Executive chef Michael Comire has been cooking farm-fresh, locally sourced food for the Sustainability Suppers since they began in 2022.
How do you menu-plan with sustainability in mind?
You consider a lot of things. What kind of labor are farmers using? What are their methods for growing food? What’s plentiful and in season? If you really want to look at the sustainability of food, you have to look at how we eat, what we eat, and what we can do to integrate foods that other cultures and cuisines outside of America include in their diets.
Has sustainability sparked your creativity in the kitchen?
Absolutely. And not just for myself but also for my staff. I have a small culinary staff in catering, five people, and they like to do new things and take on a challenge. We get excited about the Sustainability Suppers because they require thinking outside the box, and it’s because we have the opportunity to create that we’re successful.
What’s the most unusual food you’ve put on the menu?
Sustainability is about using the underutilized and the abundant. If the main course is fish, for instance, instead of flounder, bass, or salmon, you might use an underutilized fish, like monkfish. And that’s where the chef’s expertise comes in in terms of preparing it and making it appealing.
How do you create a dinner around the topic of food policy?
One of the most heavily regulated foods is seafood. There are many regulatory agencies, local, state, federal and international, that oversee seafood. There are so many different agencies just regulating fishermen and their catch—plus there is the issue of overfishing. So the industry is managed tightly. With fish, you can only catch so much and so big, so I made monkfish the main course because it’s an underutilized but abundant species—and it tastes like lobster.
Have there been any unforeseen rewards in cooking for the Sustainability Suppers?
We feel we’re doing something special; we’re part of a community moving forward in thought around sustainability. I’m 40 years into this business, and this motivates and propels me. This event is bringing people together, working together. It’s exciting.