The suppliers are pretty involved and active. Food suppliers are very aware that restaurant owners want locally sourced goods wherever possible and organic, cage-free, and grass-fed options are now expected. I think it’s become so expected in the industry that even traditional, broad-line distributors have started to carry products with that in mind. Does your commitment to green dining affect the vendors you choose to work with?Ĭhip: Not really. Louis to ever achieve certification by the Green Dining Alliance before we even opened our doors.įirecracker worked closely with the Green Dining Alliance to establish guidelines for sustainability before opening. Actually, Firecracker was the first restaurant in St. They make suggestions for things you can do that range from the easiest, low hanging kind of no-brainers to the more sophisticated stuff. What are the benefits of working with the Green Dining Alliance?Ĭhip: They come in and do an audit and give you a lot of advice in terms of guidelines. They were referred to us by the Green Dining Alliance. ![]() It’s so simple to just empty that into the bin and they come get it. I have my staff trained to throw food scraps into it and it’s super easy to do. Are you composting food waste at Firecracker?Ĭhip: Yeah! Total Organics Recycling provides a yellow bin. Lastly, I guess the other easy piece is composting food waste. It’s so much more advanced now that it’s really easy for a restaurant to get rid of plastic straws, plastic bags, and Styrofoam. It used to be so much more expensive and cost-prohibitive to purchase compostable items and even if they were affordable, they were sort of substandard in terms of quality. The business of manufacturing commodity items - paper goods, takeout containers, and things of that nature - has gotten much more sophisticated. Nowadays, it’s much more acceptable to eliminate straws. What advice would you give to a current bar or restaurant owner who wants to practice green dining at their establishment?Ĭhip: I think there are some obvious things you can do that are pretty easy. Instead of Styrofoam containers, diners take home leftovers in boxes made from recycled materials. Here at Firecracker, we opened up without anything plastic. I hoped with a new venture that we’d be able to bypass all of that and start doing it from the very beginning in a way that addressed a lot of the issues, like not using the best recycling practices. It’s hard once you entrench processes and methods that people get accustomed to. What inspired you to pursue green dining at Firecracker?Ĭhip: I think it was just learning and seeing the inefficiencies and the wastefulness of the vast, high-volume nightclub concert business over at Atomic Cowboy. ![]() We have 66 taps and a lot of restaurants only have eight or maybe 12 taps, so we’re able to represent all the beer styles and do it at a level that meets beer enthusiasts’ standards. Was that a concern of yours?Ĭhip: I think having taps works in our favor - not only from the recycling point of view, but as far as beer enthusiasts are concerned, they prefer draft beer anyway. I imagine one of the biggest concerns for restaurant owners is customer backlash. ![]() Glasses are washed and reused so nothing gets thrown out.įirecracker has a total of 66 beer taps and zero cans or bottles. The kegs go back, they get refilled with more beer, and there’s no waste in that process. At Firecracker, we endeavor to eliminate those issues completely because when you have 66 taps that all come in kegs, there’s no can or bottle in the delivery. Sometimes they go in the wrong dumpster, and then there are statistics that say the recycling system is not as efficient as it could be. Granted, we do recycle, but there’s a lot of human error in that process. At Atomic Cowboy, every night at three in the morning we dump many, many 55-gallon trash bags full of cans and bottles into a dumpster. Can you tell me about your team’s approach to providing a green dining experience at Firecracker?Ĭhip: I’ll start with my favorite recycling approach - to not recycle anything. We sat down with Chip to talk about his approach at his restaurants and to solicit advice for fellow restaurateurs.Ĭhip Schloss owns and operates Atomic Cowboy and Firecracker Pizza & Beer, both located in The Grove neighborhood in St. However, many owners aren’t sure where to start. Restaurants that emphasize green dining see benefits like lower overhead costs and more popularity with diners. After many years in the nightclub business, he saw the grand opening of his second venture as an opportunity to help reduce the restaurant industry’s waste by implementing environmentally friendly practices from day one. Chip Schloss is owner-impresario of Atomic Cowboy and Firecracker Pizza & Beer.
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