As Kermit the Frog said, “It’s not easy being green!”. At Rendezvous, while we sympathize with our friend Kermit, we try our best! Here’s a list of green initiatives we’ve pursued at the restaurant and some of the eco-friendly attributes we’re especially proud of:
1. Steve doesn’t own a car and commutes to work all year ’round on bicycle.
2. 85% of our employees commute to work either by using public transportation, bicycles or walking.
3. We occupy a relatively green building: built of concrete block on concrete slab foundation, it stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer.† As a result our energy use for heating and cooling is remarkably low.
4. We changed all of our light fixtures to low energy use bulbs, in the dining room as well as in the kitchen, and we use rheostats wherever applicable.
5. We separate our trash, use recycling programs for glass, plastic and cardboard, and compost the rest! We use the minimum number possible of truck pick-ups per week.
6. We’ve de-emphasized the use of bottled water, and our guests agree!
7. We purchase as much of our food as possible from local farmers and fishermen, which results in short distances traveled for many of our deliveries.
8. We grow many of the herbs we use in our kitchen in our own rooftop garden. This container garden is watered by the condensation from our air-conditioning units throughout the summer and therefore requires virtually no use whatsoever of extra watering by garden hose! Rainwater is also gathered to supplement this convenient system during the spring and fall seasons. The containers are made of bean crates from vegetable deliveries, lined with cardboard from delivery boxes, filled with dirt provided by our organic farmer friends, and this dirt is nourished by our own kitchen compost pile.
9.† Many wines on our list come from organic or bio-dynamic producers.
10. We buy bread from our friends at Iggy’s Bakery, organic bakers.
11. Most of our paper supplies are made from recycled paper.
12. Our table tops are made of bamboo.
Cynthia A.
2
Dear Manager,
I am a customer in Boston that cares greatly about the environment and would like to see your restaurant become a Certified Green RestaurantÆ just like Boloco, Upstairs on the Square, and other area restaurants have done.
The steps that your restaurant has already taken to care for the environment are great and I feel that this Certification would take your steps even further into the next level.
Thank you for caring,
Cynthia A.
rendezvous
2
Cynthia – Thanks very much for your comment. In response to your suggestion about green certification, we have looked into that and decided not to pursue it. In order to obtain certification by the Green Restaurant Association, which is a consulting business, you need to hire and pay them to provide you with their handbook, comply with their checklists and have them send you a sticker for your front window or for use of their logo on your website.
We discovered in our research that we already knew about most of their ideas, and the rest we could figure out and pursue on our own. While I would agree with you that anything that promotes environmentally-conscious business practices would probably be a good thing, we didn’t feel the need to shell out the several thousand dollars they quoted us as their consultation fee!
Anybody who knows us well understands that we are constantly working on ways to improve our restaurant in this regard. And I congratulate you for being so vigilant on this subject!
Steve & Tammy Brignoli
2
We have eaten at Louis XV, Alain-Ducasse/Le Bernadin, Eric Ripert, etc…We love amazing food and we love your restaurant!!!!! Fresh like coastal European cuisine-great wine selection-very courteous staff-nice setting. You were our first restaurant we ate at in Cambridge, and we are always back for more. Steve Johnson always greats his customers, and his staff takes ownership of their service and it is genuine. Pricing: could easily be %20 more (home grown/local organic)but it is not. A couple with wine is under $150.00. We love the food in the North End: Bricco, Mare, etc but for the price, proximity, and peace of mind – je prÈfËre le rendez-vous…
rendezvous
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Very kind of you!
Judi Neu
1
Hi Steve,
What a great article/interview in today’s Globe. We always knew you were a great guy, but it’s fun that all of Boston will know too, as of today!! We were in last week, missed you, but were told you were being interviewed for the article so we were on the look-out for it. Congratulations and we’ll see you soon!
Judi and Carlos
veganf
1
Are there options available for vegetarian customers? I eat a vegan diet myself, would my needs be accommodated? After all, it’s the ultimate green diet.
rendezvous
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Several vegetarian options available, and a couple of vegan options. A couple other dishes are easily adapted to satisfy your preferences.