Our on-site greenhouse is our pride and joy.

Carefully created by our very own Chief Culinary director Chef Devon Quinn, we sat down to learn about its evolution from planters to a 12×30 foot structure, the inspiration behind creating it, and the benefits of growing ingredients in our own backyard.

Where did your idea to have a greenhouse come from?

“It really came to be because I wanted to be able to have really good products year round. Produce can be really expensive to purchase and things aren’t always available so I’ve always had an interest in growing. My mom has a fantastic garden as well as my grandfather did and I have had some background working in greenhouses and such in college as I was studying biology. I think it would be amazing if every food institution in the city of Chicago had some form of growth program of their own.”

What was your vision initially for the greenhouse?

“The vision is an experiment really. It’s an ongoing thing so as we evolve and as trends and other things change in food culture we certainly follow suit and try to start those trends. It’s an experiment in thinking about food. As we experiment, some things work and grow really well and others don’t. It’s a constant learning experience to what actually ends up making it onto the table.”

“We made some errors and I learnt a lot over the past four-years so I’ve got better and better at winterizing it so we can run it more efficiently. We have got really good production levels out of it now and things grow well in those colder months so we kind of plant accordingly so that we always have stuff growing.”

How did you create the greenhouse into what it is currently?

“My first step was to build planters, and from there I wanted to extend the seasons so I created a basic greenhouse over them by covering them with a thin plastic. When we moved to our second location, I wanted to make it so that I was not just extending the seasons but growing year-round. I drew up the designs myself and then built it with the help of my dad – he is a surgeon by trade but also a licensed contractor! I grew up building things with him.”

Why is it important to you to have a greenhouse that is on-site?

“It’s important for a number of reasons…the biggest thing is knowing where the things that we put onto someone’s plate come from. We are using organic soils and fertilizing organically so we really have a lot of control over what the consumer is getting in the end.

I also really value being able to grow things that aren’t readily available from your purveyors so you have things on your plate that other restaurants and caterers do not. You also have the advantage of putting things onto a plate that are very robust in flavor because they have never been refrigerated.”

Why does refrigeration impact a plant’s flavor?

“A big part of when you eat is the involvement of your other senses such as smell. Some of those aromatic notes start to deteriorate when you refrigerate them and put them on an air freight across the country or whatever. So when we grow arugula here in the greenhouse, for example, it’s super spicy because it has never spent time in a refrigerated box where it’s losing its quality.”