Ritz-Carlton chef takes side gig as hydroponic farmer
The Naples Ritz serves 65,000 heads of lettuce per year, now they can grow half that in a single shipping container right outside the kitchen door.
There’s a lot of buzz over “The Grow House” at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples.
Yep, that’s what the iconic beach resort named its hydroponic farm in a renovated shipping container.
For the top chef at the five-diamond-rated resort, it’s a dream come true:
“All chefs like to get their product as close to the (growing) environment as possible,” said Executive Chef George Fistrovich, adding:
“This enables us to come right outside our doorstep, about 50 feet from our restaurants, and harvest. It gets the freshest products to our guests, instantly.”
Kitchen gardens are hot commodities at resort restaurants since the farm-to-table movement.
The Naples Grande Beach Resort did an extensivemakeover in 2014 that included adding an herb garden outside its Catch of the Pelican restaurant.
In 2014, the Washington Business Journal reported that, “all of the Kimpton Hotel restaurants in the (District of Columbia) region have some form of garden.”
At The Ritz-Carlton, Naples, Fistrovich is the grower-in-chief. His compact farm setup came from North Carolina-based Williamson Greenhouses, which calls them CropBoxes.
By the end of this month, Williamson Greenhouses will have completed 18 CropBoxes, said Tripp Williamson, head of the family-owned business.
Only one is at a resort hotel: The Ritz-Carlton in Naples. That's likely to change. Other Ritz-Carlton properties are watching the pilot project.
"We've talked with some other properties," Williamson said. He added that most of the retrofitted containers thus far went to specialty growers "selling directly to restaurants."
At The Ritz-Carlton, Naples, the light-gray CropBox sits in a service area guests typically wouldn't see.
It grows the equivalent of one acre of fresh produce. The Ritz says its Grow House that measures 40 feet long, 8 feet wide and 9 feet, 6 inches high, uses 90 percent less water than a traditional garden of equal size.
For now, The Ritz has chosen to focus on greens: Bibb and romaine lettuce, cilantro, arugula, spinach and assorted micro-greens.
Some already are gracing salads at resort restaurants, including the Italian-themed Terrazza.
“The resort goes through about 65,000 heads of lettuce a year. I’ll be able to produce half that amount here,” Fistrovich said.
The experience, Fistrovich said, has given him a better appreciation of farmers and their challenges.
“It’s a bit easier for me, though, I’m growing 365 days a year in a controlled environment, with perfect temperature, humidity, CO2, nutrients – and pesticide-free.
“There are no bugs – nothing to eat my lettuces.”
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