-Do we need chanterelles tonight?
-Yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy.
-Itsumono in the Chinatown-ID neighborhood
has made a name for itself by taking a scoop here
and a few slices there of culinary traditions
from around the world. -There you go.
We call ourselves a mukokuseki gastropub.
Means, like, no nation, no borders.
-But it's what doesn't make it on the plate
at Itsumono that's lifted its popularity to a whole new level.
-Watch your step.
-Restaurant 2 Garden is a Seattle nonprofit
that's walking the talk when it comes
to making the process of composting even greener.
It turns out R2G has unlocked a simple answer
to a complex problem.
-Be careful.
-When sanitation workers pick up
your food and yard waste, they have to burn fuel,
which creates greenhouse gases which impact our environment.
But Restaurant 2 Garden uses pure people power.
-That's everything.
-Walking in to pick up compostable food scraps
from Itsumono's back door,
then taking an eco-friendly hike about two blocks north to a spot
that can put this material to good use --
the CID's Danny Woo Community garden.
-Us localizing this process decreases the use
of that transportation
and creates a circular economy in this area.
-Amy Bettle is the Executive Director of R2G.
-Open these bags into the metal buckets
and then we will start chopping the food waste.
-And she knows at first this may look disgusting...
-Ugh, eww.
-...but once this food waste is cut into roughly 1-inch pieces
and combined with a bokashi bran full of essential microbes
that can start a fermenting process,
a layered delicacy is starting to cook.
-This is the bokashi lasagna.
We also use the analogy
of dusting powdered sugar on a cake.
-Then that cake or lasagna goes in a 5-gallon bucket
and is allowed to break down for a few months
before it's cycled through the 4 foot by 4 foot earth cube
to become nutrient-rich compost.
-We're going to empty as much of it as we can today.
-For Bettle, this process of breaking down food scraps
is building up Seattle's environmental health
and the cultural health of the Chinatown-ID neighborhood.
-Us providing that compost is important
to our connection with our community.
It's multigenerational. It spans multiple languages.
-[ Speaks native language ]
-As Iku Yong explains it,
when he moved to Chinatown many years ago,
the city gave him this little plot of land
to grow fruits and vegetables to provide to the community.
Thanks to Restaurant 2 Garden,
he appreciates not having to buy any compost,
and he appreciates the kindness of a younger generation,
helping continue an age-old gardening tradition.
-I get to see all the Asian aunties and uncles here.
-Volunteers like Kevin Ly say working with R2G
feels like being part of a family.
It takes hard work and there may be some missteps along the way.
-Ugh!
-But Ly says finding the strength to dig deep
and overcome those obstacles to grow something beautiful
is what R2G is all about.
-I see that, and I see this, like,
this resilience in the city, and I just love it.
How, like, there's so much spirit here.
-City figures show businesses in Seattle
throw out nearly 22,000 tons of food every year.
Restaurants are working hard to make sure
any edible food goes to our food banks.
But for what does have to be thrown away,
Restaurant 2 Garden is seeing a major opportunity.
R2G is planning to build a new facility on King Street,
at the site of the old Asian Counseling
and Referral Services food bank.
The project will include a 40-foot composter
called an Earth Flow to scale up operations
and hopefully bring in even more food-service partners.
-There's waste in every restaurant,
and there should be a plan for it.
-Sean Arakaki is chef/owner of Itsumono,
which along with the Panama Hotel,
are the only two restaurants working with R2G currently.
-It's an honor, really.
We're really glad that we could be of use.
-And he's even able to work in some produce
from the Danny Woo Community Garden in his cooking.
A full-circle win for the environment and a restaurant
where now even the leftovers are getting 5-star reviews.
-We're getting some -- some return on our waste,
you know, which, you know, it's not so wasteful.
-As the old saying goes, when life gives you lemons,
make some high-quality, hyper-localized compost.
-Alright, Lisa, can you come here
so you can sprinkle both of these buckets?
-Or as Amy Bettle puts it,
finding a way you can positively impact our planet
and your community makes a lot of lives better,
including your own.
-For us, making it hyperlocal doesn't take away
from our contributions to that big picture.
I think I have a lot of gratitude
for what this organization is doing for the neighborhood,
and also what the organization is doing for me.
[ Laughter ]
♪♪
-Watch CityStream, Tuesday nights at seven, on the Seattle Channel.
Or find us anytime at seattlechannel.org.
♪♪