July | 2014 | 34justice

My fiancé (Kate) is attending Georgetown Med in the fall and we just hit the road for Washington, DC. I’ve enjoyed eight awesome years in the Bay Area and feel fortunate to have gone to college, worked, and occasionally dominated adult league softball and basketball with so many amazing people.

Several awesome years in the Bay will put a smile on your face.

Several awesome years in the Bay have put smiles on our faces.

While we are extremely excited to check out the Capitol, we will undoubtedly feel some nostalgia for the West Coast. Significantly less than our friends but more than the Trader Joe’s within walking distance of our soon-to-be-former apartment, I will miss the South Bay’s humidity-free weather. Though I’ll still be able to vote with my dollars for Chipotle in DC, I’ll also mourn the socially-, environmentally-, and health-conscious meat and seafood options I’ll be leaving behind. As a tribute to the delicious and reasonably ethical protein I’ve sampled south of San Francisco, from the grill-it-yourself round steak at the famous Mountain View Farmers’ Market to the bacon-wrapped, tempura fried hot dog at Calafia Cafe in Palo Alto, I have decided to rank what I consider to be the top ten restaurants serving sustainable meat and/or fish in Silicon Valley.

(from the Calafia menu)

Although eating sustainably is indisputably healthier than any other dietary approach, completely sustainable food is rare. Raising plants and animals in complex, environmentally and socially responsible ecosystems on their natural diets and without the use of hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics can be difficult to do and even harder to scale. The Global Animal Partnership, an organization that runs a tiered rating system for ethical, health-conscious meat production, has identified only 14 producers that run truly “animal centered” farms or ranches. It’s also tough to identify sustainable meat when companies make vague, mostly unverifiable commitments to sustainability in an effort to capitalize on the growing market for real (unprocessed) food. Each restaurant on this list, however, makes a convincing effort to move us towards the ideal – while some do so more informatively than others, most offer specific information about their suppliers. Every listed business also provides a tasty, enjoyable dining experience.

The order of my list, therefore, relies on a weighted ranking algorithm similar to the one Kate and I used to choose Georgetown over other schools. I first determined the criteria that mattered most to me, in order: sustainability, taste, selection, service, and atmosphere. I then ranked the restaurants in each category (ties allowed) and applied the algorithm to determine overall rankings. If you’re a math nerd like me and want further details, I’ve included the full methodology and scoring breakdown at the bottom of this post.

Honorable Mention: Country Gourmet
1314 South Mary Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94087
408-744-9446

Sustainability Rank: 10
Taste Rank: 10
Selection Rank: 8
Service Rank: 10
Atmosphere Rank: 11

The only order-at-the-counter restaurant on this list, Country Gourmet provides unlimited focaccia bread and the opportunity to hang out with the more mature patrons who take advantage of the restaurant’s special deals for senior citizens. I’ve enjoyed specials from Niman Ranch in the past; though the staff doesn’t always know the origin of specific menu items and you’ll have to ask to be sure, they “purchase local, wild, free-range and organic products when available.”

10. Park Place
10050 South De Anza Boulevard, Cupertino, CA 94015
408-873-1000

Sustainability Rank: 10
Taste Rank: 10
Selection Rank: 8
Service Rank: 4
Atmosphere Rank: 10

The salads aren’t incredible, but the flatbreads at Park Place are cheesy, crispy, and delightful. Patrons can dine at a normal table or kick back on the couch-like seating outside. As stated on their menu, “Park Place supports farms, ranches, and fisheries that are guided by principles of sustainability.” However, you will still have to ask your waiter if you want more information about the source of a given menu item.

9. Vino Locale
431 Kipling Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301
650-328-0450

Sustainability Rank: 3
Taste Rank: 1
Selection Rank: 11
Service Rank: 11
Atmosphere Rank: 3

Vino Locale takes the “slow food” movement very seriously and literally – prepare to wait a while to get your meal. When it comes, it will be worth it. If you’re there on a weekday, their bacon-wrapped dates are amazing. The weekend menu is constantly changing, partially to keep the dishes as seasonal, local, and organic as possible, and though there aren’t many choices, you can be sure that each one will taste fantastic (I ate the best shrimp of my life at Vino Locale a few years ago). Romantics will love the outside seating area and the live music that often accompanies the meal.

