Thursday, September 19, 2024
CRIVITZ – First opening in 2021 under the ownership of Paul Oates, Smoke and Spice has been serving up a plethora of exciting dishes to hungry customers in Crivitz for a few years now. However, Oates is expanding beyond the plate to incorporate his love for the Earth into his business plan.
Over the past four years Paul Oates has been keeping things fresh at Smoke and Spice not only by offering weekly specials and smoking his own high-quality meats, but also by incorporating sustainable business practices.
Recently he has been encouraging customers to bring in their own Tupperware. About a year ago Oates decided to try this as it was a “good way to kind of keep the costs down and try to put less Styrofoam in the landfills.” He added that the restaurant is “more than willing” to run containers from home through the industrial-grade dishwasher to ensure it is thoroughly cleaned.
Oates added that it would be “cool to get other restaurants to join together and have people bring their own containers.”
Smoke and Spice backs up their wish to lessen the burden and reliance on landfills by donating veggie and bread scraps to local farmers with chicken so nothing goes to waste. Waste is also combated by purchasing vegetables, like potatoes, that have been deemed imperfect due to lack of visual appeal. As Oates put it, “ugly veggies need love too.”
Some of the other sustainable actions that the bar and restaurant follow are sorting and burning paper products, growing their own mint for “pick your own mint mojitos” and making food from scratch. “There’s a lot of passion, dedication, love and hard work going into our food and you can taste the difference.”
Looking forward, Paul Oates hopes to expand Smoke and Spice into more catering opportunities. He shared his plan to have customers drop off their own roaster ovens and having the cooks fill them with warm food. This aids in keeping costs lower as Smoke and Spice would not need to invest in extra equipment.
These ideas for sustainability and caring for the environment all center on Oates’ main business idea “Less work, less waste, less cost.” Reflecting on the many actions Smoke and Spice has taken to create a greener restaurant; Oates said “I think this is something that could have a future.”
Smoke and Spice is located at W9577 County Hwy W in Crivitz and is accepting catering reservations for the upcoming holidays as well as offering an ever-changing menu and the family-favorite $6 Wednesday specials.
