Broad Street’s high-end seafood restaurant The Establishment recently partnered with hyper-local hydroponic farmer Garret Fleming, to grow herbs on its rooftop. The founder of Ghost Grow 843, Fleming specializes in hydroponic towers of herbs and vegetables — a type of soilless gardening that uses a nutrient solution and strategic irrigation to maximize growth potential and space. He installed two towers on The Establishment’s rooftop earlier this year.
The Establishment’s executive chef, Elliott Howells, said that the ability to source herbs directly from the building in which he works is pretty special. He said there’s none of the consistency issues found with herbs from suppliers. The rooftop towers are game changers.
“We can have it [the produce] up here at our own discretion,” Howells said. “We can control the environment so that we have a better product overall.”
The towers will grow herbs and vegetables seasonally. Some current thriving plants include basil, parsley, thyme, hot peppers and, of course, chives.
“Anybody that works in fine dining knows that chives are your thing,” Howells said. “They look good, they taste good.” And there’s even an Instagram page dedicated to the art of chives, called @ratemychives. It has over 43,000 followers.
Herbs — as fickle, delicate and Instagrammable as they can be — often add that “je ne sais quoi” to a fine dining dish, and for Howells that special something is about more than presentation. It’s about creating dishes that taste really good, too.
Respect for fresh
A recent outing to The Establishment saw a variety of dishes made with the rooftop plants, including The Fra Diavolo, named for a spicy Italian tomato sauce. Made with tagliatelle, shrimp and sun dried tomatoes, the dish got an added kick from rooftop peppers and basil.
Roasted carrots were served with harissa vinaigrette, Marcona almonds and, of course, some rooftop greens.
Sitting at The Establishment’s chef’s counter, looking into an open kitchen, diners have easy access to the behind-the-scenes moments that bring the restaurant’s dishes to life. Howells said that his kitchen crew appreciates the rooftop produce as much as he does.
“It keeps my cooks much more honest,” he said. “They’re going to treat it [the ingredients] with respect, knowing that this is what we’ve got.”
Respect for the plants is second nature to Fleming, who has helped Howells decide what herbs and vegetables may be best suited to The Establishment’s needs.
“As long as it’s not a root-bound vegetable, we can grow it,” Fleming said. He said the towers are ideal for trying out new herbs — or for keeping frequently used ones on hand. “What’s better than fresh chopped basil compared to something that’s been in a clamshell for a few days? It was great to establish a relationship that way, to try to cater it to what the chef wants.”
The towers are versatile, sure, but their biggest selling point may be their resilience. The Establishment’s towers have survived three major storms since their installation in late summer.
Entirely exposed to the elements, the towers are strong but not infallible — plants can suffer from wind burn and frost. But that’s all part of the fun of this passion project, one that Fleming hopes to recreate with other local restaurants.
Surely, some other chefs are as interested in their ingredients as Howells is.
“A lot of people like to use really nice herbs and micros [microgreens] just as a garnish to make things look great,” Howells said. “We are working in conjunction with Garret so that if it’s on the plate, it’s functional. It’s meant to be there. … We’re searching for the right flavor combinations for the people that want to come out and dine and give them an experience they’re not going to find anywhere else.”
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