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Loews hotel chain buys from local farmers!
June 29, 2009
When big hotel chains start being locavore and buy from local farmers, you know the world is changing!
North American chain Loews Hotels are promoting local farming and they are treating their guests and restaurant goers to any of their 16 hotels to ingredients that are locally-sourced, organic and sustainable!
Wow, imagine that!
I’m a big advocate of eating for the season because you end up eating food that is much more flavourful and if you combine that to eating as locally as possible then you really are in for a culinary treat. Now, I’m not saying that imported foods are bad … not at all. How else would I be able to satisfy my addiction to mangoes, avocadoes and tangerines?
Importing food is not something that will go away anything soon because food imports open us to a world of flavours. That said, if you’ve ever bought a papaya at your local grocery store and then went on vacation in any sunny destination and tasted a papaya that has ripened to perfection then you know that the concept of importing produce has its limits.
By focusing on local ingredients, Loews Hotels are really able to play with local tastes that can not be reproduced anywhere else. The French call that cuisine du terroir and I call that simply yummy!
If you were wondering what buying locally mean for Loews Hotels, allow me to give you an example: the company’s New York headquarters connected with the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, procuring the only artesian sheep’s milk made in the Hudson River Valley while their Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego uses herbs and vegetables from its own garden, sourcing the rest of its ingredients from 12 local farming communities.
I quite like how the San Diego hotel is engaging guests at the hotel and patrons to the restaurant with their seasonal series of dinners. “Farmers, Foragers and Fishermen” pairs the resort’s chef with a local purveyor, who dines with the guests and tells them about his or her products and methods.
If you are travelling for business or pleasure and you’d like to know more about Loews Hotel’s ingenious culinary initiative, you’ll find out more details here: Loews Hotels.
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