News

October 5, 2009

'Following Flashes of Blinding Obviousness' Leads Kendall College to Greener Pastures

As a longtime chef, Chris Koetke can see the restaurant industry getting greener. As dean of Kendall College School of Culinary Arts, he's strapping a rocket to the process.

"I'm not part of the hemp-underwear group," says Koetke. "I look at our efforts very practically." Indeed, he says, the ongoing effort to make Kendall a greener facility has been a series of what he terms "flashes of blinding obviousness."

When the school relocated in 2005 to a new campus in downtown Chicago, Koetke and his team sought to instill green sensibilities in every aspect of the operation. The objective was not only to set an example, but also to teach a new generation of industry leaders to understand and promote sustainability. The effort prompted the National Restaurant Association in March to name Kendall as the educational partner of its Conserve sustainability initiative.

"What we want our students to do when they graduate is, ideally, be able to effect a change," says Koetke, the one-time chef of the acclaimed Le Francais in Wheeling, Ill. If they end up at a place that isn't following a green path, "at the very least, it should pain them. If we can build that into them, we'll see a real change in the business."

Part of that preparation is making the 600-student school a showcase for restaurant conservation practices. Every instructional kitchen has separate bins for recyclables, compostables, and whatever nonrecoverable trash is left. Stickers are placed strategically to draw attention to green choices, such as the off position of a light switch.

In addition, low-flow valves are affixed to the rinse hoses at dishwashing stations and kitchen spigots are fitted with aerators, but Koetke is exploring alternatives because the water-saving devices can increase the time needed to fill a pot.

Although the school uses recyclable or biodegradable materials wherever it can, swapping out conventional plastic tasting spoons didn't make economic sense. Instead, at the urging of the school's compost haulers, Kendall changed to metal spoons. It now has students test their dishes with long-handled iced-tea spoons so a used conventional spoon won't be picked up in a busy kitchen by mistake. "We saved a lot of money doing it," adds Koetke.

Similarly, students groused that their disposable toques weren't recyclable because of a small amount of cloth threading in the paper. Hats made completely of paper didn't stand up. Instead, the school switched to an all-cloth version. "The win-win is that it costs the students less money," Koetke explains.

"We have the long-term goal of preserving the planet. That sounds really out there, but sustainability is also about the here and now. There are a lot of things that can save you money," he says. Koetke adds that he believes the restaurant industry is particularly amenable to the benefits of sustainability because its margins are so thin to start, noting that having "even a slight effect on margins can be very effective."

But, he acknowledges, "sustainability means taking a little of a longer view. If you're going to buy a new piece of equipment, the expensive type isn't necessarily the cheapest." He cites the example of Kendall's lighting. "We put in dimmable CFLs [compact fluorescent lamps]," he recalls. "I was hit with a big price tag and like any businessman, I said, 'oops.'" Then he had someone compute the savings in electricity. "Turns out they pay for themselves in Year One."

Koetke stresses that the greening of Kendall—or the restaurant industry, for that matter—is an ongoing process. Right now he's looking at a machine that bakes food waste into compost-like material. At present, Kendall's 6,000-pound weekly output of food scraps has to be hauled away in three loads, and then returned as compost for use in a 4,800-square-foot student-run garden. The plot supplies the school's public outlet—a fine-dining facility called The Dining Room—with about 2,500 pounds of produce annually.

The school is building a state-of-the-art green kitchen to support the restaurant. Koetke cites such "technological savings" as a stove vent hood that has a light built into it, to illuminate the cooking surface. It also features an automatic variable-speed fan that speeds up or slows down to meet the task at hand, "so the hood thinks for you," he says. The stovetop has six ranges, three of which are high-efficiency induction "burners." The cooking station uses directed electromagnetic waves to heat a metal pot or pan, which in turn heats the food.

The kitchen will be visible to the public—and any restaurateurs who come for a lunch or dinner visit—through a wall of windows separating it from the dining area. Koetke encourages other culinary schools to copy his school's ecological efforts. Similarly, he's always on the prowl for new ideas. "There are so many smart people doing things and buildings things, and we can all learn from one another," he says.

This year Kendall teamed up with the Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education to establish the CAFÉ/Kendall College Green Award. Each year, the award will be bestowed on a culinary program in recognition of its outstanding commitment to sustainability. The inaugural prize, including a $1,000 check, went to educator Paul Malcolm of Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte, N.C.

"What we need is lots of culinary-school students to go out there and change the industry," says Koetke, who presented the CAFÉ/Kendall College Green Award. "Kendall can't do it alone."