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Rouge Restaurant, Calgary
Chef Paul Rogalski has always appreciated the value that fresh produce brings to the table; summers were literally spent working his grandmother’s garden. But when the chef and co-owner of prairie-contemporary Rouge took an early-1990s trip to California’s wine country, sharing just-picked sun-warmed figs from Fetzer vineyard’s organic garden with pioneering author, chef and educator John Ash, he had an epiphany. “I thought, ‘Oh man, I need a garden,’” Rogalski remembers. “At that time, Sooke Harbour House was really making some waves, and I dreamed a jealous dream of running out to the garden and picking fresh herbs and lettuce.”
Rogalski and partner Olivier Reynaud founded Rouge in Calgary’s historic Cross House, which has an adjacent acre of land. Half of that is now dedicated to growing produce for the restaurant, not an easy task given the area’s notoriously mercurial weather. “It is quite complicated, but it is fundamental and basic for us as cooks to know where food comes from,” says Rogalski. And to respect that “is easy once you’ve put in the time and effort that it takes to grow a garden.”
1240 8th Ave. SE, Calgary, 403-531-2767, rougecalgary.com
Hastings House, Salt spring Island, B.C.
Taking advantage of mild West Coast weather, this über-luxury resort on one of B.C.’s bountiful Gulf Islands has raised produce from its 100-square-foot kitchen garden for more than a decade. “The chefs used to go down there,” says executive chef Marcel Kauer sheepishly, of the hotel’s gardens, “but we killed everything.” They now leave the bulk of the work to head gardener Shelley Kobylka, who plants and harvests throughout the year: asparagus, herbs, salad greens, spinach, sunchokes, lychees, red and white grapes, raspberries and strawberries, plus apples, crabapples and cherries from which fresh juice is made. Kauer, a native of rural Switzerland, where “we always had a garden for the restaurant,” says that “the gardener tells us what is ready, and we adjust the menu accordingly.”
160 Upper Ganges Rd., Salt Spring Island,
250-537-2362, hastingshouse.com
Pineridge Hollow, Oakbank, Manitoba
Just a 30-minute drive from downtown Winnipeg, Pineridge Hollow’s six-acre spread is located on a reclaimed gravel mining pit in Birds Hill Provincial Park. “Our main cutting garden is an old barnwood picket fence garden done in raised boxes. We do a lot of lettuce and arugula, but we specialize in heirloom tomatoes,” says owner Jan Regehr, who grew up a farmer’s daughter. “Although it’s trendy at the moment, the whole idea of prairie cuisine is not foreign to me. I really think we ought to celebrate what the earth has to offer.”
Chef Mike Neil is passionate about the kitchen garden. “It’s about using all the plants and layering flavours. And it’s a really cost-effective way to get the flavour and the fragrance from the garden to the plate.” Many other artisanal ingredients are close at hand: every summer Saturday, Neil augments the garden menu with local cheese, honey, bison, pork and poultry at a well-attended farmers’ market
hosted on-site.
Heatherdale Rd., Oakbank, Manitoba, 204-777-3881, pineridgehollow.com
Fairmont Waterfront, Vancouver
Executive sous chef Neil Jameson acknowledges that the unique rooftop garden with peekaboo views of Burrard Inlet “is a big selling point for the hotel.” Plus, the bean counters love that on-site herb cultivation saves an estimated $25,000 to $30,000 yearly. “Last year we also grew wild strawberries and baby zucchini,” says Jameson of the urban oasis, which is adjacent to the hotel’s swimming pool. “It’s like having a little open-air grocery store. It’s a great thing to have in your arsenal as a chef.”
900 Canada Place Way, Vancouver, 800-441-1414, fairmont.com
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