iStock
DCL
You might remember Mark Simmons as the sweet, oddball Kiwi from Top Chef Season 4. Then again, you might not. Either way, I ate some of his food recently and it was pretty damn good, and I'm a tough critic. I especially enjoyed his homemade pickles, which, if you're in the Park Slope, Brooklyn, area you'll be able to sample at Get Fresh where he is chef (with chef/owner Juventino Avila). You might also try sitting out back on the patio among the mint, black edamame, and of course, that pandemic cilantro.
This small garden is an inaugural experiment meant to supply the restaurant with some of its food throughout the spring and summer, amount to be determined. While chefs like Dan Barber at Blue Hill have taken the restaurant garden (read huge pastoral farm), to a model and ambitious level, it certainly isn't every chef, every urban restaurant that has the space, climate or financing to grow nearly all its food. But, as with all things green, we can and should, you know, do what we can. And Mark Simmons is doing what he can in his "backyard" plot. The man has a green thumb and dedication to the project and the whole restaurant's thing is that holy green trinity of food: local, sustainable, organic.
If you're a restaurant chef/owner or a home cook/gardener, you might take some pointers from Mark who is gardening on a level sustainable for his restaurant and I suspect, many of you. While getting your food at the market is great, getting it from your yard is better. That's not news, but it's true.
