Dinner has arrived at EOS restaurant in San Francisco's Cole Valley. Executive chef Mike Roon has big plans:
"Seared rare ahi tuna tower served with a white miso vinaigrette and served over crispy won tons," said EOS Executive Chef Mike Roon.
But just as important to Chef Roon as where the fish is going, is where it is from and how it was caught. In other words, is it sustainable seafood? For that he relies on ILoveBlueSea.com.
"The population of the species is abundant and it's well managed and that it is caught or farmed in an eco-friendly way. So it is not necessarily wild, it's not necessarily farmed," said Martin Reed of ILoveBlueSea.com.
One year ago, ILoveBlueSea.com began selling seafood to restaurants and caterers in the Bay Area, as well as directly to consumers nationwide; shipping in recyclable cardboard with reusable insulation. The company is only selling seafood approved by its partner organization, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program. This ahi tuna is from the waters off the Philippines, from a source personally vetted by ILoveBlueSea.com, which does not use huge nets to bring in what they call bi-catch.
"You catch tuna, but you also catch 40 percent of other fish, because those fish are not worth a lot of money, so they are thrown back dead in the water dead. So it is just a waste," said Matt Carreira of ILoveBlueSea.com.
ILoveBlueSea.com. has signed up a handful of Bay Area restaurants which promise to sell only sustainable seafood. They are hoping it makes a difference with diners.
"We always try to buy sustainably farmed seafood from the grocery store and restaurants. It is certainly an attractive factor," said San Francisco resident Kaja Lewinn.
"If a restaurant tries to buy sustainably, then I'm definantly more into eating there," said San Francisco resident Alex Yaravoy.
"Everyday consumers don't even know it and it's happening behind everyone's back. So it's time for consumers to educate themselves," said Carreira.
