Last week I was watching the evening news on Channel 7 out of Los Angeles and couldn’t help but be perplexed when I heard the announcer say the next segment would include something about a restaurant washing dishes with air. As a single parent there were times I would tell people I was an air plant—somehow drawing invisible nutrients and surviving on air. But this is a little different. It’s a little more like air guitar.
Anyway, when in drought, the ears perk up. And oddities to help with saving water flourish. Is what I’m about to point to ingenious, or overly complicated?
A bit of a foodie myself I give the hip restaurant praise for creativity, and absolutely applaud their water saving.
The chef at Haven Gastropub in Orange, CA, took a cue from a social media post by the chef at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, CA, and began using compressed air to spray the food residue off of plates in nearly the same way they had been spraying water in this first rinse phase of dishwashing. The compressed air machine cost the restaurant about $200.
The same hand motions are employed to move food waste from plates to garbage disposal, yet the water savings is substantial. Haven chef Greg Daniels said, “We are a large user of water just in our dishwashing practices. It’s like a gallon of water just to wash one glass.”
Post Ranch chef John Cox has been removing food waste with the stream from an air compressor since April of 2014 and says his restaurant is saving about 1,000 gallons of water a day.
It would be interesting to see how much this has elevated the energy bill, but if the water used for this preliminary process is typically hot, then maybe it is a wash.
The ultra conservative part of me wonders if a good large rubber spatula could be equally effective and save both water and energy, but that motion might be less efficient on account of being more wearing on the dishwasher’s arms. There are also health codes, and both chefs affirm that the compressed air method is in keeping with code.
Chef Daniels said the sound of the air hitting the plates was deafening at first. They had to adjust it down a little bit. All this talk of compressed air is reminding me that I need to check the pressure on my tires; one appears to need filling. If I could find a restaurant that would check and fill tires while you eat, I would surely become a patron.
I wonder if the new equipment will inspire any other changes at the Haven Gastropub. Maybe craft beers with hood ornaments for pouring from the taps. Or has that already been done?
You can access the news report HERE.
