When it comes to produce, the farmer's market is good — but the backyard is better. Local sourcing was the top culinary trend in 2014, according to chefs polled by the National Restaurant Association. The next step for chefs, especially those who can't always find the ultra-fresh produce they want, is growing it themselves.
Growing a kitchen garden is a clear demonstration to customers that a restaurant is committed to maintaining a close connection between food and its source, says certified master gardener and horticulturist Geri Miller. "Although it may not certainly satisfy all their produce needs," she says, "it's enough of a contributor to the expression of the chef on the plate to make it worthwhile."
Miller is the owner of Home Grown Edible Landscapes. Her company designs and maintains commercial gardens for restaurants in the Los Angeles area and elsewhere, including Post & Beam,WillieJane,The Tasting Kitchen, Scopa Italian Roots, Feed Body and Soul and mar'sel at Terranea Resort. She also collaborates with well-known mixologists, including Matthew Biancaniello (of Plan Check Kitchen + Bar and POT Bar) and Pablo Moix (of Scopa Italian Roots and Black Market Liquor Bar). Miller shared her advice for restaurant owners hoping to take part in the hyperlocal sourcing trend.
Hiring a professional gardener is cost-effective
Chefs who try to create and maintain a kitchen garden on their own often fail, and there are a couple of reasons why. First is underestimating the amount of effort and expertise required. "Unless the chef has the time and the skill, he's not going to be able to do this to the extent that having a hyperlocal garden deserves," Miller says. Chefs are busy, and maintaining a productive and attractive garden requires more time than most can give.
A professionally designed garden also takes into account the unique needs and style of the chef and offers the opportunity for creative collaboration, Miller says. Her staff of master gardeners and horticulturists can introduce a chef to specialty produce that might be on-trend or hard to find elsewhere. Furthermore, she says, "we're artisanal harvesters. We harvest to the chef's exact specifications."
The ROI? Better quality and significantly less waste. One well-known client had been ordering 75 pounds of arugula each week and throwing away a third of it because it didn't look or taste just right. Now his garden, maintained by Home Grown Edible Landscapes, gives him 100 percent usable greens.
Tips for succeeding with a restaurant garden
If a chef isn't ready to commit to a large-scale garden, that's OK. Miller suggests starting small with herbs. They're easier to grow, she says, and need less care to develop the desired flavors. Herbs do require continual harvesting, however, or they won't thrive. Don't try tomatoes as a first crop, she warns. They might seem easy, but an heirloom tomato plant demands a lot of attention to yield abundant fruits with great flavor.
Miller also encourages restaurants to get the word out about their gardening program with marketing and events. Mention gardening partners' names: "People do appreciate that and are willing to pay a higher price point for something so locally grown," she says. She co-produces on-site gardening classes at restaurants for novice gardeners as well as mixology classes based on produce-driven drink programs.
A new concept in hyperlocavorism: the shared garden
In June 2013, Miller started The Cook's Garden, a bespoke garden that offers subscriptions to local restaurants. Each chef subscribes to a certain number of raised beds, which Miller and her staff plant, maintain and harvest to the chef's specifications. The garden, which occupies a formerly vacant lot on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, uses the French biointensive method of close and careful planting to maximize yield. One restaurant's four 4-by-8-foot beds yielded 800 pounds of produce in six months.
The Cook's Garden also has a retail nursery selling hard-to-find plant varieties. That way, restaurant patrons "can actually buy the plants that their chefs are growing. It's really a cool way to heighten everyone's experience."
Want to know what “produce-driven mixology” tastes like? Read mixologist Matthew Biancaniello’s recipe for his signature “Roquette,” which is a cross between an arugula gimlet and a gin mojito.
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