Earth Day Dishes At Mario Batali's Restaurants (PHOTOS)

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Earth day, and each of our chefs has created a menu or dish, essentially an interpretation of what Earth Day means to them. To some that meant breaking down and cooking an entire Berkshire Pig and to another it meant a much more rustic approach to vegetables, lettuces and herbs (and maybe a little dirt too).

This Thursday, April 22, 2010, presents an unprecedented opportunity for us to celebrate the changes we've made over the last 40 years, and our plans for future innovations for a greener world.

Here's a sample of how we're doing it:

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Comments

[ladylawrence]

04:16 PM on 04/27/2010

Earth Day? Dead animals? Aside from the ecological joke it is to offer meat as a "green" meal, it's an insult to the very name of the day. Aren't animals part of our Earth? You unfeeling, insensitive carnivore chefs and consumers, of all days, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

[Panzerblume]

06:00 PM on 04/21/2010

That's too much carnage to be truly green. Animal products were the centerpiece when they should be, at most, a garnish.

I know green lip service is trendy and all. It's not a solution.

[Jimboy17]

08:08 PM on 04/22/2010

But that tray of charcuterie is something to behold! And if the pig was sustainably raised, organically fed, and ethically dispatched, I am all for it. Less McRibs, and more of this, once or twice a year. The land needs animals, and what we all need less of is factory farming...of both meat and vegetables.

[Jeannette Lacey]

01:03 PM on 04/21/2010

As I read this, I am gleefully chomping down on grape nuts, organic blueberries and soy milk. YUMM! All that meat looks disgusting (some of it doesn't even look COOKED). The "piggy platter" was exceptionally gut wrenching. More fruit and vegetables, please. I would look more favorably upon the meat offerings if they had been accompanied by more plant material.

[SusanElizabeth1949]

08:25 PM on 04/21/2010

In restaurants every thing you eat is a separate order unless you are having a prix fixe meal which here would probably run about $100 at a minimum without wine

[Jimboy17]

08:09 PM on 04/22/2010

Whatever are you on about? That charcutrie platter is DIVINE.

[paniangelica]

12:21 AM on 04/23/2010

Ugh. Disagree.

[leftcoastindy]

10:42 AM on 04/21/2010

Americans waste more food and use more energy to feed ourselves than any country in the world. Instead of trying to improve this problem, we make excuses and try to justify our bad habits.

Just try to do better yourselves and stop complaining about people who are doing their best to fix the problems.

[josholland]

12:08 AM on 04/21/2010

I want to eat the $#!& out of that pig. Wow, bad expression.

[liberalbug]

09:01 PM on 04/20/2010

More celebrity chef stamped corporate food with corporate people workshopping a corporate idea.

[muhair]

08:41 PM on 04/20/2010

Il Posto the only one that gets it. Such a long way yet to go....

[DjTanner]

06:58 PM on 04/20/2010

Wow one of the worst ever!!!! This is terrible. Worse than McDonalds!!!

Dj
www.mcserved.com

[Jimboy17]

08:10 PM on 04/22/2010

No.

[SusanElizabeth1949]

06:32 PM on 04/20/2010

That "Casa Mono" looks especially good as does the pasta with herbs and ramps.

[Jtt]

06:16 PM on 04/20/2010

come on Lamb ?? no.

[SusanElizabeth1949]

06:19 PM on 04/20/2010

Well raised and fed lamb (California grassfed to be precise) is the food of the GODS

[Rob Halpin]

07:56 PM on 04/21/2010

No, it's not. It's the food of the cruel.

[Betrayed]

06:15 PM on 04/20/2010

Here's an Earth Day thought for vegitarians, vegans, omnivores, and carnivores

Eat half as much of whatever it is you normally eat, and do it EVERY day.

[Jimboy17]

08:11 PM on 04/22/2010

Source it from local, organic, free range farmers. Talk to them about it. Encourage your friends to do the same. Eschew factory everything. Eat seasonal.

[iLoveGiraffes]

06:06 PM on 04/20/2010

GO hunt or fish for earth day. No lighter carbon footprint than that.

[MaryEinAustin]

05:43 PM on 04/20/2010

Any proper earth day menu should be vegan/vegetarian. Otherwise, it's a joke. Animals raised for food are the top of the green house gas food chain, above all of the automobiles on the planet.

[benderramma]

04:49 PM on 04/20/2010

I'm so sick of these dedicated days. Aren't you. It's like christmas. Propaganda. I buy therefore I am.

[Smithn]

11:17 PM on 04/20/2010

Think o it as celebrating the life you have because Smog is gone; because DDT isn't sprayed on your food; the fish you eat lived to feed you. It's a celebration. Live long and prosper. . .

[Acerbus III]

04:34 PM on 04/20/2010

RIDICULOUS

An earth day menu with tons of meat? contradiction in terms. Just because you use the whole pig instead of wasting a bunch of it does not make you green. What a joke.