A rooftop community garden in Seattle – Image Credit: Joe Mabel (CC by SA-3.0)
In today’s food scene, fresh and local are in-demand. And what can be more fresh and local than a vegetable, herb or edible flower grown above the diner’s head? Rooftop gardens have become a prominent feature of some of Seattle’s hottest restaurants, including Quality Athletics, Bastille Café & Bar, and Sushi Kappo Tamura. While having a rooftop garden can be costly, it allows chefs to grow specific ingredients that would hard to find elsewhere, and tailor the menu to what is growing currently, particularly during the warmer months. Excess food can be sold to other restaurants. In the case of Bastille, which has operated a 1,200 sq ft on its roof for nearly ten years, items grown in the garden appear in about half the menu items. During the summer, the restaurant offers an extensive tour and tasting menu so patrons can experience what the garden has to offer first hand. Restaurants without available roof space have taken to growing gardens in parking lots and at chef’s homes. Surely the gap between farm and table is getting closer than ever before.
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