8. Tigelleria
76 East Campbell Avenue, Campbell, CA 95008
408-884-3808

Sustainability Rank: 7
Taste Rank: 7
Selection Rank: 1
Service Rank: 4
Atmosphere Rank: 3

With pasta made in-house and an extensive array of appetizers and entrees for carnivores and vegetarians alike, Tigelleria is a perfect destination for a date in downtown Campbell. Significant others have been known to enjoy the pocketed pita-like bread, accompanied with three unique spreads, that arrives while you peruse your dinner options. A member of Slow Food USA, Tigelleria Organic Restaurant lives up to its full name by offering several 100% organic dishes, and while the Tigelleria menu doesn’t describe the sustainability of every dish, servers happily relay this information to interested diners. The spighe al cinghiale (wild boar ravioli) and fettucine al pesto are superb.

7. Village Bistro
378 Santana Row #1035, San Jose, CA 95128
408-248-9091

Sustainability Rank: 3
Taste Rank: 8
Selection Rank: 3
Service Rank: 4
Atmosphere Rank: 3

Featuring the second best bread of any restaurant on this list, Village Bistro recently revamped their menu and sadly discontinued two phenomenal dishes, the crab tostada and “forbidden” Thai curry. I feel confident that the menu’s newcomers will similarly please those who eat there, however; Village Bistro’s wild caught seafood has been consistently better than that served at Lark Creek Blue (its sustainable neighbor that narrowly missed this list). Village Bistro also serves a wicked weekend brunch. The chicken, lamb, and most of the produce is sourced locally.

6. The Basin
14572 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, CA 95070
408-867-1906

Sustainability Rank: 7
Taste Rank: 1
Selection Rank: 7
Service Rank: 1
Atmosphere Rank: 3

Only a dearth of vegetarian options and incomplete information about its meat sourcing keeps The Basin below the higher-ranked restaurants on this list. While pricier than at other dinner destinations, the meals, particularly those that include mushrooms and/or fish, typically merit the cost. The Basin’s enclosed patio – with perfectly-balanced temperature control and a tree that runs through the middle of the room – offers the benefits of outdoor eating without any of the drawbacks.

5. Bumble
145 1st Street, Los Altos, CA 94022
650-383-5340

Sustainability Rank: 1
Taste Rank: 8
Selection Rank: 8
Service Rank: 4
Atmosphere Rank: 1

One of the most unique restaurants in the area, Bumble attracts families with young children like Ryan Gosling attracts everyone who can see. They’ve got the highest staff-to-customer ratio I’ve ever observed, a playroom where they’ll entertain your kids for $5-$10 per half hour, and a heated adult patio for people unable to enjoy the magnification of the inquisitive young faces that peer through the domes in the playroom’s aquarium. The construction across the street makes outdoor seating less agreeable for older folk, but it doesn’t deter the toddlers who have both staked claim to the sandbox and ordered fish-shaped bento boxes that may or may not include the restaurant’s delicious pretzel crusted chicken. Bumble chooses their suppliers carefully – everything except their cured meats are local, and even their salami and prosciutto come from a Portland supplier that emphasizes sustainable production – and the taste of their dishes reflects the high quality of their ingredients.

4. Casa de Cobre
14560 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, CA 95070
408-867-1639

Sustainability Rank: 7
Taste Rank: 1
Selection Rank: 3
Service Rank: 1
Atmosphere Rank: 3

The Basin’s sister restaurant, Casa de Cobre’s slightly more casual feel in no way detracts from it’s equally strong cuisine. I was not a fan of my first foray into eating cactus and their guacamole, while good, isn’t the best in the area (see below), but the pozole (an older special), fish tacos, duck carnitas, and roasted wild mushroom side are incredible. Like Tigelleria and The Basin, Casa de Cobre provides information about the sourcing for many of their menu items and commits to full sustainability “whenever possible.”

