Food scraps to some, cocktail boost to others

Sustainability and eliminating food waste are commitments that have provided the through-line for much of the cuisine at Providence, chef Michael Cimarusti’s seafood-focused restaurant, since it opened more than a decade ago in Los Angeles. But lead bartender Kim Stodel is attempting to take those concepts even further behind the bar. In the fall, the restaurant launched a zero-waste cocktail program that turns kitchen scraps and fruit and vegetable peels into liquor infusions and cocktail garnishes.

“I forage in the kitchen,” Stodel said. “I’m always bugging the kitchen, saying: ‘Hey, what are you using and what are you throwing away?’ ”

This past summer, Stodel took the pulp of a cocktail sauce consomme served with oysters to make a bloody mary, mixing it with tequila he infused with roasted corn. In another cocktail, he took leftover orange peels and soaked them in water for 24 hours to make something he calls “astronaut juice.” He uses that juice in a vodka drink called the Clever Hippie, made with passion fruit, velvet falernum (a spiced, sweet syrup) and sparkling wine.

Stodel shared his recipe for his drink Mano de Chango, a tequila cocktail that incorporates housemade guava syrup, dry curacao, lime and grapefruit. Stodel repurposes the guava pulp from the syrup, turning it into a fruit leather garnish for the drink.

It tastes like a torqued-up combination of a Paloma and a Sunrise, with a hit of citrus juice and sweet guava. You can feel good about the nowaste element, but it’s also a great tequila cocktail.

The name translates to “monkey hand” in Spanish, which is the nickname a former co-worker gave Stodel during his time working at Bar Chloe in Santa Monica. “I was tall, and he was short,” Stodel said. “I’d reach for things for him.”

The Mano de Chango might not be on the menu for long. Since the aim is to create zero waste, Stodel changes the menu often to reflect what’s in season, and what’s leftover in the kitchen.

“I basically figured out a way to hack the kitchen,” Stodel said.

If you’re looking for a way to hack your own kitchen, maybe start with the Mano de Chango.

Guava syrup CHICAGO TRIBUNE Kim Stodel, bartender at Providence in LA, uses a house-made guava syrup in the tequila cocktail Mano de Chango. In a cocktail shaker, combine the syrup, lime and grapefruit juices, curacao and tequila with ice. Shake well. Double-strain into a...