By Nevin Martell
Photo Credit: Elizabeth Parker

When you dine out, you might think about the ingredients that go into your food, but you probably don’t think about all the numbers that make your meal happen. Restaurants are filled with interesting figures that might not be apparent when you bite into an enticing entrée or take a sip of a signature cocktail, but they’re all around you.

This week we buzz down to the Westend to take a look at the seasonally and sustainably inspired modern American restaurant Juniper inside the Fairmont Hotel. In an effort to showcase hyper local ingredients, chefs have turned the roof into an apiary and the courtyard into a garden. This produces a bounty of honey, herbs, and intriguing figures.

Juniper

Beehives on rooftop: Three

Number of honeybees: Approximately 150,000

Pounds of honey produced last year: 150; beekeepers are hoping for 300 this year.

Dishes or drinks incorporating honey: Seven, including the BeeTini, the Capital Salad, the Beehive Tasting dessert, honey bread, and honey tea

Number of Fairmont Beehive Tastings sold every month: 240

Different herbs grown in the onsite garden: Seven, including parsley, chives, sage, peppermint, catmint, fennel, and thyme

Eating regimens accommodated on the new LifeStyle Cuisine menu: Seven, including vegan, macrobiotic, raw, and gluten free.

Proteins regularly used: Quite a few, but offerings include Pineland Farms sustainable beef, Farmer’s Cross bacon, and wild Texas shrimp

Pounds of bacon used every month: At least 200 pounds

Crab cakes sold every month: 150

Pounds of potatoes used every week: 250

Housemade ice creams and sorbets available: Usually four or five, such as pistachio and sour cherry ice cream, white tea sorbet, propolis ice cream, and chocolate-sambuca ice cream

Giant gingerbread houses built every year by the pastry team during the holidays: 20 large ones, six jumbo models, and one huge one

Celebrities who have dined here: Too many to tally, including Robert De Niro, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver, Katie Couric, Apolo Ohno, Hayden Panettiere, and Alec Baldwin