Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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BEING EASY GREEN IT'S NOT by catherine de orio PhotograPhy by eric ita Rick Moonen brought sustainable seafood to Las Vegas, Wolfgang Puck championed innovative dishes using seasonal produce, and the Mario Batali-Joe Bastianich team introduced the farmer's market concept to the desert. Now the old brigade of Vegas green-market visionaries has inspired a new generation of pioneering chefs. THE EDUCATORS: A AT BORDER GRILL, DINERS USE POCKET GUIDES TO CHOOSE HEALTHFUL SEAFOOD MEALS. SUSAN FENIGER & MARY SUE MILLIKEN conference at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in 2005 changed the way chefs Susan Feniger (left) and Mary Sue Milliken, the dynamic duo behind the successful Border Grill restaurants, thought about seafood. There, a gathering of top scientists spoke passionately of the oceanic reper- cussions of continually serving perennial favorites like Chilean sea bass and tuna. "It was eye-open- ing," Feniger says. "Here were all these people who cared about the ocean, and we as chefs were just naïve about it." Once home, the women decided that their restaurants would serve only sustainable seafood, according to the Aquarium's Seafood "As chefs, we felt like we needed to step up and take a leadership role," Milliken says. Since restau- rants are responsible for 70 percent of seafood consumption, that's a huge responsibility. "We have a voice out there, and we give back by educating and standing up for the things we believe are impor- tant," Feniger says. "We educate so that people can make their own choices." To make the information easier for diners to digest, they pass out Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch pocket guides. Enlightening diners on the pleasures of lesser- known, but flavorful, sustainable fish such as black cod and arctic char is just part of their mission. Watch program guidelines, and they committed While learning about sustainability, they became themselves to educating others. removal of high mercury-content tuna and sword- fish from the menu. "Once you have the information, it is hard to keep feeding people things you know are bad for their bodies," Milliken says, adding that such awareness made them more careful about other buying decisions. A quarter of their menu now offers "good for the planet, good for you" choices; at least 80 percent of those choices are plant-based with animal protein used as a flavoring or garnish, if at all. "We can't do everything, but we do our little part," Feniger says. Milliken adds, "We run the res- taurant the way we do our homes—we want to serve what we would serve our families, our friends." conscious of mercury levels in fish. This led to the What more can one ask? vegasmagazine.com 107