Many restaurants around the city have been contemplating starting their own gardens to grow some of their own herbs, fruits and vegetables. Implementing an on premise garden isn’t always so easy, it takes planning, a background in gardening or learning how to plant and maintain a garden. I visited the Roof Top Garden at Le Gavroche located downtown where the West End borders Coal Harbour. This new modern French restaurant recently changed ownership along with a complete change in direction from traditional French cuisine to modern with a refreshed west coast twist in the cooking.

Chef and Co-owner Robert Guest gave me a tour of his new roof top garden and unveiled his plans for a much larger growing operation along with a green-house that will soon adorn the roof top of this heritage building. They are using wooden wine boxes that they are getting from the wineries or from the liquor stores, Robert says “why waste the cartons, we can use them to fill them with soil and grow our own herbs, fruits and vegetables”.

This spring they are growing the following:

Strawberries, beets, spinach, sweet basil, peppers, blueberries, kale with more to be planted soon.

The Roof Top Garden is located on the roof of Le Gavroche at 1616 Alberni Street, Vancouver

For dining reservations you can call them at 604-685-3924

Stay tuned to my next feature in my Urban Farming series.

By: Richard Wolak