Behind the plywood: green and local

It's been a month since I last posted, so I have a lot to tell you.

First of all, happy birthday to my blog. On June 15, IPOS turned three!*

The next bit of news concerns my next baby, Contigo. Her birth has been postponed to later in the summer. We're currently aiming for late August... but early September is starting to look like a distinct possibility.

Whew. Now that the big news is out of the way, I want to catch y'all up on the construction progress.

Like IPOS, Contigo is an extension of me. It's imbued with my beliefs, my passions, my life experiences, my style, my quirks.

Unlike my blog, however, Contigo is a group effort, a collaboration of an ever-growing team of characters that so far includes architects, contractors, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, HVAC installers, roofers, equipment suppliers, interior decorators, cement pourers, window makers, cabinet makers, metal workers, upholsterers, tile installers, tile makers, dry wallers, painters, and a bevy of building inspectors.

Through trial and (a whole lot of) errors, I'm gradually learning when it's best to assert my control and push my vision and when I should get out of the way. One point where I have been uncompromising in pushing my vision is this: I want Contigo to be built as green as possible... without breaking the bank. I'd love solar panels, for example, but on my tight budget they aren't a realistic option.

Instead, I've focused on two relatively affordable green concepts: reuse and buy local. These are principals that I, like so many of you, have incorporated into to cooking for years. For example, I compost and recycle my waste and buy locally grown produce at the farmers' market. My building and design team has successfully risen to the challenge to incorporate both of these green concepts into Contigo.

Reuse

At its core, reclaiming and reusing old materials is born from frugality. Like many of my generation, I learned frugality from my mother, who grew up during the Depression. Her mantra was use everything, waste nothing. My construction and design team has applied the concept of reusing old materials in many innovative ways, such as using craigslist to find a home for the building's old insulation.

As I've mentioned before, though, I'm most excited that we were able to reclaim and reuse the old growth redwood siding from my restaurant's building. In the photos below, you can see the fruits of that idea (starting from the picture of the gray painted wood before it was removed and progressing to the final installation). My contractors initially attempted to plane the wood on site to avoid transportation costs, but the task proved too time inefficient and the results were more rustic than we wanted (see the sixth photo). Eventually, we sent the wood to our local cabinetmaker, yielding the awesome (to my eye any way) results in the final photos. It's the urban barn aesthetic I had hoped for.

Buy Local

In my kitchen, I'm a fanatic about sourcing products locally. Why not apply that same principal to building my restaurant? The two concepts, reuse and buy local, often overlap. For example, the choice of tiles in Contigo's kitchen and bathroom are rooted in the frugality that underlies the principle of reuse. They are the unwanted "seconds" that weren't up to the tile maker's standards. Waste nothing. They are also local. They are hand made by local ceramic maker Heath Ceramics, which fired the tiles in its kilns across the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito. It's my understanding that Heath tries to use as much local materials as possible to make their products.

My latest news is that my tables, banquettes, and counters will also be made from reclaimed and local wood. My table tops will be made out of Douglas fir that spent the last century as beams and floors in the old Levi Strauss factory (built at 250 Valencia Street just after the original factory was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire). The building is currently under renovation to become a Quaker school. Contigo's tables, then, will be made from wood reclaimed from a San Francisco landmark located less than two miles away. What luck!

Unfortunately, sometimes the decision to go green can have unexpected consequences and costs. My decision to have my cabinetmaker fabricate Contigo's counters and banquettes from reclaimed wood (we got a great deal on oak from an old Northern California barn) is one of the main reasons we won't be opening our doors this month. It took an inordinately long time for the cabinetmaker to finalize the purchase of the wood and we're still awaiting its arrival.

While I can't afford to incorporate all of the latest green design innovations, I feel fortunate that I have been able apply a few of the green building practices that are closely aligned with my sustainable approach to cooking. It keeps Contigo feeling as much a part of me as IPOS.

* Am I the only one who feels like my blog has been around longer than three years? It's astonishing to me how much my life has changed in that time. On the surface, it's been turned completely upside down and inside out. Yet deep down my life feels better and more exciting than ever. On reflection, so many of the most wonderful, positive, life altering gifts Life has presented to me can be directly traced to this little blog. So, thank you IPOS and, especially, thank you readers. I'll do my best to write again sooner than last time.

Comments

[anita]

beautiful. we'll happily wait :D

[Elise]

Hi Brett - Oh, it's coming along so beautifully! I love the redwood panels.

[David]

darn it! now I have to change my plane tickets...

; )

[barbara]

The table tops sound fabulous. Three years - well done - happy blog birthday.

[Jennifer Jeffrey]

Wow, Brett - this is coming along so beautifully. I know the extra wait time must be frustrating, but the result will be oh-so-worth it.

September is shaping up to be a mighty fine month indeed.

And Happy 3 Years to IPOS! Looking forward to many more.

[cookiecrumb]

It's cool that you're being, well, cool... about the delays.
Thrilling to get a peek at your vision for where I can't wait to get a meal.
(And, wait. My blog is older than yours? By a month, heh. Blows my mind.)
xx

[Fatemeh]

I have SO MANY THOUGHTS!

1 - September, you say? You know what that means! Boozy Bunko, is all I'm saying.

2 - I LOVE LOVE LOVE that you're using reclaimed wood for your tables. I can only imagine how beautifully that's going to come together.

3 - Also, I HEART Heath tiles, and the ones you selected are simply perfect. Literally.

4 - Happy birthday to IPOS, indeed!

[art]

Congratulations on year three.

Way to stick to your ideals. Don't go compromising.

The redwood next to those Heath subway tiles is striking.

It's going to be a great place.

I can't wait to visit.

Oh...

VIVA ESPANA!!

[Sean]

I've been peeking in each day I pass by, when the workers are out front. I'm disappointed to hear about the delays, but am glad they're for good reason. But please hurry - we're getting hungry over here!

[sam]

I can't wait. But I have to.

[Restaurant Commando]

Brett,

Happy b-day to your blog.

I'll keep an eye on your construction progress -- I should end up in the Bay Area end of August -- if you're open then I'd love to pop by.

-Alex Makarski
RestaurantCommando.com

[catherine ross]

Happy birthday! Keep us posted!

[EB]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IPOS!! I would whine about having to wait even longer for the opening... but with all the fantastic things you're doing with the space.. I'll save my whining until I can't get a table. Much love to Contigo and IPOS!

[shuna fish lydon]

Hip Hip Hooray!
Hip Hip Hippo Hooray-o!
Hip Hip Hippo-orama Hooray-o-di-o!

Happy Three Year anniversary.
And many meals eaten with old trees.
xo

[Christine]

Kudos to you for being as green as you can possibly be! I've been waiting and waiting to tell my husband, "Quick, we've got to go to SF! There's this fabulous restaurant that's just opened...!" Waiting a bit longer won't hurt. In fact, we just happen to be coming down there in September.

[Ellen]

We will bring our friends to your new place when it opens-good luck with that. What kind of oil will you be using??