Cooking

Boston, MA

Local City Rankings Article

Come Fry With Me

French fries may be terrible for your arteries, but Don Levy thinks they’re pretty darn good for the environment. Sort of. Levy owns Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown, MA. For the last three years he’s been heating his restaurant with spent oil from his fry maker. Not only does this eliminate the need for heating oil – it also slashes his heating bill to nothing. Watertown isn’t in Boston proper, but the rising cost of winter heating oil is an important issue facing cities in the northeast, not to mention other areas that suffer cold, harsh winters. Three years ago, Levy says, he was paying $2 a gallon for heating oil. This winter, he says, oil looks to be heading toward $5.45 for the same gallon. That’s why, when Levy learned that he’d have to replace his oil-fired heater, he decided to try something new.