Factual Information Clarifying Issues Raised by the Washington City Paper
Company statement:
“FIG & OLIVE prides itself on always providing our guests with exceptional food using top quality ingredients. Under no circumstances, would we ever serve a substandard product or mislead the public or our guests in any way. Our brand is steeped in the Mediterranean heritage of the South of France. The philosophy was developed ten years ago and we stand by our commitment to our customers to produce a high-‐quality, consistent and exceptional dining experience.”
Food preparation:
-‐ As has been reported, we closed our commissary in September. We now prepare all of our food at each of our locations. Importantly, the quality of our food remains unchanged.
-‐ Since 2010, as we expanded and opened more locations, Fig & Olive opened a commissary to streamline preparation.
-‐ We used a local commissary to service our New York restaurants for quality control and consistency. As we expanded, it was also used to ship select products nationwide.
-‐ It was always the company’s intention to close the commissary as we ramped up our in-‐house food preparation capabilities. Recently, our new corporate executive chef has taken the lead in streamlining our food preparation process to ensure that we are able to create all sauces, dressings, etc. in house. In addition, we have reduced the number of menu items and made additional changes in offerings, and, at the same time, we have intensified the training of our chef de cuisine at each of our locations.
-‐ Commissaries are routinely used by many upscale restaurant groups that serve a high volume of customers to ensure consistency in food quality and service.
-‐ The vast majority of our products have always been locally sourced and freshly prepared at each of our locations.
-‐ We do not use microwaves for reheating process in any of our restaurants.
Menu items and products:
-‐ Our croquettes need to be frozen regardless of where they are prepared in order to be shaped and fried (due to the nature of the béchamel). Thus, for example, the croquettes prepared in our D.C. restaurants are frozen as part of the preparation and cooking process.
-‐ We do use Hellman’s Mayonnaise. Mayonnaise made in-‐house may pose a safety risk of raw egg. Using commercial mayonnaise was recommended to us by one of our food safety consultants.
-‐ Our Risotto was never frozen. The freezing process would deteriorate the product quality.
Commitment to fresh products and locally-‐sourced food:
-‐ Fig & Olive views our agricultural partners and suppliers as an extension of the Fig & Olive experience. We have profound respect for the farmers and other partners who work with us to provide the highest quality products for our customers. Since our founding, we have always viewed our agricultural partners as necessary to our success. As such, we work very closely with all of our vendors to ensure freshness and consistent quality.
-‐ As is consistently demonstrated by our menu, we enjoy strong relationships with local farms for produce and meats.
-‐ FARMS: Here is a sample of the farms we work with in specific locations: NY: Satur Farm -‐ LynOaken Orchard -‐ DeMeyer farm CA: Kenter Canyon -‐ Weiser family farm -‐ Babe farm -‐ Mary’s farm IL: Harmony Valley -‐ Todd Greiner Orchard -‐ Goebberts Farm -‐ Living Water Farm DC: Spring Valley -‐ Crown Orchards -‐ Tuscarora Organic -‐ Parker Farm
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