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Pelosi pushes gourmet menu
By: Josephine Hearn
January 15, 2008 09:10 AM EST
The processed cheese has been replaced with brie. The Jell-O has made way
for raspberry kiwi tarts and mini-lemon blueberry trifles. Meatloaf has
moved over for mahi mahi and buns have been shunted aside in favor of
baguettes.
A revolution is afoot at the deli counters, grills and salad bars of the
U.S. House of Representatives.
Newly ascendant Democrats may have hit roadblocks on Iraq and fiscal
issues, but they have revamped congressional menus, replacing fatty,
pre-made foods with healthier, gourmet alternatives. The once dreary
congressional cafeterias now abound with haute cuisine.
The menu transformation is part of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “Greening the
Capitol” plan to make the House campus more environmentally friendly and
socially progressive.
But there can be a downside to delicious. Not everyone is happy with the
enhanced offerings. Many congressional employees have complained that as
the food quality has increased, so have the prices.
“It’s a big jump from high school cafeteria to fancy-pants gourmet. I just
wish my pay improved,” said Caryn Schenewerk, a staffer for Rep. Gabrielle
Giffords (D-Ariz.).
A fruit and cheese side dish with two small wedges of brie and cheddar, six
grapes, two saltines and one strawberry cost $4.95, for example.
See Also
Red state Dems see Obama as electable
House rules: No smoking
Clinton holds solid lead in California
House officials explained that the fresher and more varied foods were
indeed more expensive but that they had tried to preserve low-cost
alternatives such as pizza, sandwiches and prepared salads, which remain
around the same price.
Higher prices weren’t the only complaints.
Perhaps it was inevitable that any major change orchestrated by the
Democrats, be it legislation or legumes, would draw Republican fire.
One House Republican aide lobbed attacks at the Democrats over e-mail.
“I really don’t like Nanny Nancy telling me what I can and cannot eat for
lunch. If I want to eat unhealthy, I should have that choice!” the aide
fumed.
Republican aides have raised questions about why the cafeterias now stock
Stonyfield Farm yogurt, speculating that the move would line the pockets of
the company’s CEO, Gary Hirshberg, a significant player in Democratic
politics.
That assertion is nonsense, said Jeff Ventura, a spokesman for the chief
administrative officer, the House official who oversees the cafeterias. He
said the new food vendor, Restaurant Associates, selected the yogurt
producer based on price, quality and consumer satisfaction.
“The idea that the CAO employs a political litmus test on the hundreds of
food items in the cafeterias is nothing short of absurd,” Ventura said.
Several calls to Restaurant Associates’ spokeswoman Gina Zimmer were not
returned.
Grumbling aside, the menu choices now available present a whole new world
of congressional culinary adventures.
There is pan-roasted Chesapeake rockfish with sweet potato fennel hash and
yellow pepper relish. Pears with Stilton cheese and watercress.
Cumin-scented leg of lamb with almond couscous. There are vegetables with
funny names, like bok choy, arugula and jicama. There are baked goods with
Italian names, like biscotti, focaccia and frittati.
There are foods in funny colors, like yellow tomatoes and purple Peruvian
potatoes. There are things that are free of other things, like “cage-free
shell eggs,” “rBGH-free milk” and “free-range chicken.” And things that we
don’t know what they mean, like turkey escabeche (salad), red pepper coulis
(sauce) and seared barramundi (fish).
A vending machine sells coffee from famed chef Wolfgang Puck, offering
brews such as “Vive la Crème Caramel” and “Tropic of Chocolate.”
Coffee cups have been replaced by “ecotainers” and drink cups by
“greenware” made from corn starch. The napkins emerge from their dispenser
one at a time, making it impossible to grab a whole stack. Nearly
everything is biodegradable.
And the recycling stations, oh, the recycling stations! They are veritable
shrines to a renewable Earth, with four differently shaped slots to sort
garbage and lengthy directions on proper sorting. Soup containers go into
the square-shaped “compostable” slot, but soup lids end up in the rounded
“landfill waste” slot.
