US (TX): Why a new Dallas restaurant grows on site

Janice Provost has harvested "tons" of tomatoes and has basil "as big as trees" in her backyard hydroponic garden.

The produce goes straight to her restaurant, Parigi, in Oak Lawn.

Provost says she would have liked to put her vertical garden at the restaurant, but there is no room. Instead, she installed three units holding almost 150 plants in her backyard two years ago.

"I've been committed to growing as much as I can," she says.

The new Bullion restaurant opening soon in downtown Dallas is taking it a step further. It will have a small hydroponic vertical garden in a preparation area.

Bullion is growing its own microgreens and exotic herbs for the taste, the convenience and, hopefully, the cost savings.

The hydroponic garden is installed inside the building as an experiment in providing economical fresh greens, says Victor Rojas, Bullion's general manager.

For example, "the cost is dramatically less for mini cilantro," Rojas says. "Cost was one of the factors in our decision."

Read more at Dallas News (Karel Holloway)