Chef and sustainability, the restaurant with the vegetable garden

In an increasingly green perspective, many chefs choose to cultivate the vegetable garden to eliminate waste
and prepare dishes with fresh and seasonal raw materials

Sustainability, biodiversity and zero km are the terms most served on the table of contemporary cuisine.

The army of Chefs who engage in the Green battle to fight food waste and to offer dishes with a unique flavor is increasingly numerous, with the freshest and seasonal raw materials picked a few steps from their restaurants.

Flat land

In Polesine Parmense (PR), the starred Chef Massimo Spigaroli enchants with his vegetable garden, at the entrance to the Antica Corte Pallavicina, a 14th century castle on the Po river floodplain. Here, vegetables, aromatic plants and fruit are grown, ingredients of his gastro-fluvial menu.

A few months ago, again in Polesine Parmense and in the heart of Ortaglia, the Agribottega also opened, where you can buy all zero-meter products, as well as some gems from trusted local producers.

(Tel. 0524936539, www.anticacortepallavicina.com).

On the Riviera del Brenta, world famous for its splendid Palladian villas, the Margherita restaurant of the Romantik Hotel Villa Margherita in Mira (VE), offers a gastronomic journey into the rich tradition of Venetian cuisine, respecting the original recipes but with a touch of innovation. and above all by drawing from the vegetable garden cultivated in the large park of the 17th century villa. (Tel. 041 4265800, www.romantikhotels.com).

Mountains

In the Einhorn Stube at the Romantik Hotel Stafler in Mauls, Vipiteno (BZ), the Chef creates delicious specialties with zero km products from the Stafler family farm. (Tel. 0472 771136, www.romantikhotels.com).

The specialty of the restaurant “Il Tartufo” of the widespread hotel Borgotufi in Castel del Giudice (IS) is precisely the renowned mushroom that grows luxuriantly in the woods of which the territory is rich, on the border between Alto Molise and Abruzzo. (Tel. 0865 946820, www.borgotufi.it).

In Val d’Ega, at the Biohotel Steineggerhof in Collepietra (BZ), the cuisine is creative and pays particular attention to vegetarian-vegan dishes. Over 50 different herbs and vegetables are grown in the garden.

The Hotel Pfösl in Nova Ponente (BZ) also offers natural cuisine, using high quality seasonal ingredients.

Brigitte Zelger, the hostess, is also an expert herbalist. She herself created several herb gardens and raised vegetable patches in the property’s inner courtyard. “Pane & sale” is one of the vegetable gardens, with plants that are used in the processing of bread.

“Smoke & Blessing” is the second spice garden.

Finally, “Food & Drinks” is the herb garden for cooking and for the palate and which are used by chef Markus Thuner for the creation of exquisite dishes, salads, teas or juices.

(Tel. 0471 619500, www.valdega.com)