This Earth Day, let's take a moment to reflect on the changing nature of the restaurant news release.
There was a time when such releases hyped what was on the menu. Now they brag about the menu itself.
"All of B&O American Brasserie's menus, kitchen towels, to-go napkins and flatware are made from recycled materials and B&O American Brasserie has an in-house filtration system ... in order to eliminate selling bottled water," reads the news release for the sneaker-dinner deal I wrote about earlier today.
"The restaurant also offers an assortment of organic beverages including organic coffee and wines, is an advocate for environmentally friendly seafood and participates in the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program, pledging to buy seafood only from sustainable sources."
Elsewhere in the release, chef E. Michael Reidt is quoted saying: "On any given day, I estimate that nearly half of the food we work with and serve at B&O American Brasserie is organic. I fully support the farm-to-table movement and I think it's an important part of Earth Day."
It's great to see growing environmental awareness, especially when it leads to serving organic, local, sustainable foods.
But I wonder where the trend will take us. Maybe soon those recycled menus will have blurbs about the restaurant's compost pile.
Sun file photo