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“I never sat down and mapped out
how I was going to deal with a garden or
what I hoped to achieve,” he says.
Armstrong planted the first vegetables
in 2007. As the crops continued to
expand, the kitchen staff could no longer
handle all of the work required to maintain the garden. Last summer, Armstrong
hired a student to handle the weeding,
watering and pruning, and he’s considering bringing on a full-time gardener.
Even though he grew up helping in
his dad’s garden, Armstrong admits that
there has been a lot of trial and error.
He planted blackberries but didn’t see
a single piece of fruit last season; his
nectarine trees were laden with fruit but
the squirrels ate all of it before he could
pick the nectarines. In a single season,
he grew 40 pounds of basil and had to figure out how to use it in the restaurant.
“One season, we had four plums on a
tree and we ate them, but the next season
we picked 25 plums and we used them in
a foie gras dish,” he explains. “We never
know how things are going to grow. We’re
OK with small yields because we change
the menu every day.”
From Plate to Palate
More and more diners are seeking out
restaurants that specialize in organic,
local ingredients, which gives chefs
with on-site gardens an edge, says
Donohue. Chefs agree that the No. 1
reason to grow a garden is to enhance
their food.
“There is a huge difference between
the taste of something that was grown
in California and shipped thousands of
miles and something that was picked in
our garden that morning,” notes Arm-
strong. “People love the idea of eating
food that is grown right here at the res-
taurant. The food tastes better because
it was grown right outside our door.”
Diners are so excited about the trend
that Weland has started hosting din-
ners in the patio garden at Poste. While
enjoying the five-course tasting menu,
diners sit just a few feet from where their
ingredients were harvested a few hours
earlier. The garden dinners are booked
months in advance.
“The reward is dishes with bright, brilliant flavors,” he says, “ that can only come
from foods that were just picked.”
