News

At the peak of last month's filmfest schmoozing in Toronto, the burning question on the minds of bon vivants and industry bigwigs each evening was: Park Hyatt rooftop or Greenhouse?

While the former was a regular in the fest's after-hours firmament, the latter was a newcomer: a posh pop-up venue from New York that billed itself as an eco-friendly nightclub. The fact that it could claim green cred in everything from the furnishings to the 360 Vodka (distilled through an energy-efficient process) was enough for the likes of Benicio del Toro and fashion god Valentino to throw parties there.

Post-TIFF, Greenhouse vacated 99 Sudbury in the hip Queen West West district and is currently completing a permanent location in downtown Manhattan. Just in time for Halloween, celebrities and VIPs will descend upon what Greenhouse claims is the first club to apply for the eco gold-standard LEED certification.

"It's definitely going to be a cool place to hang out," says Greenhouse partner Barry Mullineaux from New York. "Then the green factor is going to give it the super boost."

He adds that the space will be a natural fit for hosting environment-related fundraisers.

Even if the current economic climate is prompting some to tighten their belts, there's no reason to believe that people will stop having their friends over.

And in many ways, eco-entertaining is a way to feel more virtuous. Whether by serving farmer's market hors d'oeuvres, eschewing disposable dishware, composting, or minimizing waste, hosts are thinking twice about their fete's carbon footprint.

"Instead of keeping up with the Joneses, the competition with your neighbour is definitely going towards entertaining," says Adria Vasil, NOW magazine columnist and author of Ecoholic, a bestselling guide to environmentally friendly information, products and services across Canada. "This is the time to create a green badge for their friends and show them how green they really are inside their homes. Even if they're not green for the rest of the year, they can be green for that party."

Vasil notes that enviro-hosts motivated solely by one-upmanship are still doing more good than harm. "No matter what reason you're doing it for, if you're taking small steps, then you're making an impact."

Plus, a green party is an opportunity to share a belief system without getting too evangelical. "Hopefully, there's a bit of a message that gets carried on. And really, that's how the whole environmental movement has taken off to date; you think you're just one person changing your light bulb but it's actually happening across the country," she says.

Earth-conscious books like Vasil's in addition to a glut of print and online magazines are helping to drive the movement, according to food stylist Lindsay Evans, who blogs about food and entertaining for Green Living, a Canadian quarterly. "One of the main things right now is the influx of information; I even find myself trying to learn as much as I can," she says. "You can get so many tips and ideas."

Although Evans has yet to throw an all-out green party, she has started to bank ideas. In addition to sourcing local and/or organic food, she would try to improve her table settings.

Bamboo plates are one option (Vasil is a proponent of biodegradable sugarcane plates). Taking stock of what you have is another. "You can find things around your house," she suggests. "There are so many things that may supplement having to buy a new vase."

Enviro-hosts realize that their parties aren't a piece of cake.

Noel Desautels, an executive search consultant and recreational swing dancer in Toronto, prides himself on throwing a gathering for 120 in which his final garbage bag weighs 170 g and is no bigger than a football. He and his wife Sheri aren't fanatical about the food although they stock up on mini tumblers at the dollar store and separate the filmy plastic from the paper pie boxes.

"You know it's not perfectly rational but you do it because you feel good. I'm doing it for me. I'm not doing it because it's the best cost benefit analysis use of my time and money," he says.

This is echoed by Greenhouse's Mullineaux, who says redoing the air conditioning and plumbing and finding products that meet LEED standards is a costlier project than the New York nightclubs he's been involved with in the past. And he acknowledges that Greenhouse is not going to change the world. "This can't really be a trend. It's a problem that has to be fixed forever. We can't just put a Band-Aid on things."

Desautels, however, makes the argument that parties make people happy and, ultimately, this leads to greener living.

"You can either get [happiness] by buying an ever cooler iPod - and I love iPods - or you can get it by throwing a few thousand dollars a year at a couple of really great parties and creating experiences for people; because in the big picture, as experiences replace physical goods, it's good for the environment and better for our psyche."

Now that's a thought worth recycling.

Small plates,

smaller footprint

A green party needs green food, and catering companies are increasingly being called on to offer eco alternatives. At Toronto's Couture Cuisine, for example, seasonal, local and organic ingedients play a major role in its party menus, with a focus on showcasing the farms and producers of these fine ingredients. At a recent event, chef Arpi Magyar and manager Nicole Pieckenhagen created a cocktail spread that included:

House-cured duck proscuitto (Morden Organic Farm, with balsamic reduction and fig slices (Everdale Organic Farm) served on homemade blini.

Mini-skewers of red and yellow pickled organic beets, buffalo mozzarella (Fairburn Farms) and late-harvest heirloom cherry tomatoes (Everdale) garnished with Cookstown micro herbs.

Tomato-water cocktail garnished with skewers of red and orange hierloom tomatoes.

Artisanal cheese platter with Eweda Cru sheep's milk cheese from Ontario, and Riopelle de l'Isle, Le Douanier, Charlevoix le Migneron and Pomme de Haute Richelieu from Quebec.

Mini vanilla-lemon panna cotta (Organic Blue Haven milk) topped with spiced Niagara plum compote (recipe below).

Still, it takes more than food to make a green feast. Pieckenhagen offers the following tips to throwing a party with a small footprint:

Use local, organic and seasonal flowers

Organic beeswax candles cast a benign light

Linen or hemp napkins and table cloths can be reused

Instead of plastic or paper plates, opt for good-looking bamboo

vanilla-lemon panna cotta with plum compote

what you need

Panna cotta:

1 vanilla bean split in half

1½ cup organic whipping cream

¼ cup organic sugar

Grated rind of 1 lemon

Pinch of salt

½ tablespoons gelatin soaked in water to soften

Plum compote:

12 Ontario organic blue plums, cut in ½ and pitted

½ cup organic sugar

½ cup water

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

4 whole cloves

2 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup white wine

What you do

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into a small saucepan. Add vanilla pod and cream to the pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Drain the gelatin and stir gently into the cream until dissolved. Strain. Divide mixture to 4 individual ramekins and refrigerate overnight to set.

In a sauce pan, combine sugar, water, lemon juice and zest, cloves, star anise and cinnamon. Bring it to boil. Add plums and bring to a boil. Add white wine and bring to a boil again. Cool.

Unmold panna cottaand carefully slide panna cotta on to the middle of plate. Serve with plums compote. Serves 4.

Cecily Ross