3. Zona Rosa
1411 The Alameda, San Jose, CA 95126
408-275-1411

Sustainability Rank: 3
Taste Rank: 1
Selection Rank: 3
Service Rank: 4
Atmosphere Rank: 9

Next to a tattoo parlor and within walking distance of San Jose Unified’s District Office, this small, family-owned, and easy-to-miss gem serves some of the best and most interesting Mexican food in the area. It’s a little small, but the staff is uber-friendly and the food inspired. Ever considered eating guacamole with bacon and pistachios? You should – it’s delicious. If you’re an avocado aficionado, the fried wedges will knock your socks off. Lunchtime guests should also try the double-decker carnitas club. And don’t forget about the callos (scallop tacos). All the meat is from Niman Ranch and the seafood is wild-caught.

2. Calafia Cafe
855 El Camino Real #130, Palo Alto, CA 94301
650-322-9200

Sustainability Rank: 3
Taste Rank: 1
Selection Rank: 1
Service Rank: 4
Atmosphere Rank: 1

Calafia’s “plant-eaters” half of the menu trumps every other restaurant on the list in vegetarian-friendliness. Their meat is awesome as well. Not only is the aforementioned “Completo” every bit as good as it sounds, but the pork belly buns, chicken drumettes, brussels sprout and potato pizza, and tempura fried vegetables are also all dishes for the ages. For brunch, fans of ground meat will swoon over the David Chang burger, while diners who prefer a more traditional breakfast will find the potatoes hashed to perfection. The origin of every ingredient is stated explicitly on the menu. Originally started by Google chef Charlie Ayers, Calafia proudly embraces its technological roots through the electronic gadgets that grace most tables. Use them to order or to (among other fun applications) challenge your significant other to some couples trivia.

1. Mayfield Bakery & Cafe
855 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94301
650-853-9200

Sustainability Rank: 1
Taste Rank: 1
Selection Rank: 3
Service Rank: 1
Atmosphere Rank: 3

I developed my algorithm before knowing which restaurant would come out on top, but Mayfield Bakery & Cafe (located right next door to Calafia Cafe) seems like an appropriate choice for first place for three reasons: my future father-in-law declared the ribs the best he’s ever had, the restaurant sources all of its meat from local California farms (the company that owns Mayfield even sources some of the food from their own ranch), and our waiter gave us two free, gigantic bags of assorted bread to take home after I asked for more to eat several times during our first visit (clearly an effective marketing tactic; we’ve been back countless times since). The kale salad is awesome and every entree I’ve eaten has been mouthwatering. Their chocolate chip cookies also make a delicious dessert.

That concludes the list, though fellow math enthusiasts and those who wish to debate the ratings in the comments will of course want to see both the methodology and the more detailed results:

Weights: sustainability (x5), taste (x4), selection (x3), service (x2), atmosphere (x1)

Methodology: Unweighted scores are determined in reverse order of rankings. Since I ranked eleven restaurants, a restaurant in sole possession of first place in a given category would receive 11 points, the second place restaurant would receive 10 points, the third place restaurant 9 points, and so on and so forth (if two restaurants were tied for fourth place, they would receive 7.5 points each, the average of what sole occupants of 4th and 5th place would have received). Weighted scores are then computed by multiplying the category weights by the unweighted scores, and each overall score is the sum of the restaurant’s weighted scores in every category.

Rankings:

	Sustainability	Taste	Selection	Service	Atmosphere
Bumble	1	8	8	4	1
Calafia Cafe	3	1	1	4	1
Casa de Cobre	7	1	3	1	3
Country Gourmet	10	10	8	10	11
Mayfield Bakery & Cafe	1	1	3	1	3
Park Place	10	10	8	4	10
The Basin	7	1	7	1	3
Tigelleria	7	7	1	4	3
Village Bistro	3	8	3	4	3
Vino Locale	3	1	11	11	3
Zona Rosa	3	1	3	4	9

Unweighted Scores:

	Sustainability	Taste	Selection	Service	Atmosphere
Bumble	10.5	3.5	3	5.5	10.5
Calafia Cafe	7.5	8.5	10.5	5.5	10.5
Casa de Cobre	4	8.5	7.5	10	6.5
Country Gourmet	1.5	1.5	3	2	1
Mayfield Bakery & Cafe	10.5	8.5	7.5	10	6.5
Park Place	1.5	1.5	3	5.5	2
The Basin	4	8.5	5	10	6.5
Tigelleria	4	5	10.5	5.5	6.5
Village Bistro	7.5	3.5	7.5	5.5	6.5
Vino Locale	7.5	8.5	1	1	6.5
Zona Rosa	7	8.5	7.5	5.5	3

