Costa Mesa Hilton to offer organic menu, local produce

The Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa has joined six other area hotels in a new catering program that stresses organic and locally grown foods.

The hotel, at 3050 Bristol St., launched the Eat Naturally program last week along with the Hilton Anaheim, Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, Doubletree Orange, Doubletree Golf Resort, Doubletree Doheny Beach in Dana Point and Doubletree Mission Valley in San Diego.

The program, which caters group events at the hotels or elsewhere, allows customers to choose among a number of menus that feature free-range eggs, locally grown fruits and vegetables, and other items containing no trans fats, hormones or frozen ingredients.

Chad Krahling, the executive chef at the Hilton in Costa Mesa, said each menu featured a number of choices and that customers could assemble their own menus as well.

The offerings, he added, would likely change as different items came into season.

“Forty, 50, 60 years ago, this is pretty much how it was done,” Krahling said. “The chef and the general manager would go down to the market.”

— Michael Miller