How green is your restaurant?
From http://www.mycentraljersey.com
CENTRAL JERSEY —
As many restaurants in New Jersey embrace a culinary philosophy of cooking with locally grown/ locally produced, organic ingredients, some are taking the extra step of becoming certified by the Green Restaurant Association. The national organization, based in Boston since 1990, helps food businesses become more environmentally sustainable … and helps the public identify restaurants that are committed to sustainability, not only on their menus, but in their complete operations.Recently, Fresh, a Basking Ridge restaurant that opened at the end of 2008 with a casual dining menu and positioned itself as a healthy alternative to fast food, became the latest of only seven restaurants in the state to be certified by the GRA, and the first in Somerset County.
"The physical restaurant is an extension of our food philosophy, and certification allows us to communicate our level of commitment to customers,'' says Fresh co-owner Erik Wolfe. "We have customers that choose us because of our approach to both the food and what we stand for … We didn't want to scare away the foodies, but we also wanted to let our environmentally conscious customers know that we walk the talk.''
Walking the talk means, to the GRA, that each restaurant it certifies has set up recycling programs, posted educational signage on site, connected with local farm sources and acquired the necessary equipment to carry out sustainable operations, among other criteria.
To be certified, a restaurant must accumulate at least 100 points, which are awarded for such checklist items as water efficiency, waste reduction, having sustainable furnishings and building materials, serving sustainable food, energy use and reducing chemicals and pollution. Each year of certification requires re-education and re-evaluation.
Fresh completely renovated a former Dairy Queen before it moved in, installing sustainably raised and harvest bamboo flooring and recycled quartz countertops, painting the walls with formaldehyde-free paint and decorating with farmhouse-style shutters reclaimed from the historic Mohonk Mountain House in the Catskills. Its coffee mugs and even its pens are made of recycled materials.
The menu, featuring natural spins on such popular dishes as cheeseburgers, pulled pork and grilled cheese sandwiches, Cobb salad, chicken salad and French fries, is adjusted for seasonal availability of local farmers' products, because that's "what it means to operate a green restaurant,'' Wolfe says.
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Avi & I picked amazing strawberries today in Hillsborough at Sunhaven farms. Only 17 miles away, they've got super ripe strawberries grown all naturally. We picked early this afternoon, half are working on the stove top now becoming jam - other half becoming strawberry shortcake. 
