Eat Fresh and Healthy in California's
Silverado Resort
Napa
Valley's Silverado
Resort has added Certified Angus Natural Beef (CAB Natural Beef) to its sustainable
cuisine offerings in the acclaimed Royal Oak and Terrace Restaurants. Executive
chef Peter Pahk made the just a few weeks after the beef became available in the
United States.
The Silverado Resort is the sole location in Napa Valley to offer the Angus-type
cattle, which is raised without supplemental hormones, antibiotics or animal byproducts.
The beef must meet premium quality standards confirmed by USDA graders before
it earns the CAB Natural name.
We
believe it is critical to offer food that is produced in a way that is not only
good for the environment but also humane for the animal," said Chef Pahk.
The Silverado
Resort has earned a reputation as a leader in sustainable cuisine. It is the only
resort in Napa Valley to become a member of the Chef's Collaborative, a national
network of more than 1,000 members of the food community who promote sustainable
cuisine. The Chef's Collaborative educates chefs and consumers about local sustainable
products and practices and also works to improve the quality and taste of sustainable
food products.
The Silverado Resort has been enhancing its sustainable cuisine offerings for
several years. In 2001, the resort introduced an aggressive seafood policy that
promoted the use of sustainable seafood in the Royal Oak restaurant. The resort
began recommending to its patrons fish from Marine Stewardship Council-certified
sustainable fisheries and those that were harvested using sustainable practices,
following guidelines developed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch protocol
and the Audubon Society's Living Oceans Seafood Guide. In addition, the resort
stopped serving four species of seafood – Chilean Sea Bass, Atlantic Swordfish,
Blue Fin Tuna and Shark - because the survival of those species is threatened
by over-fishing, or they are harvested in ways that damage the environment.
"It is our goal to not only serve environmentally appropriate cuisine offerings
but also to educate our guests and employees about the reasons behind those decisions,"
said Chef Pahk. "Balancing availability, food cost and guest preferences
is always a challenge, but we have found that our guests are particularly receptive
when we explain that the choices they make can directly affect the health of the
planet."
The
Silverado Resort's sustainable cuisine practices now include:
-
Serving wild
Alaska salmon instead of farmed salmon. The resort's operator, Xanterra Parks & Resorts, was the first U.S. hospitality
company to be granted the "Chain of Custody" certification from the
Marine Stewardship Council. This important certification guarantees all wild Alaska
salmon menu items can be traced to their source, assuring consumers that the salmon
is from a fishery that has met the Marine Stewardship Council's stringent environmental
standards.
-
Becoming a member of the Chef's Collaborative.
-
Featuring Snake River Farms Kurobuta Pork and Kobe-style Beef. Both products are
produced using all-natural production methods. American Kurobuta Pork is raised
on small family farms in the Midwest using no extenders, sodium or added water.
Kobe Beef cattle are raised in a natural environment and fed a varied diet of
barley, golden wheat, straw, alfalfa hay and Idaho potatoes. Their feeding program
runs three times longer than traditional beef and is hormone free.
-
Serving wine produced by members of the Napa Sustainable Wine Growers, a group
of winemakers in Napa Valley who adhere to a variety of strict sustainable practices.
-
Serving
abalone produced by Abalone Farm, a California facility that uses state-of-the-art
sustainable practices. Due to the rapid decline in the coastal wild abalone population,
commercial abalone diving is illegal in U.S. waters. Abalone Farm operates an
aquaculture facility that grows abalone without harming the earth's natural resources.
-
Implementing a Foodservice Energy Awareness Program that teaches all of the resort's
food service employees to participate in energy conservation in a variety of ways.
-
Developing
a Green Procurement program to ensure all paper products and chemicals used in
the company's food service operations are environmentally sound. As part of the
Xanterra's Ecologix environmental management system, all food service operations
also participate fully in recycling and waste reduction programs.
Xanterra Parks & Resorts operates lodges, restaurants and other
concessions at national parks and state parks and resorts. Xanterra is the country's
largest national park concessioner. The company operates concessions in the following
locations: Yellowstone National Park, the North and South Rims of Grand Canyon
National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Crater Lake National
Park, Death Valley National Park, Petrified Forest National Park, Everglades National
Park, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial; and at the Silverado Resort in Napa,
Calif.; Gideon Putnam Resort & Spa in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. and eight Ohio
State Parks.
Long
committed to the preservation and protection of the environment, Ecologix, Xanterra's
environmental program, includes a variety of proactive environmental stewardship
programs in each location. Xanterra was selected as a member of the EPA "Environmental
Performance Track" program in 2003. Also in 2003, the company's Grand Canyon
operations received the Arizona Tourism Award for Preservation and its operations
in Mount Rushmore received the prestigious ISO 14001 Environmental Management
System Standard Certification. Xanterra was the recipient of Environmental Achievement
Awards from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2002 and from the Department
of Interior in 2001 and 2002. Xanterra also received the Travel Industry Association's
Odyssey Award for its environmental initiatives in 2001.
For
more information about Xanterra and links to individual properties, visit: www.xanterra.com. |