DIG, GROW, EAT

Restaurants that grow their own

By Amy Pennington

A few years back I came across a bunch of purple flowers at the Pike Place Farmers Market. "What are these?" I asked the farmer in wonder. Turns out, it was anise hyssop, a seldom seen licorice-scented herb. As it was hard to get my hands on, I decided to grow my own and thus my love of growing food was born.

Photo: anise hyssop

The grow-your-own-food ‘movement’ has sprouted, so to speak, in the minds of many but most passionately, it seems, with chefs. "I try to grow heirloom or unusual veggies and flowers," says Heather Earnhardt, co-owner of the quaint Volunteer Park Café & Marketplace on Capitol Hill. Amongst several herbs and flowers, this year she has planted Black Prince tomatoes behind the café. When ripe and ready, they’ll be used in several menu items. Earlier this year, they harvested Heirloom German Giant and French Breakfast radishes, serving them with a side of Fresh Normandy butter. Ponti Seafood Grill in Fremont has also taken to the tomato-craze and plants several varieties each year along with a kitchen herb garden including all the usual suspects.

The Herbfarm, of course, has been planting on the grounds of the restaurant, for the restaurant, for years. That was the original idea when they started serving educational lunches back in 1986. "The whole intent was to evoke a sense of place. We hoped that The Herbfarm would be able to create a sense of the seasons by serving only foods harvested and grown in the Pacific Northwest. To this end, we served only tomatoes when tomatoes were in season (not very long); only basil in August and September; and asparagus in May and June," says Ron Zimmerman, co-owner of this award-winning restaurant tucked into the rolling hills of Woodinville. With years of having such a strong focus on bringing food plot-to-plate, it’s no surprise that The Herbfarm has influenced many cooks along the way.

Photo: Herbfarm chives

Herbfarm kitchen-alum Matt Dillon hasn’t been to a grocery store in years. Chef and owner at the much-hailed Sitka and Spruce in Eastlake, Matt is a huge advocate of local seasonal food. He is currently in the process of finishing a sprawling eat-art-live-grow space in Georgetown at the site of the old Corson Building. Gardens, chickens and more will eventually flourish under his very green thumb. "It’s just my thing," he said, having ‘sown his oats’ in the fields at The Herbfarm, where his enthusiasm first took root. Jerry Traunfeld, having just left his long-term helm in the kitchen at Herbfarm is set to open his own restaurant in Capitol Hill sometime this summer. Rumor has it he too will be growing some of his own food.

A few chefs need not look further than their own backyards to pluck their daily inspiration. Chef Thierry Rautureau of Rover’s in Madison Valley plants several herbs, along with edible flowers, haricot vert, beets and potatoes. Calendula petals, in bold hues of yellow and orange, are currently being used as garnish over greens and in a compound butter served over sole fillet.

Restaurateur Tom Douglas is pushing the boundaries of his own ‘backyard’ by planting a vegetable crop on a half acre at his new Eastern Washington property. Wife and business partner, Jackie Cross, does most of the planting and experimenting in the field. This year they hope to bring over spinach, lettuce, peas, beans and carrots, but the real show stoppers will be the 75 tomato plants they’ve just put in. Eventually, these tomatoes will be the main source for Jackie’s Greek Salad, served at Lola in Downtown Seattle. Not only did Jackie inspire the dish, she’s growing it with her own two hands and packing up her car for trips back west over the mountains.

Some people haven’t so much fallen into growing their food, but were born with it in their blood. Chef Brian Scheehser had an early influence in farming by his father and grandfather. Growing up near his grandparents farm in the Midwest, Brian has had his hands "in the earth his whole life." When he moved to Seattle seven years ago, he immediately sought to lease a larger piece of land than the one his small city lot afforded. Today, he leases out a three-acre swath in Woodinville on the South 47 Farm, and plants much of what is used in the kitchen at the new Trellis Restaurant in the Heathman Hotel in Kirkland. Brian has quickly become the poster child for farm to table and regularly harvests a tractor-full of rare and heirloom vegetables. At the moment, you can polish off a plate of tagliatelle and pan seared halibut with artichoke bottoms and cauliflower flowers from the garden.

Photo: Chef Brian Scheehser on his Woodinville plot

And while some chefs grow behind their restaurant, others behind their house and a few take to the field, one can be found out in the wild foraging for inspiration you get to taste on the plate. Matt Costello, chef at Inn at Langley on Whidbey Island, has the tough job of cooking right alongside the Puget Sound with the great outdoors mere steps from his stovetop. On the grounds of the Inn, anyone can pluck from trees, bush or vines full of Asian pear, blueberries, frais des bois, merlot grapes, figs and twelve apple varieties. Fruit abounds outside his door, but Costello can’t help but venture to the forest for his annual bounty of huckleberries and mushrooms. He’ll immediately turn the huckleberries into purees for both sweet and savory dishes and stash some in his freezers for later in the year.

Photo: Inn at Langley

Whether by pot, backyard, field or forest, growing and harvesting food really does translate to the plate. Along with the often painstaking privilege of growing food comes the blood, sweat and tears of fighting off slugs, critters and adverse weather. Ask any of these chefs and they’ll tell you that growing food is a labor of love. Lucky for us, we get to eat the seasonal and delicious fruits of their labor.

June 2008

Amy Pennington is a freelance writer and owner of Go Go Green Garden, www.gogogreengarden.com. A gardening girl-on-the-go, she helps people set up vegetable and herb gardens at their homes.