Weighted Scores:

	Sustainability	Taste	Selection	Service	Atmosphere	Overall Score
Bumble	52.5	14	9	11	10.5	97
Calafia Cafe	37.5	34	31.5	11	10.5	124.5
Casa de Cobre	20	34	22.5	20	6.5	103
Country Gourmet	7.5	6	9	4	1	27.5
Mayfield Bakery & Cafe	52.5	34	22.5	20	6.5	135.5
Park Place	7.5	6	9	11	2	35.5
The Basin	20	34	15	20	6.5	95.5
Tigelleria	20	20	31.5	11	6.5	89
Village Bistro	37.5	14	22.5	11	6.5	91.5
Vino Locale	37.5	34	3	2	6.5	83
Zona Rosa	35	34	22.5	11	3	105.5

Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE), Teach For America’s (TFA’s) partner organization that focuses on alumni leadership development, held an online panel for members interested in learning more about Vergara v. California on June 26. I was excited to receive an invitation to speak on the panel – I enjoyed talking to LEE members about how teachers unions benefit low-income students at an earlier event and appreciate LEE’s recent efforts to include organized labor in their work. LEE received over 100 RSVPs from TFA corps members and alumni who tuned in to hear our discussion of the case.

USC Professor of Education & Policy Katharine Strunk, Georgetown Professor of Law Eloise Pasachoff, and former Assistant Secretary of Civil Rights for the US Department of Education Russlynn Ali joined me for an engaging hour-long session. Each of the panelists had ample time to make opening and closing remarks and to respond to each other’s points. You can listen to the full audio for yourself below, but I also wanted to summarize two points I made at the end of the session:

1) It’s important to read the full text of education research articles because the findings are frequently misconstrued. As I mentioned during my initial remarks, there’s a pretty strong research basis behind the idea that teachers are the most important in-school factor related to student success (though it’s important to remember that in-school factors, taken together, seem to account for only about 20% of student achievement results). Nobody disagrees that teacher quality varies, either – it’s clear that low-income students sometimes have teachers who aren’t as high-quality as we would like. Additionally, there’s broad consensus that improving teacher quality and addressing inequities between low-income and high-income schools are both important objectives. The research does not suggest, however (and the plaintiffs did not show at trial), that there is a causal link between teacher employment law and either teacher quality issues or inequities between low-income and high-income schools. There’s plenty of rhetoric about how employment law causes inequity but no actual evidence supporting that claim. The other panelists and I unfortunately didn’t have enough time to engage in substantive conversations about the validity of the research we discussed, but I hope we have the opportunity to do so in the future.

2) Most union members and most people working within reform organizations have the same goals and should be working together. We should therefore consider our rhetoric carefully. Instead of insinuating that the unions who defend teacher employment law care more about protecting bad teachers than helping students, reformers could ask unions how more sensible reforms could make sure the execution of the laws aligns with the ethical, student-oriented theory. Reformers could then signal their support for organized labor and work with unions to address the real root causes of teacher quality issues and inequities between schools. The other panelists indicated their belief in reasonable due process protections, improved teacher evaluation and support, and equitable school funding, and kids would benefit if reformers and unions united behind these causes and pursued them with the same vigor with which some have jumped on the Vergara bandwagon.

You can hear more of my thoughts beginning about 22 minutes and 30 seconds into the clip, though I’d encourage you to listen to the whole thing if you have the time. I’d also love to discuss the case more in the comments with anyone interested. Hope you enjoy the panel!

Note: An earlier version of this post called LEE “Teach For America’s alumni organization.” The reference has been changed to reflect that, while LEE focuses on leadership development for TFA alumni, they are an independent organization.

Update (7/19/14): The following sentence was modified to clarify that addressing teacher quality issues and addressing inequities between low-income and high-income schools are distinct tasks: “Additionally, there’s broad consensus that improving teacher quality and addressing inequities between low-income and high-income schools are both important objectives.” The original sentence read: “Additionally, there’s broad consensus that improving teacher quality and addressing inequities between low-income and high-income schools is important.”