GREEN GIFT IDEAS: Let’s All Go Out to an Eco-Friendly Restaurant! Here are the Top 10 in the U.S.

December 11, 2008 in Green Gift Guide, Green Products, Organic Food by susan | 4 comments

By Susan Seliger

Do we need more stuff? No. But we all need to eat. And there’s no lovelier gift for friends and family than gathering everybody together – and NOT cooking. Dining out is definitely a splurge, but the beauty of this gift is that the giver gets to enjoy it, too. Naughty, but nice. And if that isn’t the holiday spirit, then you can just put a lump of coal under my Chanukah tree.

So pick an eco-friendly restaurant in your neighborhood, and tell everybody, this is our gift: Friendship, fun, family spirit – and FOOD. There’s no reason not to make it fine food, while you’re at it. So here are the Top 10 Eco-friendly Restaurants that Bon Appéti magazine picked for 2008, where the fish is line–caught, the meat grass–fed, birds are cage–free and the rest is local, sustainable, organic and all-around mouth-watering (and oh yes, healthy).

THE TOP 10 ECO-FRIENDLY RESTAURANTS
1. Primo – Rockland, Maine
2. Firefly Grill – Effingham, Illinois
3. Hook – Washington, D.C.
4. Ubuntu – Napa Valley, California
5. Café Cenizo – Marathon, Texas
6. The Kitchen – Boulder, Colorado
7. La Provence – Lacombe, Louisiana
8. Spoonriver – Minneapolis, Minnesota
9. Blue Velvet – Los Angeles, California
10. Local Burger – Lawrence, Kansas

If none of these are in your neighborhood, go to the Certified Green Restaurant Association and find places that have been certified as green – or are working towards those estimable goals.

For more always delicious food ideas, go to Bon Appetit.

(Photo Credit: Local Burger restaurant)

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  1. TheDiscerningBrute’s avatar

    TheDiscerningBrute on December 15, 2008 at 12:10 pm

    Do I spy a burger place on here? tisk, tisk! Every leading climatologist will tell you that meat production (whether free-range, organic, or not) is the numero uno cause of greenhouse gas emissions. Meat is simply not green, no matter the rationalization, no matter the justification. As environmentalists, we have a responsibility to be truthful to ourselves and the incredibly eager layperson who wants to be green, that as long as it’s an option (which it is for most people), a plant-based diet is the only ‘green’ diet. Hope you agree!

  2. susan’s avatar

    susan on December 19, 2008 at 1:12 pm

    Dear Discerning Brute,
    You are absolutely right — meat production is very hard on the environment. And I know what a discerning palette you have — so how about recommending some wonderful vegetarian restaurants for us omnivores — tell us what are some of your favorites??
    And thanks for stopping by — you’re doing a great job inyour blog –and helping this blog to expand its horizons, too.
    Hope to hear your recs —
    Susan

  3. The Discerning Brute’s avatar

    The Discerning Brute on December 19, 2008 at 5:34 pm

    Some of my favorites are:

    NYC – Candle79, Blossom, or for you raw lovers: Pure Food & Wine
    West Coast – Try Millennium in San Fran, Madeline Bistro in Tarzana (Los Angeles) or stop by the vegan mini-mall in Portland!
    South – Sublime in Ft Lauderdale, or Soul Veg in Atlanta

    There a literally thousands of veg places to eat in the US. All you have to do is find them! Fortunately, there’s a really great resource called HappyCow.net that lets you find veg restaurants anywhere in the world!

    Go green! Go veg!
    Joshua

  4. susan’s avatar

    susan on February 4, 2009 at 1:14 pm

    Dear Josh –
    Great recommendations — thanks so much. Always good to hear from you with your delicious, green ideas.
    be well,
    susan