As restaurants continue to embrace fresh, locally sourced ingredients, many urban dining spots are finding creative ways to grow food right where they are. Chefs are expanding the idea of kitchen gardens by turning rooftops into productive urban plots. In Providence, R.I.’s theater district, Executive Chef Matthew Varga and the team at Gracie’s Restaurant cultivate herbs, edible flowers, berries and vegetables on the roof of a nearby office building to supplement their menu.
Brooklyn’s Roberta’s, led by Food & Wine’s Best New Chef of 2011, Carlo Mirarchi, maintains a rooftop garden housed in repurposed cargo containers, supplying the kitchen with a range of fresh produce. In Seattle, the Bastille Cafe & Bar keeps an elevated garden that looks out over the harbor and the Ballard neighborhood, and also tends an apiary where honey is harvested specifically for the restaurant’s dishes.
Most rooftop gardens are planned and maintained with the help of local contractors who specialize in urban agriculture. Still, at some restaurants the chefs and kitchen staff take a hands-on approach—so if your entrée is delayed because someone has gone upstairs to select an ingredient, there’s a good chance that’s the real reason.