Herrells Cafe
155 Brighton Ave
Allston, MA 02134
(617) 782-9599
Allston, MA 02134
(617) 782-9599
Herrells Cafe
Restaurants, Cafe, Soda Fountain
Green Tags: all-natural, energy conservation, recycling
Good Tags: bagels, cafe, coffee, ice cream, ice cream !,lunch
At first, Herrell's came to mind as an eco-friendly business because
they offer a soy peanut butter ice cream that's actually edible, and
when a store offers an alternative to animal products in an industry
known for leaning heavily animal products (i.e. ice cream), veggies
and vegans always take note and appreciate it. This is probably why
it's so popular in Allston and Cambridge.
However, after browsing around Herrell's Web site, I found that there
was more to the story. Apparently Steve Herrell is a bit of a
revolutionary - back in the day, he was the first to make premium ice
cream in small batches (as many high-end ice cream companies do today)
and the first to add name-brand candies to ice cream (like Reeses).
So that's pretty cool, as it spawned a slew of businesses which can
now make ice cream locally with high-quality ingredients, and a
generation of customers who have developed palates for that sort of
thing. And Steve also continues to oversee the production of the ice
cream served at his stores, which is made locally here in Boston. The
Cambridge location makes its own ice cream - so no gas is consumed
moving ice cream in a refrigerated truck across long distances - and
the Allston location gets its ice cream directly from a small plant in
nearby Watertown, so that's a viable local option too.
Going back to the veggie thing - the Allston location also serves
several veggie-friendly lunch options (a tasty hummus-based sandwich
comes to mind), which is great. It bakes vegan treats on the premises,
and it also offers vegan cookies from another small vendor's line of
goodies, so it's supporting other healthy businesses as well as it's
own.
I also really like the fact that both the Cambridge and Allston
locations are incredibly comfy places to lounge, so they encourage
people to get their food on real plates and real glasses (vs.
disposable to-go containers) and sit awhile with a book or a buddy.
On the beverage front - the stores seem to offer a wide variety of
healthy drinks and teas, and they have a lot of in-store information
about each tea, which is great.
However, it would be wonderful if the site or stores had more
information about where the food, tea and coffee are sourced. Are
they local? Organic? Fair trade? In this day and age, it seems like
foodies all tend to reflexively have these questions (although maybe
I'm just speaking for my infinitely curious self). I'd give them the
benefit of the doubt on this one, of course, but it would probably be
easy for the company to post this information if they knew enough
folks were interested.
I like Herrells Cafe. They offer a good selection of desserts, as well as breafast and lunch foods. It's small, cozy and quaint. Art dresses the walls--pieces of which you can purchase for about 50-100 bones. I could easily see this hot spot on South Street in Philly, only it's on Brighton Avenue in Allston and arguably one of Allston's finest, most notable landmarks.
I'm not exactly sure what Herrells does to stay environmentally friendly. Recycling is certainly easy and convenient, but they could probably ditch the disposable cups. Once they start composting and ditching the disposable eating stuffery they'll be on the right track.
Herrell's is one of those places that I see all the time, but have rarely stepped foot inside (not for any reason). The other day, my friend was getting tattooed at StingRay across the street so I decided to relax and grab a beverage. I bought a chai latte for my friend and a pumpkin spice latte for myself. They offer many different drinks, but it's one of those places that are a bit hit or miss. My latte tasted like chemicals, but my friend's chai was fantastic. The atmosphere was nice and quiet, and I do hear they have good ice cream.
Nothing glaringly green about the place, though they do offer plenty of recycling options and nothing seems outlandishly wasteful. I too, noticed the plastic cups, but hopefully with Bagel Rising and Espresso Royale so close by, the other small cafes will follow suit with the transition to green.
A place like Herrell's Renaissance Cafe should be in every neighborhood. Though they're known for their ice cream, there are a bunch of other reasons to check this place out. The atmosphere is awesome:cool, comfortable seating, awesome local artist features, & the most friendly, laid back staff ever. The food is tasty, and the value is great. They serve a mean breakfast that features the bagels of local green-certified Bagel Rising, and everything is fresh, with lots of vegan baked goods too.
In terms of their green-status, they offer recycling options and they do have plates and cups for eat-in diners, but they could definitely pass on the plastic cups. They do, however, conserve energy through a unique egg-cooking method that utilizes an espresso steam-wand for egg dishes and most of the food doesn't require major cooking practices, yet remains delicious. Bring a book because you won't want to leave.
