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US (OH): Toledo restaurant builds 8,000 sq. ft. urban farm

Toledo-based Balance Pan-Asian Grille, a fast-casual restaurant chain started by two University of Toledo grads, is expanding to downtown Toledo in a revolutionary manner — something that fans of Balance have come to expect of owners Prakash Karamchandani and HoChan Jang.

The two men said Thursday that by year’s end they will open their fourth restaurant at 215 N. Summit St. in retail space that is part of a parking garage attached to the Tower on the Maumee office building, formerly the Fiberglas Tower.

But next to the 2,300 square foot restaurant the owners plan to build an 8,000-square-foot urban indoor aquaponics farm that will grow enough vegetables, fish, and shrimp to supply their soon-to-be four area restaurants.

“We will grow product and 70 percent of it will be used in our restaurants. The rest we will sell to restaurants in town and in Ann Arbor,” said Mr. Karamchandani. “We’re going to pull out a lot, tons of produce once this gets going.”

Mr. Karamchandani said the Balance operation will use tilapia and prawns, and it will grow all types of leafy greens, any type of fruiting vegetable (such as Brussels sprouts), all types of peppers, and herbs. Prawns can be harvested for use in Balance menu items, but the chain does not use fish.

“It makes a lot of sense to combine the farm with the restaurant. The pricing market for food and ingredients shifts. Volatility is still there,” Mr. Karamchandani said. “The beautiful thing about a farm is it’s organic, which we like to do, but it also stabilizes pricing.”

Read more at The Blade (Jon Chavez)
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