Kali's Kitchen, the onsite dining outlet in the recently opened new headquarters of natural/organic sports nutrition snacks maker Clif Bar & Co., offers an array of dishes using local and organic ingredients, as well as a juice bar and self-serve coffee bar. But what is most unusual about Kali's (named for Clif Bar founder Gary Erickson's grandmother, who loved to cook and bake) is the use of recycled materials and components in the construction and furnishings.
That includes some kitchen equipment reclaimed from a site that was being demolished. It includes hoods, a pizza oven, refrigeration units and drop-in items.
“It fit the sustainable attitude the company wanted to bring to the new facility,” says Nahum Goldberg, LEED Green Associate for foodservice consultant Cini-Little International, Inc., which worked with Clif Bar on the design of Kali's Kitchen.
Kali's Kitchen is run by two former staffers from the R&D department, Executive Chef Scott Erickson and Sous Chef Justin Leste. The culinarily oriented pair had put on events for the staff from the lab kitchen in Clif Bar's old building in Berkeley, where there was no onsite foodservice facilities.
Lunch choices now include soups, paninis, deli sandwiches and daily specials ranging from pizza to vegetarian.
Employees also make their own to-order coffee at no charge using roasted coffees from noted local purveyor Sightglass. The café has a counter with a series of individually sized coffee beakers topped by filter spouts. Employees can come in, choose the blend they want, measure it to their satisfaction and make the individual serving by pouring hot water over the grounds.
For Kali's Kitchen recipes, go to kaliskitchen.com. For a video tour, go to http://video.food-management.com/pages/contract-management.
Design Team: Kathy Shaloo Berg, ZGF Architects LLP (architect); Nahum Goldberg, Cini-Little International, Inc. (foodservice consultant)