There are other enviro touches, too. The new salad bar was constructed from
“green materials.” The seafood is “sustainable.” The fruits and vegetables
come from local growers when possible.
Energy-efficient vending machines sport a 6-foot-tall illuminated image of
trees. A poster trumpets the existence of a “pulper,” a big machine that
mashes up waste into little cubes that go to compost centers, where,
eventually, they biodegrade into dirt.
Even the things that haven’t changed seem cooler because their names are in
foreign languages. The taco bar is the “Taqueria.” The grill is “A la
Plancha.” The salad bar has expanded to “Salad/Antipasti.”
To most Hill denizens, the cornucopia of choices is cause for rejoicing — a
significant switch from a menu that previously relied heavily on iceberg
lettuce and vanilla pudding.
“It’s been long overdue that there should be more healthy options,” said a
congressional science fellow who was not allowed to speak on the record.
“It was hazardous to my health to eat almost anything they had here
before.”
Ventura said a popular outcry had prompted the changes.
“We had [diminished] satisfaction surveys with [the earlier contractor],”
Ventura said. “People were getting disenchanted with the food quality.”
Nearly everything in the new cafeterias is biodegradable, from plates to
utensils to straws, and that situation has produced a few peculiarities.
For example, there are no soup spoons, only teaspoons. The company that
manufactures the biodegradable flatware doesn’t make soup spoons yet. And
some people have complained that the compostable straws can melt in hot
liquids.
Politico headed to the cafeteria at the Rayburn House Office Building to
test this scenario. A compostable straw placed in hot coffee did indeed
become pliable and droop, although it never disintegrated entirely.
Ventura said customers would have to change their behavior to accommodate
the environmentally friendly products.
“We have had a few people observe that [straw] phenomenon and we had to
tell them, ‘Sip your coffee like a normal human being,’” Ventura said.
“We’re trying to save the planet here.”
Archangel
By: Josephine Hearn
January 15, 2008 09:10 AM EST
The processed cheese has been replaced with brie. The Jell-O has made way
for raspberry kiwi tarts and mini-lemon blueberry trifles. Meatloaf has
moved over for mahi mahi and buns have been shunted aside in favor of
baguettes.
A revolution is afoot at the deli counters, grills and salad bars of the
U.S. House of Representatives.
Newly ascendant Democrats may have hit roadblocks on Iraq and fiscal
issues, but they have revamped congressional menus, replacing fatty,
pre-made foods with healthier, gourmet alternatives. The once dreary
congressional cafeterias now abound with haute cuisine.
The menu transformation is part of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “Greening the
Capitol” plan to make the House campus more environmentally friendly and
socially progressive.
But there can be a downside to delicious. Not everyone is happy with the
enhanced offerings. Many congressional employees have complained that as
the food quality has increased, so have the prices.
“It’s a big jump from high school cafeteria to fancy-pants gourmet. I just
wish my pay improved,” said Caryn Schenewerk, a staffer for Rep. Gabrielle
Giffords (D-Ariz.).
A fruit and cheese side dish with two small wedges of brie and cheddar, six
grapes, two saltines and one strawberry cost $4.95, for example.
See Also
Red state Dems see Obama as electable
House rules: No smoking
Clinton holds solid lead in California
House officials explained that the fresher and more varied foods were
indeed more expensive but that they had tried to preserve low-cost
alternatives such as pizza, sandwiches and prepared salads, which remain
around the same price.
Higher prices weren’t the only complaints.
Perhaps it was inevitable that any major change orchestrated by the
Democrats, be it legislation or legumes, would draw Republican fire.
One House Republican aide lobbed attacks at the Democrats over e-mail.
“I really don’t like Nanny Nancy telling me what I can and cannot eat for
lunch. If I want to eat unhealthy, I should have that choice!” the aide
fumed.
