{"id":291786,"date":"2026-04-29T18:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T18:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/291786\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T18:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T18:46:12","slug":"sacramento-chef-hosts-monthly-zero-waste-supper-clubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/291786\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacramento chef hosts monthly zero-waste supper clubs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunlight streamed through the windows of a private residence downtown last Friday evening onto a butcher paper-covered table. Bottles become makeshift flower vases and candlestick holders.<\/p>\n

To the 12 guests that evening, chef Er\u00edc Mart\u00ednez served up a multi-course, mostly vegetarian meal. And he did it all with zero waste.<\/p>\n

Mart\u00ednez got his bachelor\u2019s degree in hospitality management at the Art Institutes, after which he headed to Mexico City, where he worked at the Michelin-starred Pujol<\/a> for three years. He followed that with a stint at the now-defunct Restaurant 108 in Copenhagen, which also gained a star before closing in 2020.<\/p>\n

108 was a sister restaurant to famed \u2014 and now controversy-stricken<\/a> \u2014 Noma. Like Noma, 108\u2019s philosophy was steeped in sustainability and conservation. There, Mart\u00ednez studied the practices of preserving, fermentation and foraging. He brought these sensibilities back with him to the states.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo basically, my whole philosophy of minimizing waste is about, how can I use the entire product? It\u2019s all about, how can I use this in a sauce? How can I use this as a preserve? Even the skins of things, to get those out of the organic waste bin. So everything is with intention,\u201d Mart\u00ednez said.<\/p>\n

Returning to Sacramento, he began doing private chef work. He launched Crisp\u00edn Supper Club<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n

Mart\u00ednez hosts monthly supper clubs that are open to the public for $125 per person, which includes welcome bites, mocktails and a four-course dinner, plus some surprises. He also does private events at the same rate for the basic menu, but can do up to 10 courses plus wine pairing for a higher rate.<\/p>\n

\"Raymond Raymond Bautista, left, and Jeevan Bhungal enjoy dinner catered by Chef Er\u00edc Mart\u00ednez of the Crisp\u00edn Supper Club on Friday, April 24, 2026, in Sacramento. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

To work toward his zero-waste goal, he looks at what might otherwise go in the bin, and thinks of ways to reinvent them.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, just two years ago, we released a zero-waste rub. We collect onion skins and garlic skins. We save them, and then we char them up in the oven, and then we mix them with other spices. And that\u2019s how we season most of our (dishes). And with that, we saved about 100 pounds of scraps from going into the bin,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Last year, Mart\u00ednez hit up the farmers markets and asked the farmers for their ugly tomatoes. He dehydrated them and turned them into tomato powder that he uses on his tomato Caesar salad to amp up the tomato flavor.<\/p>\n

For this supper club, Mart\u00ednez celebrated the birthday of his mother, who passed from cancer in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m half-Black, half-Mexican, but we pretty much grew up only eating Mexican, Latino food. And so I just did a lot of things that were part of my memory growing up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Chef Chef Er\u00edc Mart\u00ednez of the Crisp\u00edn Supper Club serves up fresh made tortillas with beans and homemade cheese on Friday, April 24, 2026, in Sacramento. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

He starts each meal with a bocadito, or snack. In this case, it\u2019s a homemade tortilla with organic beans, homemade cheese and pickled jalapeno.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat reminds me of when I would wake up in the morning with my mom, the first thing we would get was egg and bean burritos,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Next up was a tostada with organic oyster mushrooms, goat cheese and his zero-waste salsa macha, followed by an empanada made with corn, Soyrizo, more homemade cheese and a salsa verde made from zucchini tops.<\/p>\n

\"Chef Chef Er\u00edc Mart\u00ednez of Crisp\u00edn Supper Club, served up empanadas as one of the courses on Friday, April 24, 2026, in Sacramento. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Mart\u00ednez\u2019s mother loved mole, so he made a version he learned in Acapulco.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually it\u2019s cooked over an open fire. So we did the same thing, but we put it in a cast iron skillet, and then we put it over corn husks, and then we just finished it on the grill, on the open coals, and we served that with wagyu beef and some chimichurri potatoes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Mole Mole created by Chef Er\u00edc Mart\u00ednez of the Crisp\u00edn Supper Club was served on Friday, April 24, 2026, in Sacramento. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

For the pescatarians at the table, he served halibut seasoned with his zero-waste rub.<\/p>\n

Dessert was a tres leches made with cinnamon cream, local strawberries and mezcal.<\/p>\n

Mart\u00ednez likes to leave diners with a zero-waste memento to remember their meal by. This year he\u2019s been giving them his house-made chamoy. It\u2019s made with the odds and ends from fruit like pineapple cores, pear skins and strawberry tops \u2014 blended, cooked and mixed with water and spice. He served this with some local oranges at the start of the meal.<\/p>\n

Loading\u2026<\/p>\n

For this meal, though, he honored his mother, who loved popcorn, by giving out organic popcorn with white chocolate, craisins and pistachios.<\/p>\n

Mart\u00ednez named Crisp\u00edn after his father, who was, and is, a formative presence for him. Growing up half-Black and half-Mexican in Redding, Mart\u00ednez faced a lot of racism in his youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a great relationship with my dad, and you know, my dad has helped me from the beginning,\u201d Mart\u00ednez said. \u201cMy dad was always the one behind to be like, hey, you know, son, you need to really just focus on yourself, and, you know, shoot for the stars. I wanted my dad to really see that I did all this hard work because of (him).\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Annie Annie Ngo, Chloe Davis and other guests take photographs of the mole created by Chef Er\u00edc Mart\u00ednez of the Crisp\u00edn Supper Club on Friday, April 24, 2026, in Sacramento. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com
\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Sean Timberlake<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Sean Timberlake is the food and dining reporter for The Sacramento Bee. He has been writing professionally for nearly 30 years, and about food for 20. A variety of well-known outlets have published his work, including Food Network, Cooking Channel, CNN, Sunset Magazine and SF Weekly.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sunlight streamed through the windows of a private residence downtown last Friday evening onto a butcher paper-covered table.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-291786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}