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Toronto Chefs' Rooftop Gardens
By Noelle Munaretto
Swiss Chard on the roof of The Fairmont Royal York
Somewhere in the middle of reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, I fell in love with farming. Blame Michael Pollan's ability to wax poetic about the joys of watching cows graze on clover, or the multiple references to the pure taste of pasture-raised chicken. Of course I can't forget his vivid descriptions of Polyface farmer Joel Salatin, and how Salatin's small-scale Virginia farm encourages sustainability, ethical treatment of animals, biodiversity, and quality food. It's safe to say I was sold on the idea that producing your own food from the ground up could be a very satisfying experience. I had visions of coming in from the backyard with a basket full of oversized ruby-red tomatoes, plucked only minutes ago from the vine, slicing them up and coating them with extra-virgin olive oil and a chiffonade of basil. When the weekly shopping was brought home from the supermarket I would snicker at tasteless California berries and protest the appearance of pink, granulated-textured tomatoes on my plate.
So one afternoon, I embarked on a verbal tirade against all foodstuff not local or sustainable. With wild abandonment I screamed strings of curses at the agro-giants dominating our market place. My parents watched, perplexed. They ventured that I was taking this über-foodie thing too far. But, after sharing the same feelings with my equally slow-food loving friend, Kelly Robins, we decided it would be a great idea to start our own little garden. Neither of us knew a thing about horticulture, but the prospect of having our own little oasis of fresh vegetables was too sweet to ignore.
To start off, we dug out what seemed to be an endless quantity of weeds and roots in an abandoned garden bed in his backyard. The previously neglected area took a whole afternoon to clean up. Once finished, the 15 by five foot area looked fit for a farmer. Next, we brought six bags of topsoil and manure, and raked it through our existing worm-filled earth. Finally we brought in the plants. Sweet peppers, jalapenos, red chilies, beets, chard, red leaf lettuce, basil, parsley, thyme, rosemary, and twelve beefsteak tomato plants, to be exact. And, believe me, everything looked so beautiful…until the vermin came.
There was the obese orange tabby Kelly had to chase out of the garden at two in the morning. Our veggies also got a visit from the raccoons, and they managed to waddle over a few tomato and pepper plants. Despite our best efforts with eggshells and beer traps, the slugs destroyed our basil. To top it all off, our chard has large holes.
Right now, at least half of our ‘garden' is down for the count. I can't say I didn't see it coming. Still, there's something magical about seeing your pepper plants with their first white flowers, or your pristine lettuce getting larger every day. Planting your own garden brings you closer to the food you eat. The process teaches you about seasonality and encourages you to develop an appreciation for how your food is grown.
It's no wonder more Toronto chefs are jumping onto the local food bandwagon too, demanding fresher and better ingredients to use in their kitchens. Some top Toronto chefs like Mark Cutrara of Cowbell, Lorenzo Loseto of George and David Garcelon of Epic at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel are even getting in touch with their inner farmer by tending to gardens of their own.
Each of these chefs may have their gardens on the rooftop, but that's about the only common denominator between the three. Instead, they have created unique models for rooftop gardens that best suits their restaurant's needs. Hoping their efforts would be more successful than mine, I decided to visit the rooftop gardens of Chefs Curtrara, Loseto and Garcelon. Good thing I'm not afraid of heights.
George
Chef Lorenzo Loseto takes me up to the balcony that is home to his many boxes of vegetables and herbs. It's not quite on the roof, since he can't get access to it from the restaurant, but this still appears to be an ideal growing spot with lots of sun and, depending on the time of day, shade from the building's east and west walls. Each of the grey planter boxes Loseto uses has a built in irrigation system. A tube extends through the dirt into a reservoir at the bottom of the box. Apprentices at George run water from the hose into the box's tube, and this collection of water saves someone from having to be up top constantly watering the plants.
Loseto started this project at his restaurant two years ago. Having grown up puttering around in his mother's garden, he thought it would be a natural extension of what he used to do as a child. It also fits in with the Slow Food movement becoming popular with restaurateurs in the city. "Everyone is talking about having a relationship with farmers," said Loseto. "So I thought it would be nice to grow stuff."
One of the main challenges Loseto faces is quantity. He points to four massive planters of rosemary, and explains that in one day at George, it could all be gone. "We go through a lot more than we can produce, especially with tomatoes," he said. The nasturtium plants have also taken a beating from all the picking that has been going on. Loseto has even grown stuff both at home and at his mother's house to bring into the restaurant to try to keep up with the demand.
In his other planters you can find longbeans, arugula, leaf lettuce, onions, micro greens, and thai basil, as well as many other herbs. The crowning glory of the balcony is definitely the box of eggplants. Out of everything they seem to be growing the heartiest, while also looking the most impressive. Loseto admits that even though "we're doing better this year than last year", when it comes to the garden, there's so much work that needs to be done. And, it's more expensive. "It costs us more to do this than it would be to go to the market," Loseto said. So then I ask him why he bothers "It's something interesting, something unique," he replies. "It's very amazing to see things grow."
Next season, when space adjacent to the balcony will be turned into hotel rooms for the high-end women's club Verity that's associated with the restaurant, Loseto will have to relocate the garden. Ideally, he wants it up on the roof, but the whole access issue is still a major barrier. He glances down to George's famous patio and contemplates moving the boxes down there instead. On our way back inside, Loseto stops and looks at the dwindling edible flowers. "When I look at the nasturtiums like that, dead, it kills me," he says. "But when I look at the rosemary growing it's a very positive feeling."
