Since 1999, our café has been leading the way to a new paradigm in healthy gourmet dining; a way of eating that is a cornerstone to nurturing the body, soul, and indeed, the community as a whole. Throughout this time, our mission has remained the same.
We honor the earth, farmers and ourselves through our use of pure organic ingredients and sustainable business practices.
Our seasonal menu makes use of produce from local farms wherever possible.
Composting program: Did you know we compost 100% of our food and paper waste? (we work with Black Earth Haulers). We recycle EVERYTHING including plastic bags and only produce about 60 gallons of actual trash vs. 200 gallons of compost per week and mountains of boxes and plastic/glass!
If you would like to establish a regular pick-up of compost from the Organic Garden please call 978/922-0004 and ask to speak with the Sous Chef. We are always happy to allow individuals to take priority on our compost for their gardens or to feed goats, chickens, etc
Vegan Baked Goods: We are ecstatic to offer local vegan and some gluten-free baked goods from Kim Gregory & her Pure Pastry company. We started working with Kim sometime in 2007. Kim was a customer of the cafe at that time and I encouraged her to craft a vegan scone with her expert baking skills. The rest is history as she continued to master everything from vegan carrot cake, cupcakes, brownies, cookies and more. Kim has the highest standard and will only sell a product when it has reached perfection. She uses many local ingredients, often from her own neighborhood. We honor her for her dedication to excellence in the craft! Visit Kim's Pure Pastry on facebook.
Coffee: We are proud to offer local Beverly company, Atomic Café Coffee Roasters coffee. We offer only fair-trade or Rain Forest Alliance Certified and /or organic coffee. http://www.atomicafe.com/
Tea: We are proud to offer a delicious line of loose-leaf teas from local tea company MEM TEA IMPORTS of Somverville, MA. http://memtea.com/
Wheatgrass and Sprouts: Randy Jacobs of Life Force Growers in Waltham, MA.
Seaweed: Our dulse comes from Larch Hanson of the Maine Seaweed Company. 64 year old Larch harvests from the wildest surf locations he can find! http://www.theseaweedman.com/
Restaurant Supplies: We have worked to get our supplier to carry a complete range of eco-friendly supplies - from 100% recycled post consumer boxes and paper goods to utensils made from corn. J. Stone Diamond is small company based out of Rowley, MA, family run since 1915.
Linen: Here again we choose a small family run local business from Lawrence, MA. Butler Linen has been family run since 1901, is very competitive and has the kind or care and attention only a small family business can provide.
Produce from Local Farms: All farms are within 25 miles and most use only organic growing practices. The list of local items includes, many types of lettuces including heirloom varieties, kale, bok choy, chard, basil, arugula, heirloom variety peppers, tomatoes including heirloom varieties, cucumber, carrots, beets, zucchini, onion and butternut squash! We are also looking to carry local nuts as we know that walnuts, hazelnuts, mokernuts, pignuts and chestnuts grown in our region.
Please contact us at 978/922-0004 if you would like to consider partnering with us.
Green Meadows Farm of Hamilton. http://www.gmfarm.com/
First Light Farm of Hamilton. http://www.firstlightfarmcsa.com/
"Establishing a relationship with OG Cafe has been one of the highlights of First Light Farm's 2010 season ... this information allows us to prioritize you in our 2011 Crop Plan (as well as in our weekly harvests). We can dedicate a specific amount of land and specific plantings for you ... we can help one another realize our goals and visions" Click to read the entire letter from Mike Raymond - First Light Farms
Clark Farm of Danvers http://www.clarkfarmdanvers.com/
Cider Hill Farm of Amesbury http://www.ciderhill.com/
Long Hill Orchard of West Newbury http://www.longhillorchard.com/
Eastern Farms of Ipswich http://www.easternfarmne.com/
Whenever we use honey, we are using local wild honey collected from the northshore area.
Farmers Markets: The Organic Garden Café occasionally attends Farmer's Markets in Salem (Thursdays) and Beverly (Mondays), where we sell Organic Garden's very own prepared foods, (pesto, hummus, etc) and dehydrated goods (kale chips, onion rings, granola, nut & seed snacks, etc). Each week the Farmers Markets provide additional opportunities to acquire fresh local produce and support our community. The Organic Garden seeks out local partners wherever possible. Some years, depending on our staffing situation, we are able to make greater commitments to the markets than others. All of the team members at Organic Garden truly believe that we must focus on our local environment and economy in order to make a large impact that will benefit every single organism on this earth. We all acknowledge that it begins here in this exact moment! In addition to these immediate local sources, the cafe also uses larger New England based purveyors of organic foods.
Grocery/Bulk: Organic Garden's main suppliers for organic bulk goods and grocery are A) United Natural Foods, https://www.unfi.com/, out of Chesterfield, NH (corporate headquarters Providence, RI), the leading independent national distributor of natural, organic foods in the US and B) Associated Buyers of Barrington, NH, a small natural and specialty foods wholesale company, serving the Northeast. http://www.assocbuyers.com/
Produce: Our main suppliers for produce throughout the year when local produce is not available are A) Albert's Organics out of Chesterfield, NH http://www.albertsorganics.com/ and B) Baldor Boston. These companies also feature locally sourced produce from New England when it is available.
May you truly "live in each season as it passes; breath the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each" H.D. Thoreau, 'Huckleberries'
Rawbert and the always green OG Team
