Alchemy seeks to raise young, discerning diners At Albert Einstein Academies

A student at Albert Einstein Elementary School prepares to sample a dish from the Chickpeas restaurant table during the Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Expo.

Story and photos by Jennifer Kester

South Park restaurant Alchemy wants to target a whole new set of discerning diners, the students at Albert Einstein Academies.
The restaurant has a longstanding relationship with Albert Einstein, offering up its kitchen to the school for a weekly cooking class. Before Alchemy opened its doors a year ago, it approached the charter school to see how the two could work together. “They are down the block from us and it’s a progressive school,” says Ron Troyano, managing partner of Alchemy. “It was a natural fit for us.”
So naturally, the school turned to Alchemy when it won a nationwide Lunch Room Makeover contest through Whole Foods, whose prize was a visit from Chef Ann Cooper, a.k.a. the “Renegade Lunch Lady,” an advocate of healthier school meals. To mark the occasion, Albert Einstein held a Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Expo on Feb. 18 and 19. Alchemy helped out by organizing the expo’s Local Chef School Food Challenge with Candice Woo of Slow Food Urban San Diego and Terri Hughes-Oelrich, a parent at the school as well as its volunteer garden coordinator and nutrition committee coordinator.
Local restaurants that adhere to Slow Food principles — that is, using sustainable, local ingredients — were invited to the chef challenge. They had to create a healthy breakfast or lunch using USDA guidelines and a reasonable budget. The students got to sample their offerings, but chef Cooper and a panel of student judges decided which restaurant would win bragging rights as the favorite of the kids, the pickiest of eaters.
At the school tasting, there wasn’t a cardboard pizza in sight. The Pearl Hotel served up a curried chicken with coconut milk and peas over barley, topped with a Napa and apple slaw with a side of marinated oranges. Stone Brewing gave out chicken-broccoli calzones with an oatmeal cookie and fresh tangerines. North Park’s Sea Rocket Bistro served up a veggie chili with beans, onion, tomato and bell pepper, garnished with a touch of sour cream and cheese; fresh-baked tortilla chips; and tangerines. The Marina Room was also in attendance, serving a chicken meatloaf seasoned with zaatar, an ingredient fed to students in Lebanon because it’s supposed to enhance brain power; date and fennel relish with jicama, pineapple and mint; a poppyseed cracker; and a carob-milk drink, a healthier alternative to chocolate milk.
Turns out that the contest was too close to call for an outright winner, but student favorites included Jsix’s curry chicken salad with avocado, candied pecans, golden raisins and organic sprouts and Whole Foods’ arroz con pollo with brown rice, chicken, tomatoes, peppers, onions, peas, lime and salsa.
Ron Oliver, chef de cuisine at Marina Room, says that he and his restaurant have been working to increase “food literacy” among children and parents. “I’ve been to the schools and I see what they eat and it’s time to make a change,” he says.
Change may be hard to come by, since schools have to follow strict meal guidelines to receive government funding. But Troyano says that Alchemy will continue to push for food reform at the school by offering to provide culinary training for staff members and help in fundraising. Outside of school lunch meal improvements, Alchemy is looking to give families a box lunch option, where in lieu of packing a lunch for children, parents can buy an affordable, healthy meal directly from the restaurant. But the focus will be on the school lunch program so it’s available for all students, not just the ones who can afford healthy alternatives, Troyano says. “We want to continue to bring attention to this topic. “However that manifests, we will be a part of it.”
The goal, he says, is to lay the foundation for a lifetime of healthy eating. “Childhood obesity is definitely an issue, but it’s about long-term health,” Troyano says. “It’s preventative medicine.”