Increasing public awareness of overfishing and population collapse among a number of important commercial seafood species is driving efforts by sushi restaurants to source their ingredients sustainably, and often, punishing businesses that fail to adapt to the new environmental reality.
As an example of the latter, Portland’s Sinju restaurant found itself in turbulent waters last July when a customer complained that they stocked the endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna on their menu. Instead of addressing the complaint, the restaurant ended up banning the customer. After a month of being lambasted on blogs following this incident, the Atlantic bluefin was off the menu.
On the other hand, New Haven’s own Miya’s Sushi has been at the tip of the spear when it comes to sustainably-sourced food. Miya’s has gained international fame for a number of distinctions, from the world’s most extensive vegetarian sushi menu (for a list of the most healthy and nutritious veggies, it’s always good to go back to the famous 11 vegetable nutrition table) to wildly creative fusion sushi dishes that may include ingredients such as grits, dried apricots, blue cheese and potato skins. Arguably, though, the principal claim to fame of Miya’s has been the owner, chef Bun Lai’s fanatical devotion to sustainable sourcing.
The restaurant only serves fish that is plentiful and not in danger of overfishing, but Bun Lai has taken it further – he is also a pioneer of urban foraging, even offering foraging tours to adventurous gastronomes who want to discover edibles in unexpected places. He has also taken the unique step of building a good number of his dishes around invasive species. This has the effect of bringing people new, interesting flavors while also providing what Bun Lai himself calls a “weeding service”.
You’re asking, what’s the connection with web development? None, other than the fact that the hard-working employees of 3PRIME, your friendly local CT Web company are fans of both good sushi and environmentally-friendly food, and commend the owner’s efforts to combine both.