Restaurants
Big Picture
When you go out to a restaurant for your food, it's easy to assume that restaurateurs care about the food they are giving you – where it comes from, what’s been added to it, and how far it had to travel to get to you. But what's going on behind the scenes? It’s time to explore the art of dining out and being green – not so easy in Boston, but getting easier. The more questions we ask, the more we will inspire change.
Factoids n' Stuff
- Your average cheeseburger accounts for approximately 6.3 - 6.8 lbs of carbon emissions. (Jamais Cascio, "The Cheeseburger Footprint" January 2007)
- Reusing a glass jar 5 times at home can save about half of the energy a commercial packager consumes to make 5 disposable containers. (Pimentel, David, and Marcia Pimentel. Energy use in food processing for nutrition and development, accessed September 1, 2006.)
- In 2005, American farmers used more than 22 million tons of chemical fertilizers, turning agriculture into a leading source of water pollution in the U.S. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service,"U.S. Fertilizer Use and Price. September 25, 2006, accessed October 13, 2006.)
- Approximately 80% of U.S. ammonia emissions come from livestock manure on factory farms. (Doorn, Michael R.J., et al. Review of Emissions Factors and Methodologies to Estimate Ammonia Emissions from Animal Waste Handling, Research Triangle Park (NC): Environmental Protection Agency, 2002: ii.)
- Herbicide tolerant GE (genetically engineered) crops have created weed resistance, causing pesticide use to increase by 70 million lbs between 1997 and 2003. (SustainableTable.org)
- Perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, found in Teflon (a chemical used to make nonstick pots and pans) and paper plates, has been found to cause cancer in animals. Once released into the environment, PFOA does not break down and remains there indefinitely. (Environmental Working Group "Is There an Extra Ingredient in Nonstick Pans?" July 2005)
What Goes In?
Where does the food come from? What kinds of chemicals or drugs are already in the food? Are there steroids, antibiotics, or hormones in the meat? Is the food fresh or did it come from a can? How is the food prepared? What kinds of pots and pans are being used?
What Comes Out?
Does the food taste good? Are the portions too big? How much food is wasted? What do they do with that wasted food? Throw it away? How is the food being served – are they served on plastic, paper, or real dishes? Do they use paper or linens for tablecloths, napkins, and place mats? Do they recycle? Are they encouraging you to recycle?
How's it Run?
Do the employees seem happy and healthy? Do they take the time to explain what you are getting – i.e., do they know where the food comes from and are they happy to tell you about it? Do they have a genuine care for quality rather than quantity? What is their dishwashing process? How do they clean the restaurant? What do they use to wipe down the tables/bar? How do they wash their linens?
What They Care About
Do they understand the interest in organic and local foods and do they know why that’s important? Have they researched local suppliers and do they think about meeting the farmers or fishermen who provide them with food? Are they thinking of ways to offer more natural choices, or do they just care about making a buck?
What to Ask
- What’s been added to my food?
- Where does my food come from?
- Is this food local, organic, or both?
- Does this meat come from a factory farm, or was it naturally raised?
- How far did my food have to travel to get to my mouth?
- How was my food prepared?
- What do you do with the leftover food? Do you compost it?
- What kinds of chemicals do you use to wash dishes and clean the restaurant?
- What are you doing to help the negative impact that the mainstream food supply currently has on the environment?
- Do you know what your carbon footprint is (given all the different foods you are providing) and what are you doing to offset your carbon footprint?
- What are you doing to conserve the energy, water, and resources your restaurant uses?
What to Do
- Buy local – find out what on the menu is local and choose that!
- Choose organic items from the menu.
- Eat a little less animal protein, and get high quality naturally raised meat – you saw the stats above – you CAN make a difference.
- Ask a lot of questions – you’ll know what’s up by how your questions are answered and it’s the only way to make the restaurant aware that their customers are paying attention.
- Take your own bag or container for leftovers – pretty self explanatory but this makes a huge difference.
- Split your meal – most restaurants provide us with out of control serving sizes – split more and waste less!
- Get an appetizer instead of an entrée – saves you money and the serving sizes are smaller so there is less wasted.
- Look for restaurants that use cast iron or stainless steel pots and pans.
