tACKo, a counter-service taqueria owned by my stepson, Nick Fasanella, will open soon in San Francisco in the Marina at 3115 Fillmore Street. Nick is the owner or former owner of a few of the city’s favorite eateries, including Nick’s Crispy Taco’s and the Taco Shop at Underdogs. tACKo, named to reference Nantucket Island’s airport abbreviation, ACK, will feature a New England theme.

I’m proud to have designed his new décor, with a quintessential Nantucket gray exterior, complete with window boxes and white trim. There’s a nautical theme inside the restaurant, which reflects his passion for sailing and life on a houseboat in Sausalito. Nick plans to open his second tACKo branch on Nantucket in the summer of 2012, and after that, to expand across the East Coast.

Chef Nick looks for the best fresh and organic ingredients when preparing his signature dishes. Stop by and enjoy one of his lobster tortas (photo and recipe farther down), and tell Nick we said hello!

For a review and a photo of the restaurant interior, click here:

Nick and Trudy

On the East Coast? Stop by Pumpkin Pond Farm!

A certified organic 9.5 acre farm and nursery located on Nantucket, Pumpkin Pond Farm offers delicious vegetables and greens, along with trees, shrubs, perennials and garden supplies. Their dedication to sustainable agriculture and good soil science is an integral part of the farm’s approach to producing pure, fresh products.

Salad lovers will soon find the best of Spring, including lettuce, arugula, and wheatgrass, and that’s just the beginning of their growing season.

Owner Marty McGowan and his wife, Holly, have a longstanding friendship with my stepson, Nick Fasanella. Marty likes to tell the story of the day Chef Nick walked through the garden and was delighted to find Mexican tarragon growing there. It became the inspiration for a fabulous Lobster Torta that he created and cooked at the farm. We’re happy to share the recipe from the Pumpkin Pond Farm website:

Lobster Torta
Serves 4

1 bunch of Mexican tarragon
Fresh cilantro
3 Jalapenos thinly sliced
2 Ripe avocados
3 Limes
4 organic Garlic cloves
4 Chili Arbor
8 oz Nantucket butter, melted
4 1.25lb Lobsters steamed & cleaned
2 cups of Black Beans
4 Bolillo or Torpedo Rolls lightly toasted and buttered
Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

Cook 1 cup of dried black beans with 3 cups of water and garlic cloves. Half way through cooking add salt and pepper to taste. When the beans are tender in about an hour, let them cool slightly then blend them smoothly with just enough of their broth. Return the puree to the pan to cook out some of the moisture, check for seasoning and keep warm. Melt the butter on low heat and steep in the whole tarragon and chiles for 15 minutes, remove pepper and tarragon to reheat the lobster. Mash avocado with salt and the juice of half a lime. Toast the bread cut side down brushed with some of the butter. Spread the bottom bun with black beans and top with avocado. Divide the warmed lobster evenly and top with cilantro and jalapenos. Garnish with cilantro and lime wedges and serve with ZD Chardonnay.

Enjoy!

Due to their close friendship, Marty and Nick look forward to more collaboration in the future. We’ll keep you posted!

On Saturday, March 26^th, at 8:30 p.m. (your local time), people all over the world will turn off their lights for one hour, in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common:  our planet.  Lights will go out in neighborhoods, cities and countries around the world, as hundreds of millions of people take a stand against climate change.

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia, with 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses turning off the lights.  Only a year later, Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating.  Global landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, CN Tower in Toronto, Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and Rome’s Colosseum all stood in darkness, as symbols of hope for the future of our planet.

March 27, 2010 was the biggest Earth Hour ever. A record 128 countries joined the global display, and lights from Asia Pacific to Europe to Africa to the Americas switched off the lights

I joined this movement in 2009, and look forward to my third year of switching off the lights on March 26^th, 2011.  I hope you’ll join me!

For more information, go to earthhour.org.  You can sign up there, and add your name to other individuals and businesses who are working to build a future where people live in harmony with nature.

Make Cancer Prevention a Priority – Sign the Greenpeace Petition!

Greenpeace is joining up with 200 coalition groups to deliver a petition to President Obama in early May, asking him to make it a top priority to stop the use of cancer-causing chemicals in American products.  Despite the devastation caused by this horrendous disease, it’s still legal for companies to add known cancer-causing chemicals to products we use every day in our homes, schools and workplaces.

In order for this to change, people need to speak out.

Please sign the Greenpeace petition asking the Administration to create a cancer prevention plan and eliminate cancer-causing chemicals in everyday products.

I’ve signed the petition:  Please Join Me!

I’m excited to join the Connecticut Chapter of the Green Building Council (CTGBC) as a Board Advisor.  The CTGBC is a non-profit organization that seeks to improve the quality of life in Connecticut through the promotion of intelligently designed and constructed high performance green buildings.

Volunteering for this position is one of the ways I can share what I’ve learned about sustainable design, and give back to the community where I live and work.

You can find out more about the work of the CTGBC at www.ctgbc.org

Anthill: A Novel E.O. Wilson

I’m reading a wonderful book:  Anthill: A Novel, by E.O. Wilson.  Join me!

Edward O. Wilson, a Pulitzer-prize winning author of 22 non-fiction books, has written a wonderful first novel.  Anthill tells the story of three parallel worlds:  the smallest is the world of ants, then there is the world of humans, and last, “thousands of times greater in space and time…the biosphere, the totality of all life, plastered like a membrane over all of earth.” (from the Prologue).

Wilson, a naturalist and ant expert, has become increasingly concerned about the declining health of planet Earth.  He has written deeply on topics of conservancy, including in 2006, The Creation—An Appeal to Save Life on Earth.

Anthill tells the inspirational story of a boy who grows up determined to save earth from her most fierce predator:  man himself. The novel follows the boy as he grows up, first witnessing through a child’s eyes the creation and destruction of four amazing anthills, and then later, his life as a legal gladiator in a fight to preserve the wilderness he loves.  It is a parable for our times, and can teach us all important lessons about survival in a world that we must learn to treat with more care.