quality food and supporting local farmers.
”
aBi Justice ’04
we’re “ committed to
They could be restaurants in their own right, but they’re actually stations (also referred to as “venues” or “concepts”) at the three oncampus dining halls run by Bon Appétit. Brian Krellenstein, who opened Austin’s Roaring Fork and Jasper’s restaurants before becoming the head chef at St. Edward’s, creates menus revised seasonally to incorporate the most local ingredients possible. He bases these offerings on a set of 21 core “Kitchen Principles,” like using meat that’s hormone- and antibioticfree, locally grown veggies, from-scratch
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aBi Justice ’04
aBi Justice ’04
— Brian Krellenstein Bon Appétit chef
sauces, dolphin-safe tuna, eggs from cagefree hens, and few if any trans fats. A culinary philosophy like that is rare in a country where more than 20 percent of people are obese, many foods contain questionable acronyms like HFCS and MSG, and greenhouse-gas-emitting boats and planes deliver fruits and vegetables from faraway. Bon Appétit set out to shatter that status quo when it launched in 1987 with the mission to buy food local, make it fresh and do it responsibly. “Bon Appétit has principles,” says diana stevie,
the company’s director of operations and marketing on campus. “And we take great care in fulfilling our responsibilities.” In late September Krellenstein committed his staff of 65 to meet the Eat Local Challenge. Preparing a dish made with ingredients from within a 150-mile radius during the Texas drought wasn’t easy, but he says it was worth the effort. “This isn’t the restaurant business — we’re not concerned with making money,” he says. “We’re committed to quality food and supporting local farmers,” he says.