Republican aides have raised questions about why the cafeterias now stock
Stonyfield Farm yogurt, speculating that the move would line the pockets of
the company’s CEO, Gary Hirshberg, a significant player in Democratic
politics.
That assertion is nonsense, said Jeff Ventura, a spokesman for the chief
administrative officer, the House official who oversees the cafeterias. He
said the new food vendor, Restaurant Associates, selected the yogurt
producer based on price, quality and consumer satisfaction.
“The idea that the CAO employs a political litmus test on the hundreds of
food items in the cafeterias is nothing short of absurd,” Ventura said.
Several calls to Restaurant Associates’ spokeswoman Gina Zimmer were not
returned.
Grumbling aside, the menu choices now available present a whole new world
of congressional culinary adventures.
There is pan-roasted Chesapeake rockfish with sweet potato fennel hash and
yellow pepper relish. Pears with Stilton cheese and watercress.
Cumin-scented leg of lamb with almond couscous. There are vegetables with
funny names, like bok choy, arugula and jicama. There are baked goods with
Italian names, like biscotti, focaccia and frittati.
There are foods in funny colors, like yellow tomatoes and purple Peruvian
potatoes. There are things that are free of other things, like “cage-free
shell eggs,” “rBGH-free milk” and “free-range chicken.” And things that we
don’t know what they mean, like turkey escabeche (salad), red pepper coulis
(sauce) and seared barramundi (fish).
A vending machine sells coffee from famed chef Wolfgang Puck, offering
brews such as “Vive la Crème Caramel” and “Tropic of Chocolate.”
Coffee cups have been replaced by “ecotainers” and drink cups by
“greenware” made from corn starch. The napkins emerge from their dispenser
one at a time, making it impossible to grab a whole stack. Nearly
everything is biodegradable.
And the recycling stations, oh, the recycling stations! They are veritable
shrines to a renewable Earth, with four differently shaped slots to sort
garbage and lengthy directions on proper sorting. Soup containers go into
the square-shaped “compostable” slot, but soup lids end up in the rounded
“landfill waste” slot.
There are other enviro touches, too. The new salad bar was constructed from
“green materials.” The seafood is “sustainable.” The fruits and vegetables
come from local growers when possible.
Energy-efficient vending machines sport a 6-foot-tall illuminated image of
trees. A poster trumpets the existence of a “pulper,” a big machine that
mashes up waste into little cubes that go to compost centers, where,
eventually, they biodegrade into dirt.
Even the things that haven’t changed seem cooler because their names are in
foreign languages. The taco bar is the “Taqueria.” The grill is “A la
Plancha.” The salad bar has expanded to “Salad/Antipasti.”
To most Hill denizens, the cornucopia of choices is cause for rejoicing — a
significant switch from a menu that previously relied heavily on iceberg
lettuce and vanilla pudding.
“It’s been long overdue that there should be more healthy options,” said a
congressional science fellow who was not allowed to speak on the record.
“It was hazardous to my health to eat almost anything they had here
before.”
Ventura said a popular outcry had prompted the changes.
“We had [diminished] satisfaction surveys with [the earlier contractor],”
Ventura said. “People were getting disenchanted with the food quality.”
Nearly everything in the new cafeterias is biodegradable, from plates to
utensils to straws, and that situation has produced a few peculiarities.
For example, there are no soup spoons, only teaspoons. The company that
manufactures the biodegradable flatware doesn’t make soup spoons yet. And
some people have complained that the compostable straws can melt in hot
liquids.
Politico headed to the cafeteria at the Rayburn House Office Building to
test this scenario. A compostable straw placed in hot coffee did indeed
become pliable and droop, although it never disintegrated entirely.
Ventura said customers would have to change their behavior to accommodate
the environmentally friendly products.
“We have had a few people observe that [straw] phenomenon and we had to
tell them, ‘Sip your coffee like a normal human being,’” Ventura said.
“We’re trying to save the planet here.”
Archangel
