmentalists and sustainable living advocates. The second Wednesday of each month will feature a new GDA-certified establishment for happy hour. STL Green Drinks will be hosting their November happy hour at GDA-certified The Blue Duck in Maplewood.  We had a great turn out at Salt+Smoke last month and hope to see you next week at the The Blue Duck!

When: Wednesday, November 9th (6-8pm)

Location: The Blue Duck (2661 Sutton Blvd, Maplewood, MO 63143)

The 2023 GDA Passport will be available for purchase on Giving Tuesday, November 29th. The passport will feature 20 GDA members and is sponsored by Straight Up Solar, Black Rock Consulting, and Redbud Consulting. The GDA Passport offers are valid for 2023 and can be redeemed starting January 1st.

Special thanks to the 2023 participating GDA members:

The Blue Duck • Buzz's Hawaiian Grill • Crispy Edge • Crushed Red (Clayton) • Crushed Red (Kirkwood) • Flavor360 • Kitchen House Coffee • Living Room • Old Bakery Brewing Co. • Pat Connolly Tavern • Perennial Artisan Ales • Pizza Head • The Post (Creve Coeur) • The Post (Maplewood) • SqWire's • Wolf Café   • Confluence Kombucha • Gezellig Taphouse • Pie Guy • Retreat Gastropub

Retreat Gastropub is a modern yet rustic American pub located in the Central West End bordering the Cortex Business District which has created a funding program covering the certification fee for any new GDA members. Thank you Colleen Autry, Cortex Sustainability Director, for making that happen! The gastropub creates fresh food made from scratch, and offers an extensive list of local beers and unique craft cocktails in a warm and cozy atmosphere.

The smash burgers are a hit, but you can find plenty of vegetarian and vegan options like the fried Brussels sprouts or yellow curry bowl. Retreat Gastropub handles food waste like a pro. Food scraps are used in vegetable stock, supplemented into loaded Mac & Cheese options, and the smoked salmon dip features unused salmon that the chef can’t cut for the seared salmon filets. Any remaining leftovers at the end of the week go into the family meal for the staff on Tuesdays.  Any fresh squeezed juices from the bar that can no longer be used in cocktails gets a new life for sauces and glazes in the kitchen.

Come to Retreat Gastropub for a quick lunch, a couple of drinks, or a 4-course meal, and leave with memorable tastes and a full-service experience.

Hours: Mon/Thurs/Sun from 4-9pm and Friday/Saturday from 4-10pm. 

Wasabi Sushi Bar in the Cortex district is your sustainable destination for sushi and seafood.  One of Cortex’s first GDA certified restaurants also took advantage of the Cortex Business District GDA funding program. The sushi bar features fully LED implemented lighting, EV charging stations, a white roof, and Energy Star kitchen appliances. They've invested in a lot of efficient heating and cooling practices including: plastic curtain strips and calibrated thermostats in walk-ins, ceiling fans, smart thermostats, thermal windows, and high efficiency HVAC systems.

Wasabi sources sustainable seafood options from Fortune Fish when possible and is currently looking into sourcing rice from Heritage Rice Company in southern Missouri. Their menu features several vegan and vegetarian options, organic teas, and several local craft beers.

In our audit we discovered a massive amount of used seaweed containers that had been repurposed for several different organizational uses throughout the restaurant. Way to REUSE!

Hours: Mon – Thu: 11a – 9p, Fri – Sat: 11a – 10p, Sun: 4p – 9p

$6 Roll Night • Tue: 3p – Close

Happy Hour • Mon & Wed – Fri:  3 – 5:30p

Reducing Food Waste in the Restaurant Industry

Research shows between 4% - 10% of food purchased by restaurants never gets to customers, totaling approximately $1,000 of the company’s revenue per 3.3lb of food waste.

Main Causes of Restaurant Food Waste

• Spoilage: Common examples include improper refrigeration, over-ordering, and poor restaurant inventory management methods.
• Miscalculated Portions: Incorrect or inconsistent kitchen training can lead to larger portion sizes than planned.
• Food Spillage: dropped plates of food, servers falling, cooks knocking over food products. No matter how small, the losses add up.
• Refires: when a plate of food is rejected and sent back because it needed to be remade due to it being the wrong order or being cold

Ways to Combat Food Waste in Restaurants (Read the Toast Article for more details)

Conduct Waste Audit • Start Food Waste Journal • Order to Par • Implement Policies • FIFO • Inventory DOH • Recipe Log MGMT • Use a Food Waste Tracker/Log • Proper Storage  • Multi-use Menu Items • Seasonal Food Trends • Weekly Special • Staff Meals 

Even if you feel confident that your business has little or no food waste, I encourage you to continue to practice the methods listed above. Please reach out to the GDA Manager if you are interested in implementing a food waste log or are interested in a food waste audit. Click the images to the right and buttons below for resources and instructions on how to combat food waste.