When: October 18th,  6-8pm   

Location: Salt + Smoke on Hampton (5625 Hampton Ave, St. Louis, MO 63139) *Upstairs in the Bovine Room

Support local, green dining and join in the conversations of fellow environmentalists and sustainable living advocates.  STL Green Drinks will be hosting their October happy hour at GDA certified Salt+Smoke on Hampton.  Each month will feature a new GDA certified establishment for the happy hour. If you feel your establishment would be a great space to host a STL Green Drinks happy hour, please contact the GDA Manager: Ben@earthday-365.org.

We welcome Buzz's Hawaiian Grill to the Green Dining Alliance.  The new Tower Grove East brick and mortar location brings Hawaiian cuisine and culture to St. Louis with food, music, décor, and dancing! When asked where Buzz got the inspiration for his menu and sustainability, he warmly replied, "Hawaiian culture. This is how life is in Hawaii." 

The menu is inspired by authentic Hawaiian family recipes and offers plenty of vegetarian and vegan options such as Lumpia spring rolls. "The carrots, cabbage, and bean sprouts were so flavorful we took the meat out and no one noticed" says Buzz in converting the spring rolls into a vegetarian option only. The Somen salad is another popular vegan dish to try.

Local favorites include the Tuna Poke Bowl and Musubi. Musubi is a family recipe, made with a layer of rice sprinkled with Nori Furikake (rice seasoning), a slice of Teri marinated SPAM grilled to caramelize the marinade, a slice of sweet egg pancake all wrapped in a sheet of Nori (sushi seaweed paper). The Tuna Poke Bowl sources line caught tuna from Norpac, a Honolulu based supplier. Buzz only sources sustainable seafood and uses resources like the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch AVOID list when sourcing seafood. Having lived in Hawaii for several years (he moved to St. Louis from Honolulu in 1986), he knows the effect that litter and plastics have on the ocean, which is why all of his bowls, plates, cutlery, napkins, and straws are compostable. He even uses all canned drinks (including water!) for beverage service and has little to no disposable plastic waste.

Buzz loves bringing an authentic slice of Hawaiian culture to STL and enjoys seeing kids trying dishes they've never experienced before and coming back for seconds. Be sure to follow them on social media to hear about upcoming specials and events. Buzz's Hawaiian Grill, located next to Tick Tock Tavern, hours below:

Thu 4:00 pm – 09:00 pm

Fri 4:00 pm – 11:00 pm (pickup after 9pm at Tick Tock)

Sat 4:00 pm – 11:00 pm (pickup after 9pm at Tick Tock)

Sun 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Beyond Plastics: A Restaurant Guide to

Reducing Plastic Usage

It's no secret that plastic is bad for the environment and our health.  It's cheap, effective, customizable, and typically always available. However, if you're using plastics for dine-in service, they are negatively impacting your costs, customer experience, and surrounding community environment. Inclusion of any disposable plastic cutlery, napkins, etc. for to-go orders should only be given if it is requested either verbally or manually selected as an option for online orders. This simple step can also save money and keep plastics out of our waste streams. 70% of plastic food and beverage containers are heading into our water ways. earthday365 and GDA will be launching the Kind Box program to help implement a reusable container system for the St. Louis region.  The soft launch will feature GDA members Crispy Edge and The Royale. 

If you are currently using plastic ramekins for dine-in service consider the financial savings of switching to reusable ramekins. You can save over a $1000 a year just by switching from plastic disposable ramekins to metal or ceramic reusable ramekins.  The investment pays for itself in 2 months if you go through at least 50 plastic ramekins a day for service. Beyond Plastic has created a thorough report which covers the true costs of using plastics and provides case studies and tools to show the cost savings from switching to reusable containers. Beyond Plastic will be hosting a webinar for restaurants Oct. 3rd at 1pm central time. The report includes case studies, resources and numerous tips on how to reduce your plastic footprint. Click the buttons below to view the whole report and to sign up for the Oct. 3rd webinar on reducing plastic consumption at restaurants. I hope you can attend!