Kevin has been a regular at Good To Eat for over a year, sometimes with his family, other times coming solo for pickup, but always with a friendly vibe. One fateful day in October 2023, he casually told us that he's been working as a food scientist at a company in Alameda that produces sustainable algae oil called Spotlight. He asked if the restaurant would be interested in trying a sample of the oil, and we thought, why not - and we connected Chef Tony with the good folks at Spotlight to explore further.
Tony found the oil to have a very pure flavor with a rich, viscous texture, making it ideal for infusing other ingredients without introducing unwanted flavors. Its high smoking point and emulsification properties have made it a suitable replacement for lard, a staple ingredient in Taiwanese pastry. The sustainable algae oil aligns with our eco-conscious culinary practices and has become one of Tony's specialty ingredients for culinary creations.
Good To Eat, along with five other Bay Area restaurants made it into a Forbes article that cover the adoption and benefits of algae oil. The neat thing about the article is that we also got to share our restaurant's value. Click on the link below to check out the article, and perhaps you will see Spotlight algae oil available for retail soon!
Left: Algae oil is used in the taro ball from our Ja Ban Bae tasting menu.
Right: The black sesame paste incorporated algae oil to create a rich mouthfeel to accompany the fiddlehead fern.
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