After seeing a dramatic fluctuation on my electric bill from season to season I decided to seek ways to better manage that energy consumption. I was introduced to the e-monitor C series for Business. The system practically tells you where your money is going, when and how much of it. the way it works is by installing sensors in every breaker and then reporting specific energy consumption by breaker to a database that gets updated via wifi through the internet. You are able to produce KWH consumption reports, recommendations, etc. The first week we installed we found a compressor working more than it should be consuming unnecessary electricity, as we found it was not vented properly.  My freezer is the N-1 consumer during the winter and I am forecasting that my AC will be during the summer. By looking at the data I am already thinking on ways of minimizing energy consumption for the freezer, we checked gaskets, we have the cooltrol installed, we keep looking. We can control behavior when Staff uses equipment, and ventilation system, we could determine exactly at what time the kitchen exhaust was turned on and if it was necessary or not. We are now looking for ways to implement motors for out kitchen exhaust that are on demand so we can modulate kwh consumtion. http://www.powerhousedynamics.com/reduce-commercial-energy-costs/

Exactly year ago I planned a presentation for the New England Food Service Show and the Boston Seafood Show, I was playing around with QR Codes to the point of making them edible, using branding irons to stamp them in a flour tortilla, printing chocolates and developing a silk screen with the use of  Squid ink to place a QR code , the first attempt was a success, I was able to pinpoint a specific URL with the recipe of a Lobster Causa, the first dish was the Causa QR, a fantasy of connecting a diner with the source of what they were actually eating. As I was developing the idea I met Chef Rich Garcia of 606 Congress and introduced me to Trace and Trust,  an organization that helps small fisherman through technology to connect with Chefs and Customers. I met with the developers of trace and trust and explained that I was working on QR codes and wanted to do a presentation where we could trace a specific fish and showcase the fisherman, immediately I was connected with Steve Arnold, a fisherman from Point Judith RI, and started to plan our presentation. We created a code designed by a french artist (Benoit Dupard) that was not the normal scary black and white doted code, this one had small fish and had a unique shape, we then successfully presented to the public a revolutionary method to trace fish and support local fisherman. We are happy to see the evolution of Trace and Trust in a year, with more chefs connecting with local fisherman and buying traceable, super fresh fish. For more information about trace and trust go to www.traceantrust.com

About 3 months ago we were offered a rebate program from NSTAR through National Resources Management, the rebate was for about 70% of the cost of the project and an offer to finance the 30% at no interest. Our new system will save an average of $400 per year in electricity and works by turning the evaporator to run 25% to 80% less saving electricity and reducing compressor run time. For more info visit www.nrminc.com

Through a matching program we are pleased to announce that 100% of the energy we will be using from December 2011 on will be Renewable from NewMix Wind Source and provided by Constellation Energy. This change represents an great step in our continuing effort to build a more sustainable hospitality industry. As of today we are also looking forward to our ISO 14001 certification, http://www.constellation.com/EnergyMatters/RenewableEnergy/Pages/RenewableEnergyOverview.aspx

For a while we have been using Morgan Linen Service as our laundry service for the restaurant. Our decision to change companies is part of the process of greening our restaurant also from the upstream side. We want to support providers that have considered certifications or have achieve certain accolades for their Eco-friendly work. Morgan is a Certified  Laundry Environmental Stewardship Program. Some of the results of the program are 40% reduction of pollutants discharged, 13% reduction of water used, 11% reduction of energy usage, and significant substitution of environmentally friendly wash chemicals. To learn more about LESP go to http://www.laundryesp.com/media.asp

Yesterday Taranta hosted one of many seminars that The Educational Foundation of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association offers. The seminar was geared to restaurant owners that were interested on saving energy and benefiting form various rebate programs available for small Business. Sponsored by MassSave in junction with renew Boston and the Sustainable Business Network. Presenters were Michael Pace, Lead Engineer from National Grid, Lisa Hadaya from NSTAR, Joseph Walsh, Manager of Renew Boston, and Jose Duarte of Taranta.

Every year MassRecycle recognizes a select group of individuals, businesses, municipalities and organizations for their leadership and innovation in promoting recycling and waste reduction by presenting them with the “Green Binnie’ Recycling Award. Winners are selected through a peer review process and Taranta was selected among all the nominees because of the significant contribution  made to increase recycling and reducing waste. We are proud to received this award as it motivates us to continuing with our Ecofriendly efforts.

Last Monday we did our first field trip with our Staff to the place we send our recyclable products, food waste and biodegradables.  Our restaurant Staff has been separating all the waste and as a part of the process of understanding the reason why we do that, I decided to organize a field trip visiting Save That Stuff in Charlestown  and Brick End Farms in North Hamilton. We met Adam Mitchell  Ian Lavery giving us a tour of the facility and were amazed by the amount of cardboard and paper waste that can be recycled, as well as plastic,  glass and metal.  We drove about 1/2 hour and arrived to Brick Ends Farm, a site that receives all the food waste, yard trimmings,  etc. We learned how they “cook” compost, using wood chips and yard wast on a 1 to 1 ratio with restaurant food waste, they mix it and turn it for about 10 months and the result is a very nutritious compost that is used in Agriculture and Landscaping. During the process thermophilic microorganisms generate  heat that  can reach up to 160 F. We met Mike, a farmer that leases land at Brick Ends and utilizes the compost to nurture his crops, his farm First Light Farm was the highlight of our experience, meeting him and walking the fields literally eating fennel, carrots, second sprout broccoli and kale was just amazing. We couldn’t resist to ask him if  we could harvest some Leeks, Carrots, Celery, Cilantro and Fennel and bring it back to the restaurant. After this very educational experience we understand the importance of what we do and how good it make us feel!!  Next… an experiment cooking in the compost pile using Sous Vide Bags, perhaps a some short ribs, cooked over 10 hours….. If anyone is ever interested on organizing a trip to visit the Farm, and have lunch or early dinner with products from the farm just let us know, we will be more that happy to arrange this for you.

Carapelli Olive Oil and their all natural and Organic oils are supporting our Earth Day Celebration at Taranta. From April 22 to April 25, we have designed a 4 course tasting menu featuring Carapelli, cost per person in $49 not including beverages, tax and gratuity. All table must participate and reservations are required. For menu information click here

We have changed our Natura machine for a Naturizzata Italian water filtration system by Sidea, we had some issues with Natura and we were approached by Atlas Water System that is representing the Naturizzata machines, producing the best alternative to bottled water. No carbon footprint, we reuse the bottles and the system has a UV Light that assures a delicious taste. A super sustainable product, besides saving space and eliminating the recycling of a glass bottle, the system is a win win for a restaurant. For more information about the system click here