It’s easy to take pot shots at the pious manifestos on the menus at some Bay Area restaurants. “We use only biodynamic bulgur, and compost the leftovers for the soil used to grow the sorrel on our living roof.” There's no question that those kind of statements can sound self-righteous, but I'll take self-righteousness over deceit. And deceit may be the bigger problem, if the grumblings I’ve been hearing around town are true.

“I’m telling you,” a San Francisco restaurateur recently said, "so many of these restaurants that tell you they’re doing sustainable this, sustainable that, ask them if you can take a look at their walk-ins. You’ll see conventional ingredients all over the place.” He’s not the only local lodging such complaints.  In recent months, several local chefs and restaurateurs have brought up the same subject without my asking. Clearly, it’s an issue on their minds.

“The ones to watch out for are the restaurants that say ‘We use sustainable products whenever possible,’” another restaurant owner told me. “ ‘Whenever possible’ is the key phrase," he says. "How often do they find it possible? 5 percent of the time?” A few chefs and restaurant owners have gone so far as to name culprits. I can’t repeat them here, but odds are you’ve eaten there, probably more than once.  If my culinary deep throats are correct  (and they’re in good positions to know the truth), a fair number of Bay Area restaurants are taking advantage of diners’ do-good instincts and their willingness to pay more for manifesto-worthy food. Is this really happening? One way to search for answers is to ask for a peek at the walk-ins of your favorite restaurant that pushes its organic cred. At very least, it might be interesting to see how they respond.