Epic
The next day I head over to the Royal York Hotel to meet Executive Chef David Garcelon for a tour of their well-known rooftop garden. They've even opened it up for visitor tours as part of afternoon tea at the hotel. Lately the garden has received added media attention for the brand-new installation of beehives on the roof. Come the last fall harvest, this apiary will eventually provide the hotel with around 1,400 small jars of fresh honey. Good news for Garcelon. Not so great news for me.
As much as I am looking forward to seeing this world-renowned rooftop garden, I'm dreading the bees. Out of all the flying, crawling, or otherwise moving insects in the world, I am the most petrified of bees and wasps. When we're outside in the summer, I have been known to shriek like a toddler when a wasp hovers around my dinner plate or when a bee buzzes by my lounge chair. At the hotel, during the elevator ride up, I conceal my impending anxiety in front of Garcelon. We cross through what appears to be one of the hotel's many boiler rooms over to a door marked with a giant yellow and black sign reading, "WARNING BEES".
First, Garcelon shows me the vines he's planted. It's their first season and because of this, they won't yield any grapes. Next season though, Garcelon will be able to work with the Vidal and Cabernet Franc varieties. Then he takes me over to the hives. I observe the three white boxes from a distance, smiling and nodding while he explains to me that they acquired the hives from the Toronto Beekeepers Cooperative. Over 10,000 bees now have their own private space at the Royal York Hotel; an operation the staff has cheekily called the Honey Moon Suite.
Much to my relief we move away from the hives and around the corner to the 4,000 square foot main garden. This spread is stunning, and the sunshine pours over the roof and lights up the Toronto skyline. If you can pry yourself away from the incredible view, check out one of the 17 raised growing beds, or 13 planters that Garcelon has crammed full of edible plants. He's got everything from tomatillos to chocolate basil, but is particularly proud of his selection of rare herbs. Borage, lovage, Japanese parsley and lemon balm are only some of the many types he has growing. Other unique additions to the wooden beds include hops, okra, pattypan squash, gooseberries, horseradish and hot ornamental peppers. His edible flowers are also running amok.
Not only does Garcelon like the fact he can integrate homegrown produce into the hotel restaurants, but he also praises the environmental benefits behind the garden. "Fairmont Hotels has long been a leader in the environment and has always tried to do green things," he said.
Though the garden has been at the hotel for over 10 years, after Garcelon arrived at the hotel, he decided to bring in a gardening consultant for better results. Marjorie Mason Hogue of Mason Hogue Gardens near Uxbridge, Ontario happens to be visiting today. She steps out onto the roof and squeals with delight. "Oh isn't it special! I can't believe it!" she says, but quickly changes her tone after scanning another plant. "They should be a little bigger and fuller," she quips. "But, oh well." Today, along with other hotel apprentices as well as her assistant, she will help weed out the lush garden.
When I ask Garcelon what he likes most about his rooftop spread he admits it has to do with the fact that it is unique. "It's nice to be able to tell this story because a lot of people don't know we have a garden," he said. Garcelon also adds that some of the hotel customers even ask what is fresh from the garden when they come in to eat.
As I hop back into the elevator I can only dream of one day having a garden that looks that good. Too bad we all can't have our own little Marjorie on-call.
Cowbell
The last stop on my rooftop garden tour is Cowbell restaurant. There I meet with Chef Mark Cutrara who's taking me up to the very top of the building to show me his little endeavour. In a previous email he warns me that the garden isn't much to look at, and that it's only for functional purposes. I replied that I could care less how pretty it is as long as something is growing. I guess from my own struggling garden experience I can empathize with him.
Cutrara greets me with his huge grin and firm handshake. "Let's go see the garden!" I venture. "Sure," says Cutrara. "You're not afraid of heights are you?" Of course not,I tell him, and that as long as there are no bees, I'm good. After a few flights of stairs, Cutrara leads me to a back room and points to a 15 to 20 foot skinny metal ladder bolted to the side of the wall. "You going to be okay?" he asks, before nimbly scaling the ladder and throwing open the hatch to the roof. I can definitely tell you that the other two gardens had much easier access than this one, but climbing up a ladder in designer flip flops and flinging myself out the hatch definitely added to the excitement of the rooftop garden experience.
After I catch my breath, Cutrara shows me his garden. It consists of about eight old cooking oil buckets Cutrara has modified into planters. There is absolutely no possibility of getting running water on the roof, an issue that prevents Cutrara from growing anything other than herbs. So, after unsuccessfully hauling buckets of water to the roof, Cutrara now relies on rainwater he collects in an old garbage bin to water the plants. "When I run out there," he says, pointing to the rainwater reserve, "I take some of the runoff from the air-conditioning units." He then admits his landlady thought he was crazy to do this.
The garden is definitely not glamorous, nor does it produce large quantities of herbs for the restaurant, but Cutrara uses what he grows mostly for ornamental purposes. He shows me how delicate a single chive petal can look on the white background of a plate, and is fond of his hearty borage. Cutrara is also proud that all his plants, seeds and soil are organic. On the other side of the air-conditioning unit, a dip in the roof also catches rainwater. Here, Cutrara has immersed a few herb pots into the shallow pool. He's even got a lone hot pepper plant that has come back from next year.
Aside from the obvious benefit of harvesting his rare herbs Cutrara loves the rooftop garden for another reason. "If it only offers me the ten minutes to get out of the kitchen for a few minutes everyday it's worth it," he says. When I ask him whether he grows anything else at home to supplement what he has here, he shakes his head. "But, I have been known to climb into my neighbour's yard and steal some of their stuff," he says, laughing.
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