In honor of Earth Day on April 22, 2021, Metz Culinary Management has planned a week-long celebration showcasing special menu items that incorporate the delicious flavors of earth-friendly trees. Metz Culinary is inviting guests in healthcare, higher education, K-12 and corporate accounts to branch out and try something new in celebration of earth day. This would be new tree-inspired recipe offerings. Metz is showcasing the culinary talents of its team through a variety of specially created recipes utilizing a tree-based ingredient. Examples of the recipes include Grilled Orange Chicken, Basmati Pilaf with Raisins and Almonds, Braised Cabbage and Apples, Banana Stuffed French Toast, BBQ Pork Taco with Asian Pear, Lemon Ginger Poached Salmon, and Thai Chicken & Coconut Bowl, to name just a few.
While many just celebrate the single day of Earth Day on the April 22nd, Metz Culinary Management believes it’s important to focus on this important topic for an entire week.
“The Tree-mendous Flavor of Trees creates a link between the natural world and the kitchen. While the obvious benefits of trees are vast, our chefs see them as vital sources of proteins, vitamins, fats, and minerals, in addition to a spectrum of flavors that enhance and balance a given dish,” said Alexis Kwon, Senior Marketing Manager, Metz Culinary Management.
“Our culinary teams will encourage our guests to branch out throughout Earth Week and appreciate all that trees have to offer, including their fruit, bark, sap, seeds and nuts, leaves, and stems. One such recipe that does this is our basmati pilaf with raisins and almonds. This recipe transforms a basic rice pilaf into a bright, warm, sweet, and crunchy dish with the inclusion of cinnamon (bark), raisins (fruit), and almonds (seeds),” added Kwon.
Metz Culinary believes education is a key to component of its Earth Week celebration. Metz is encouraging its entire team to discuss the menu and recipes with guests, answer questions, and provide Earth Week display tables that encourage discussion of the tree-mendous flavor of trees. In addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner entrees, Earth Week specials will also be offered in Chef Fresh grab-and-go stations and Tree-mendous based snacks will be available as well.
“I believe it is our responsibility as food service providers to bring the same passion, excitement, and creativity we have for food and guest service to educating our guests about the impact of food choices, especially during Earth Week,” said Kim Brown, General Manager, Metz Culinary Management. “There are so many ways that our everyday choices impact the planet, and we can play a part in reducing our environmental footprint with mindful food choices.”
To build excitement about Earth Week, Metz Culinary will be raffling off two bikes to encourage everyone to get out and exercise and enjoy the great outdoors. In keeping with the environmentally friendly theme, bike raffle entries will be paperless with guests scanning a QR code with their phones to enter into the raffle. Metz Culinary is also showcasing ReNew containers to encourage guests who frequently get meals to go to consider purchasing the more earth friendly ReNew container. This is a reusable container that can be purchased by a guest and reused. The container is filled for the guest to enjoy, and when they return with the used container for their next meal, they are provided with a clean container.
Metz Culinary Management will promote Earth Week with specially designed digital signage, flyers, and with graphics for use on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.