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The Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel features spectacular views of Boston’s historic harbor. It’s also the site of a food renaissance of sorts where they are buying locally grown produce, meat, seafood and dairy and incorporating them into the amazing dishes and menus at all their food service venues and functions.
Richard Garcia, the award winning Executive Chef for the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel and their signature restaurant, 606 Congress, is pleased to be a participating vendor at the 2012 Boston Local Food Festival which will be held on October 7th from 11am to 5 pm. One of the awards that Chef Garcia received was the Star Chefs Rising Star Award for his sustainability program. Chef Garcia specializes in using the freshest locally (or regionally) grown or produced foodstuffs he is able to acquire. Being part of a hotel chain gives the chef the advantage of greater buying power than a smaller, individual restaurant or café might have. Though, in the long run, everyone benefits as the support from larger companies helps to expand and grows the local markets which eventually brings prices down and increases the varieties of ingredients available. 606 Congress maintains a list of about 50 local vendors who supply the restaurant with everything from beef to tomatoes. One way the restaurant supports the local seafood industry is by utilizing Trace and Trust, an organization that:
“connects producers who take pride in what they raise or catch with chefs who take pride in what they serve — and diners everywhere with the source of their food.”
This allows diners to verify and review the area, method, and date of each catch. (They even provide pictures of the fishermen who caught the fish on their plate!) Chef Garcia, who is on the advisory board of Trace and Trust, says that the program will eventually expand to cover produce, dairy and meat production.
But as they say, the “proof is in the pudding” and Chef Garcia’s menu is loaded with tantalizing choices that fully explore his “modern farm cuisine with regional influences” and his dedication to fine regional new American cooking.
A glance at the menu reveals a serious commitment to fresh, healthful local food:
“…native oysters, a charcuterie selection of artisan meats and pates, Point Judith calamari, american prosciutto, Landaff tomme cheese, organic greens, market fresh vegetables, all-natural chicken, Archer Angus Farms Grass Fed Beef, Eva’s pea greens, local potato puree, seasonal market vegetables, native lobster, Berkshire pork…”
and the daily Fisherman’s Catch using only responsibly harvested local seafood are just some examples of the choices featured on 606 Congress’ dinner menu. They also have an extensive wine list as well as separate breakfast and lunch menus.
For the second year Chef Garcia and 606 Congress will be bringing some of Boston Harbor to the Rose Kennedy Greenway by serving a Raw Bar at the Boston Local Food Festival. You can bet that everything on it will be fresh, clean, wholesome, delicious and authenticated and certified by Trace and Trust.
This post was written by Stewart Wise of Goosefat, go check him out!