Can fine dining be sustainable? Matthew Kammerer weighs in

Harbor House Inn is the ultimate hidden gem. The 20-seat restaurant needs to be extraordinary to lure diners three hours north of San Francisco to Elk, California, and the storybook views of the rugged Pacific Ocean dotted with tidal pools, rock formations, and occasional whale sightings from the redwood dining room are accompanied by an unforgettable meal.

From seaweed sourdough to fresh sea cucumber and delicately steamed abalone, chef Matthew Kammerer captures the very essence of this coastal destination and moment in time on the plate, surrendering to nature and allowing regional flora and fauna to steer menu development. Each element of the meal is sourced as locally as possible, including ceramic plates and bowls by Cliff Glover and nine different sea vegetables foraged from the inn's private beach. After we speak, Kammerer intends to pick wild ginger near a waterfall across the street from his house before service.

While many restaurant locations these days are strategically determined with the help of AI and careful analysis of population density, competitors, and real estate valuations, Harbor House was essentially a manifestation. Kammerer drove up and down the West Coast looking for the perfect spot for his own restaurant. He jotted down his vision in a notebook—10 rooms, near the ocean, a historical building, somewhere he could grow food. “When I walked in for my tour, I began laughing as it was perfect for what I had envisioned, almost surreal,” he says.

_{A room at Harbor House Inn. Photo Courtesy Harbor House Inn}

When he first opened Harbor House in 2018, some nights they would only serve two or four guests a night and it was difficult to find staff and keep them motivated. In the early days, Kammerer was also the breakfast cook, so he'd be at Harbor House from 6:30am until after dinner. “I would see guests out post dinner and then deliver them breakfast at 8am the next morning to their bewilderment that I always seemed to be there, which I was,” he recalls. But within a few months, accolades from Food & Wine and the James Beard Foundation rolled in, along with his first Michelin star, giving Harbor House the visibility it needed.

Before opening Harbor House, Kammerer was Executive Sous Chef at Saison in San Francisco, also working at De Wulf in Belgium and Tokyo’s RyuGin. He projects a Zen calm with his demeanor, a strong silent type who leads by example with keen observation and intellect. On his increasingly rare days off, he enjoys reading, relaxing, and gardening.

He has an earnest approach to sustainability at a time when many restaurateurs toss the word around spuriously. From using 100% renewable geothermal and solar energy to making candles from leftover fryer oil, what's best for the environment is at the forefront of every operational decision. Even at home, he reuses water from rinsing vegetables to water his plants. The restaurant's nearby organic farm supplies much of the produce for dinner, and luckily for guests, farming practises that put soil health first also result in the most nutrient dense and delicious vegetables. Kammerer's dedication and discipline have earned him a Michelin green star in addition to two Michelin stars and a James Beard Award nomination. We chatted with the chef to learn more about his culinary philosophy, challenges, and goals.

What sparked your love of nature?

I grew up outdoors, whether at the beach surfing or in the mountains snowboarding. When you're deep in the mountains and you see nature in its purest form, you want to protect that. When it was my time to have my own restaurant, I wanted to be in a place like that. Nature is in charge in Elk and you don't see litter here. It's very humbling. I wanted to conserve that and not be a negative impact with my restaurant.

Your menu changes daily, but are there any signature dishes that are nearly always on the menu that readers can look forward to?

​​We always have maitake mushroom tempura ​with a side of lace lichen ​on the menu. It's sustainable, local, and gives guests a new experience with the accompanying lace lichen broth. Lace lichen only grows in areas with really high air quality, and most people don't have that. It really shows off the whole ingredient and nothing goes to waste. The mushrooms are torn to shreds and fried, and the trim is cooked in dashi broth.​​​

​​​Lach lichen is basically a canary in a coal mine for air quality. It's not readily available unless you are quite remote. The lichen component came about during Covid. With all the down time, I was looking for a creative outlet, so I spent time in the forest trying to expand my knowledge of local plants. The lace lichen reminded me of glass noodles, which I tried to replicate. It picks up the vinegar dressing really nicely and is an earthy texture component to the course.

​​​Last time I dined at Harbor House, I also loved your kombu ice cream for dessert. It was the perfect not-to-sweet conclusion to the meal. How did you come up with this?

