Eco-Friendly Dining (With a View)

the tablehopper | 11:45 am | July 1, 2009 | Foodie 411

What is touted to be the City’s greenest café, The Plant Cafe Organic just opened in Pier 3 on the city’s waterfront, just north of the Ferry Building. It’s a spacious one: 4,600 square feet, and 112 seats, with some of them outside and in the back with a lovely view of the water. CCS Architecture/Cass Calder Smith designed the space (La Mar, Perbacco, Delica rf-1, Terzo, Restaurant Lulu, and the Plant Cafe Organic’s Steiner Street location are other CCS-designed spaces). There is plenty of natural light, views of the Bay, natural wood furnishings, a private patio on the waterfront, and a live-fire pizza oven. Flora Grubb will also design and install a living green wall, made with air plants in the dining room. The south space features quick-service organic coffee, pastries, lunches, dinners, and grab-and-go items (like soba noodles, quinoa, etc.), while the north space provides a full-service lunch and dinner menu (items are $20 and under). Both spaces are lined with sidewalk seating on the Embarcadero.

For those who aren’t familiar with the Marina location, The Plant Cafe Organic (formerly known as lettüs) serves an almost purely organic (95%) and primarily locally sourced menu—but to clarify, it’s not just vegetarian. There will be fresh juices and smoothies, soups, salads (like one of avocado, ruby red grapefruit, arugula, and creamy black pepper and macadamia nut dressing), and sandwiches (like BBQ chicken or tempeh with chipotle BBQ sauce, roasted red onion, cheddar cheese, and garlic aioli), plus organic appetizers (how about some oysters, or spicy fava bean and cherry tomato bruschetta?), entrées (including my favorite vegetarian burger), pizza (there’s one of roasted chicken, caramelized onion, Point Reyes blue cheese, fennel soubise), organic beer and wines, cocktails (like the honeycomb colada with coconut milk, organic pineapple juice, rum chilled with local honeycomb, garnished with toasted coconut flakes), and house-made desserts.

Here’s more on how green the project is: the sustainably designed restaurant space utilizes non-toxic, natural, and in many cases recycled building materials plus solar panels on the roof; take-out packaging is either recyclable or biodegradable; all paper materials use recycled paper; and all biodegradable waste will be composted. The Plant also serves free, filtered water (both flat and carbonated). Café hours are 7:30am–10pm, with the sit-down menu served from 11am–10pm.

• Pier 3, at Jackson.

Marcia Gagliardi writes a popular weekly e-column about the SF dining scene, “the tablehopper.” Subscribe for free at www.tablehopper.com and get it in your inbox every Tuesday. Got news? Email Marcia at taste@sanfrancisco.travel.