Sâuçá  is the globally-inspired mobile restaurant fleet that serves eponymous sâuçás– flatbread wrapped sandwiches filled with international ingredients–across Washington, DC.  The unique brand is much more than a food truck, though – it combines food, travel, music, design, technology and fun with delicious results.  With the help of this award, Sâuçá will soon become a fun fixture on the streets of every major American city.

VSAG worked closely with owner Farhad Assari to develop and manage the Sâuçá concept.  We hungrily look forward to the day that we can get our sâuçá fix no matter where we are in the country.

Congrats, Sâuçá team!

Award presented to Founding Farmers General Manager Paul Chin-Fong by Mayor Adrian Fenty

Founding Farmers, the Greenest Restaurant in Washington, DC, was today named as one of only two restaurants in The District to receive the Mayor’s Environmental Excellence Award in 2010. The annual awards recognize outstanding businesses and organizations for their environmental stewardship, innovative best practices, pollution prevention and resource conservation.

“Founding Farmers was designed and built to minimize its impact on the environment through our mission of sustainable practices like recycling and composting, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and local sourcing whenever possible,” said Dan Simons, Principal of VSAG, the high caliber restaurant consulting and management firm for Founding Farmers. “We are honored to be recognized for our dedication to the environment and strive to lead the restaurant industry by example of responsible practices.”

The awards presentation took place at the K St. location of Busboys & Poets on Thursday, August 5. Read the Founding Farmers award-winning case study for more detail on the restaurant’s environmental practices.

Founding Farmers is the first and only restaurant in The District to receive LEED certification to date. Just six months after opening, the restaurant was named a Certified Green Restaurant™ by the Green Restaurant Association for daily operational practices to reduce waste, and in April 2009, the restaurant was awarded LEED Gold Certification status from the US Green Building Council (USGBC), for the commercial interior design of the restaurant.

Founding Farmers focuses on sourcing food and products that have been grown and harvested through sustainable agricultural methods, from the meats, poultry and produce, to the beverages, spirits and wines.

The six medal-winning beers (out of 8 entered by Mr. Fulton) recognized by the judges include: The Covey’s Texas Blonde and Aduro Porter scored gold medals in the German-Style Kölsch/Köln-Style Kölsch and Coffee Flavored Beer categories, respectively; Silver medal winners in the Vienna-Style Lager and Imperial/Double Red Ale categories were The Covey’s Vienna Lager and Fritz Reserve Imperial Amber.  Bronze medals went to The Covey’s Flemish Pale in the Belgian and French-Style Ale category and to “100” in the Belgian-Style Strong Ale category.

Says VSAG Principal Dan Simons, “What Jamie has achieved with his craft brews is remarkable, not only as a single producer or as a restaurateur and brewer, but as a savvy businessman that recognized the incredible growth in the craft beer segment of the restaurant industry.  We’re very fortunate to be working with him and The Covey – and his beers are fantastic!”   Read all the hoppy details…

The winning projects are featured in the Winter 2009/ 2010 issue of Mid-Atlantic Construction magazine.

Recently the new VSAG.com web site was named to the “Best of the Web” in the top Business > Business to Business> Hospitality Industry > Consulting web site category.   Building a good web site is like building a good restaurant – there are many components that must work in conjunction with each other for successful functionality, operations, content and aesthetics.   We’re proud to be recognized for the work we’ve put into evolving our site and for knowing we were able to accomplish those goals.   

The Gold Key Hospitality Awards are hosted by Hotel Magazine and Interior Design Magazine and recognizes design firms who have done the most innovative work on hospitality renovations or new builds from around the globe, for hotels, restaurants and spas. Congratulations to CORE and the whole restaurant team for Founding Farmers for a great showing and for garnering international attention.

Be among the first iPhone users that have discovered the fun, convenient way to see what’s new on the menu, make reservations and even choose a wine with dinner with the new Founding Farmers restaurant app.   This FREE app is available through the iTunes App Store, and Founding Farmers is among just a few restaurants that have seen the fun in reaching out to guests in a new way.  Even TIME magazine has noticed!

Founding Farmers iPhone app allows you to make reservations by phone, or through OpenTable.  You can find the latest news & events, browse through the delicious menu and even give us feedback!  The other features include the ability to book a party through your phone, buy a gift card for someone special, and get directions to the restaurant.

Finally, check out the Wine Shake – a fun way to get a great wine pairing with your dinner selection based on your tastes and the type of food you’re eating.  Turn yourself into a vinophile with your phone!

The FF iPhone app was created by Sweb Development.  Check out their other cool apps!

On July 27, VSAG’s Chief Mixologist Jon Arroyo (as well as Founding Farmers‘ and Farmers & Fishers) participated in the DC Craft Bartenders’ Guild “Rickey” contest held at Bourbon. Here’s a snapshot of Jon’s entry….and you can get the full story here.

Marc Heisterkamp, Director of Commercial Real Estate for USGBC, presided over the Certification Ceremony and presentation of the official LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold plaque at the restaurant in Washington, DC, before an assembled crowd on Earth Day.   More than 60 attendees to the event included the project design and construction teams, representatives from the USGBC, Mr. Robert Carlson, President of the North Dakota Farmers’ Union, representatives from the International Monetary Fund as the restaurant’s landlord, and members of the media.   Mr. Heisterkamp addressed the crowd and presented VSAG Principal Dan Simons and the restaurant management team with the official LEED Gold glass plaque, which will be mounted inside the restaurant.   The event also included the unveiling of the official USGBC LEED Gold emblem storefront windows.

“The LEED certification ceremony is about every day that Founding Farmers restaurant is open and the diminished environmental impact that they will have due to their smart design and operation decisions,” said Heisterkamp.  “Founding Farmers is at the nexus of two great market transformation efforts – tremendous leadership in designing and operating a restaurant to the highest green standards, and the focus on Farm-to-Table food, supporting American family farmers as part of a larger market transformation in sustainable agriculture.”

LEED for Commercial Interiors certifies high-performance green interiors that are healthy, productive places to work; are less costly to operate and maintain; and have a reduced environmental footprint.   The LEED ratings scale includes: Certified, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

“We are very proud to have our restaurant be a model and an educational showpiece for our industry and for our guests,” said Dan Simons.  “It is possible to have a successful and profitable business while demonstrating our commitment to environmentally friendly operations each and every day.”

The restaurant was designed to achieve LEED certification by award-winning Washington, DC-based CORE architecture + design, with Forrester Construction acting as General Contractor and EMSI as the LEED Consultant.   The LEED Gold rating was achieved through a number of green design and construction feature that positively impact the project and the community, including:

Founding Farmers also operates as a Certified Green Restaurant™, awarded by the Green Restaurant Association, and utilizes sustainable agriculture and direct farm sourcing for its menus, making it DC’s Greenest Restaurant.