​​​​After making dashi every day, we ​​always had the spent kelp left over. I found that if we dry it, toast it, and infuse it into the ice cream it creates a really subtle umami and sweet taste. The spent coffee grounds were another byproduct that we wanted to utilize. They came together to close the loop on two products that were viable for a second life.

What is the biggest challenge in running a restaurant in such a remote location? Is staffing difficult?

We are probably one of the only restaurants in the country that offers a high level of experience in a remote place so people that want to live in a remote place and have high standards in their work flock to us. Thankfully we are pretty well staffed right now.

But there are definitely challenges that come with being in Elk. Our Wi-Fi is not great. Shipping is three to four days on anything you need. If something breaks, nobody is coming to fix your refrigerator for a week. The remoteness and lack of everyday necessities and conveniences don't exist here.

How do you minimize food waste in a fine-dining setting without being repetitive with your dishes?

Harbor House is unique because as the chef I have four different outlets for food. People come for the main dinner tasting menu experience, but I have lunch, in-room dining dinner, and breakfast too. So, if I get a whole fish in, I can use the collar for one meal and fillets in another. The whole vegetable gets used from seed to flower. Everything will find a home. We eat really well at staff meal too. We're eating the same farm vegetables, which is contributing to our staff's wellbeing. And any waste we do have is composted for the farm.

How sustainable can a destination fine-dining restaurant really be? You have three EV chargers for visitors driving electric vehicles, but as you become more famous, people are booking flights from Asia and Europe just to dine with you.

The idea of a sustainable restaurant is definitely a tricky topic. The more you dig the more unrealistic it becomes. Where does the soap for the dishwasher come from? Why do we serve old-world wines or sake? In the kitchen, we have removed sponges from the restaurant and now use tawashi which have a much longer shelf life, but they are not made locally. Every corner you poke around there is another issue. I'm never trying to shield us from these questions. We have always attacked them and tried to do the right thing, while still trying to give the best experience we can to our guests. Just because there are wines locally doesn't mean we have to serve them, if they are not the quality we believe in.

I don't think the word sustainable applies to a fine-dining restaurant. What is sustainable about 16 team members coming together to serve 20 people 15 courses? Nothing, even if your food is local and raised with the best practises. What we can do, and what we do, is question everything we do and try to make the best decisions for the planet, our staff, and our future. The world is global now. I can't stop people from flying here. We are a destination restaurant and our survival depends on guests making the trip. Sustainability for us moved beyond the food we serve but also the culture we create. The kitchen team is done by 10pm, we celebrate mental health days and never guilt the staff for wanting time off. My goal is to have this become a career for our staff, not a job. I want to be part of the change that helps make this career more realistic for our team and something they can continue to grow in.

What are you most looking forward to this coming year?

Our farm expansion—we pretty much doubled our farm site so I'm looking forward to growing more food and having access to a larger variety of produce. Being here for six years, I've watched us lose more and more ingredients from the ocean. There's been no salmon for three years and I haven't had sea urchin for three months. Crab season is on and off. I think we'll continue working towards more plant-based cuisine. Doubling the farm will add more quality to our cooking. We have 200 beds now, but our farmer Amy Smith might sow three different varieties of vegetables in one bed. It's a farming technique called companion planting which is popular in California because water is not super available.

Many chefs have conflicting feelings regarding Michelin, but with the next ceremony coming up in August, how are you feeling about it? What more do you think you need to do to achieve the third star?

Michelin can make you go crazy when you spend too much time trying to figure out what they want, I'm guilty of this. Going to dine at other restaurants will make you second guess everything you thought you knew. Each chef has their own mark so trying to see what others are doing has never been of interest for me. If anything, it's more about the service aspect of what I can learn. When being selected for a promotion, you are inspected a few times in that year. It's like taking a test, you don't know what's on it and you don't know when you are taking it. It can feel like a prison if you focus too much on the potential inspector. What we do is just focus on every single plate every single night, not the idea of a potential inspector. If we continue to raise our bar as we currently are doing, I believe we will achieve it at some point. As long as the staff is happy the guests are happy, and everything will come to fruition.