Going Green

Glass jar repurposed, with wild flowers

We are Going Green at Watson Lake Inn.

We are half way through the year 2017, and it occurred to me to review the National Restaurant Association survey of professional chefs, members of the American Culinary Federation (ACF), to explore food and beverage trends at restaurants in the coming (2017) year. The annual “What’s Hot” list gives a peak into which food, beverages, and culinary themes they predicted will be the new items on restaurant menus in 2017.

Of the top ten concept trends – five are relating to local sourcing of produce and proteins, natural ingredients, food waste reduction and environmental sustainability. According to the survey, menu trends that will be heating up in 2017 include poke, house-made charcuterie, street food and ramen.

All topics I felt very passionate about for years already and it’s a natural progression that we are Going Green at Watson Lake Inn.

Our Vision at the Bed & Breakfast is, in addition to promoting bold flavors and innovative presentations, as follows: Dedicated to artisanal producers, many of whom are preserving valuable traditions; to local growers, who enrich our communities by providing our restaurants and farmers’ markets with distinctive, delicious, seasonal produce; to all who work toward sustainable agriculture and aquaculture and well-managed fisheries; to conservation practices that lessen our impact on the environment.

Watson Lake Inn food & beverage offers regional food with global inspired flavors and innovative presentations while supporting sustainable farming and fishing. We change our offerings to capture local harvests throughout the year to include ingredients as they become available and provide their very best flavor. We are already producing our own cheese, bread and jams; And are in the process of setting up our curing operation to produce bacon, pancetta, and air dried meats and sausages.

As we continue to define our overall concept, we are looking for ways to integrate not only local foods in our creations but also other unique ideas. In our efforts to become more considerate of our environment, we have eliminated bottled water and will process our own filtered table water for meals and rooms; We repurposed glass and bottles to decorative and functional flower vases; organic waste is being used to grow our sprouts, tomatoes, chilies and herbs to name a few; plastic jars are recycled to water containers; and we are in the process of replacing high maintenance landscape for Xeriscape plants; Cardboard is being separated and earmarked for our planned chicken coop operation.

As we grow our operation, we will focus on culinary education and seek out more opportunities to be more considerate to the world we live in and be supportive to the community.

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