In a world where meat is becoming simultaneously more expensive and less sustainable to produce, how can restaurants keep up? For some, alternative meats are the way forward. For others, regenerative meat could be the key.
Colorado restaurants have long been ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainably sourced food and ingredients. Root Down is one such example. According to their website, the restaurant partners with local suppliers around the Denver area, it’s 100% powered by wind energy, and 75% of Root Down was built and finished with reclaimed, reused, and recycled materials. Another Colorado restaurant looking to the future is Corrida, a Spanish-style steakhouse in Boulder that has begun selling regenerative meat, but what exactly is it?
What Is Regenerative Meat?
Regenerative Meat has been popping up on food labels recently, but what exactly does it mean? Regenerative Meat is meat made by farmers practicing ‘regenerative agriculture.’ This method aims to help reverse climate change by reproducing organic materials in the soil to diversify crops, improve animal welfare, and restore soil health. Rotational grazing for the animals and refraining from using chemicals are important steps in this method.
Who is Corrida and How Are They Involved?
Corrida has added regenerative beef to their spring menu, providing ranch-to-table meat that they think people who are health-and-climate-conscious will be willing to pay for. They’re also the first restaurant to partner with Savory Institute’s Land to Market regenerative agriculture program, a Boulder-based non profit that focuses on restorative agriculture around the world. Corrida will serve a rotating selection of 4-5 cuts, such as rib-eyes and strip loins, prepared by executive chef Samuel McCandless.
While Corrida’s restaurant pays homage to the Spanish influence on meat, it doesn’t do typical tapa-style Spanish food. Instead, it offers plates of fish and meat that hail from the different regions of Spain like the Basque country and the South. Think of plates of bacalao (that means cod) and sunny Spanish cocktails that combine Spanish gin, vermouth, and Rioja (red wine that hails from the Rioja region of Spain).
Head over to Corrida for a taste of their sustainable meat selection–like Grassfed Colorado Sirloin and 30-Day Dry-Aged Tomahawk Sirloin, or try their Culinary Tour of Spain–focused on Pais Vasco, Basque Country which is known for seafood.
As the discourse on sustainable agriculture continues to permeate our culture, we’re happy to know that there’s restaurants like Corrida making strives towards more climate-conscious practices.