Pacci Ristorante, one of 45 chef-driven Kimpton Restaurants in the United States and Canada, announced three new sustainable initiatives to the restaurant’s EarthCare program. First, sustainable seafood dishes will be served in accordance with Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program. Additionally, 30 percent of Pacci’s wine list will feature eco-friendly selections by January 2010 and in-house purified water will be available through a national partnership with Natura® by July 2009, reducing disposable bottle usage. Each bottle sold will include a Kimpton contribution and an additional donation from Natura® to The Nature Conservancy.
By participating in the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Restaurant Program, Pacci Ristorante pledges not to serve items from the Seafood Watch “Avoid” list and has trained wait staff to be knowledgeable about seafood choices. These practices play an active role in the protection and health of ocean wildlife.
“This is a cause that I have been passionate about for a long time, and I find it extremely important to avoid serving seafood that is a product of environmentally-damaging practices such as overfishing, underwater dredging or by-catching,†said Keira Moritz, executive chef at Pacci Ristorante.
Sustainable seafood dishes at Pacci Ristorante include sea scallops with wild mushroom risotto and sweet pea nage ($26); P.E.I. mussels with garlic, basil, cherry tomato, corn butter and crostini ($8); shrimp fettucini with creamy pancetta sauce, sweet peas and fried egg ($9 for half, $18 for whole); Alaskan halibut with corn, fava beans, heirloom cherry tomatoes and olives ($25); and frutti di mare (seafood stew) with basil and lobster broth ($21). The restaurant’s mussels are farmed in an environmentally responsible way that does not affect the seafloor habitat. Additionally, Pacci’s Alaskan halibut is wild-caught as opposed to an overfished variety.
Already established EarthCare practices at Pacci Ristorante range from back-of-the-house recycling and fryer oil reuse to toxin-free kitchen cleaning chemicals, the elimination of Styrofoam to-go containers and low-flow plumbing.
