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Published April 23rd, 2014
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Rising Loafer Earns Green Awards at All Levels
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| By Sophie Braccini |
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| Ahmed Shibli and Maria Gastelumendi at the Rising Loafer Photo Sophie Braccini |
When Central Costa County Sanitary District inspectors conduct their yearly inspections of restaurants to ensure that these businesses are complying with their permit requirements, they sometimes notice practices that go beyond the legal demands. When they do, they nominate these businesses to get the Pollution Prevention Award. That's what happened to the Rising Loafer Café in Lafayette, and the small business became the only restaurant in Contra Costa County to earn the 2013 award. Additionally, Cool California, a non-profit organization that recognizes California small businesses that promote climate friendly practices, gave the Lafayette café a small business award, a distinction received by only seven other businesses statewide. And this month Rising Loafer was recognized with Lafayette's Green Award.
Ahmed Shibli and Maria Gastelumendi, Lafayette residents and owners of the restaurant, are proud - for them, it is just a matter of following in the century-old footsteps of their ancestors, and respecting their clients as much as they respect the earth that feeds us.
What were the odds that Shibli and Gastelumendi would ever meet, fall in love and create a restaurant in Lafayette? He came from the Middle East and she came from the Ancash highlands of Peru, both rural regions that value wholesome, homemade cuisine prepared from scratch. They first met at Oakland's Holy Names University; he became a commercial pilot, she graduated from UC Berkeley in economics. They discovered they had common culinary roots, the Mediterranean, and a common ethic of care and respect for the earth. They were married 20 years ago and opened their first restaurant in Pleasant Hill; then in 2003 they took over the Rising Loafer Café in Lafayette.
"Everything here is about reusing, recycling or repurposing," says Gastelumendi. When a customer does not finish a glass of water, the contents goes into a pitcher that will water the patio planters; on tables, the sugar containers and cups are charming, colorful and mismatched. "They come from different antique or reuse stores," explains Shibli. "We try as much as we can to repurpose things, just as our tables that I made out of old doors."
Everything that cannot be washed and reused in the café is compostable; the napkins, the cups and take-out containers. "For our catering service, we use these baskets to deliver," says Gastelumendi, pointing to wicker baskets of different sizes that hang on the wall of the restaurant. The loaves of bread that are made on site by Shibli himself and are not sold on the day they were made are donated and not thrown away. Rising Loafer is also part of the Solid Waste Authority's pioneering program that allows local restaurants to be part of a large food waste composting program.
"We had help to set up our kitchen and train our employees," says Gastelumendi, "and we also train every new person working here in our ways of not wasting anything. It is really not a big effort, it just takes a bit of care and motivation."
The Central San inspector also noticed the outside container provided by Hanson & Fitch to collect vegetable oil. "We dump all our cooking oil into this container," says Shibli. "Hanson & Fitch picks it up when it is full and converts the oil into biofuel."
Cool California was impressed by the café's recycling practices, but also by the wholesome food that they prepare, the care they take in the selection of their ingredients, and the way Gastelumendi is able to take advantage of the small south-oriented alley behind the restaurant to grow vegetables and fruit trees. "You don't need a lot of space to grow fruits and vegetables," says Gastelumendi who likes to show off her crafty garden. "All you need is big containers, good soil, some sun and attentive care." The fig trees are already growing nicely, the tomatoes just went into the containers, and basil will soon be planted. Once ripe, everything will find its way into the salads and sandwiches, along with the homemade bread.
"We do all this because we love it and because it is our way of life," says Gastelumendi. Rising Loafer is open everyday but Tuesday, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., for breakfast and lunch, and brunch on weekends. It is located at 3643 Mt. Diablo Blvd. (between Trader Joe's and the post office) - just look for the flowering patio.
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Lamorinda Weekly business articles are intended to inform the community about local business activities, not to endorse a particular company, product or service.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA