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Kevin Gillespie stoop in the cool of the even to gently draw back the brilliant burgundy leaf of violent beets , then publicize an aha grin as his tattooed arms unearth a central ingredient for a favorite recipe he ’s about to make . The executive chef and atomic number 27 - proprietor at Atlanta’sWoodfire Grillwho was a finalist and the “ fan pet ” in Bravo TV’sTop Chefcompetition , Gillespie could n’t reject an invitation to harvest a sampling of fresh vegetable , fruit , herb and edible flower in the fresh Edible Garden at theAtlanta Botanical Garden , then cook up a moral for guests gather in its out-of-door kitchen .
The new Edible Garden is designed in a series of three craw set - inspired garden rooms that emphasize erect gardening . Photo by : Erica George Dines . SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GARDEN .
After all , this kitchen is a demented scientist ’s culinary research laboratory where some of the realm ’s most acclaimed chefs will regularly evidence to garden visitors how they can prepare healthy meal using fresh ingredients pluck just a few steps from their cooktops . The half - dozen guests gathered , just days before the garden ’s May chess opening , give ear on the charismatic Gillespie ’s every word as he ready a sweetheart of farro , bok choy and pureed beets along with a colorful pansy - garnished saltation salad while explain why he ’s enter in this event . “ If you’re able to get people excited , visually , about refreshed vegetables , then you’re able to get them excited about acquire their own food , ” he says . “ This lieu certainly does that . ”
The objective of the Modern Edible Garden is to not only show healthy choices and sustainable purpose , but also to prove to visitors that veg and herbs also make pretty landscape painting plants . The garden will bluster bounteous vegetables 365 day a year , from ruby beet and orange cauliflower in late winter and spring to violet edible bean and burgundy okra in summertime to a kaleidoscope of apples , pear , fig , hoot and Vitis rotundifolia in downslope . “ Edible gardens are the next wave of what ’s becoming democratic in gardening across the United States , ” says Mary Pat Matheson , the garden ’s executive theater director , have a go at it for her innovative leadership in creating programme that keep visitors pass to the garden . “ It does n’t hurt that first lady Michelle Obama has moved the idea of growing our own food to the head . ”
The first garden room in the Edible Garden is dubbed the Vegetable Amphitheatre where seasonal harvest mixed with flowering annual and herbs are showcased . Photo by : Erica George Dines . SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GARDEN .
The $ 2 million project transformed a former ABG parking peck , in the marrow of Atlanta ’s Midtown , into light-green space and enhance a city that ’s becoming a leader in the nation ’s local - food movement . The one - acre garden — primarily design by Tres Fromme of Dallas - basedMESAdesign firm — comprises three primary components : vertical gardening , crop - dress circle - like planting and an outside kitchen that becomes a stage for engaging programming that also include lesson on wine - and - food conjugation .
At the garden ’s entree is an orchard of crabapples underplanted with grasses , perennial and bulbs . bend a street corner and footprint into the first of a trio of crop - circle - inspired designs . The “ vegetable amphitheater”—named for the way the recruit , splosh bed extend upward from the central paseo to a top quarrel of “ seats ” that are espaliered fruit trees — is pattern in spring with cherry leaf mustard , undimmed - green lettuce and yellow violas . The next similarly planted circle is bordered by a 55 - foot - prospicient curved herb wall brimming with more than 2,000 mostly edible plants , from salvia and lemon thyme to rosemary and lavender . The concluding circle is the outdoor kitchen pavilion , where fall hoop planted with tomatoes , herbs and flowers are all within reach of the visiting chef .
Chef Kevin Gillespie of Woodfire Grill collects herbs for a cookery demonstration . Photo by : Erica George Dines . SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GARDEN .
“ This Modern Edible Garden is the everlasting inspiration for ready fresh and local , ” enjoin Mary Moore , chief operating officer of theCook ’s Warehouse , an Atlanta gourmet store and popular cooking school . “ Visitors get to see and savor firsthand how delicious it is to pick yield , herbs and veggie right out of the garden and turn them into fantastic stunner . It ’s the gross shoes to see the construct of ‘ from seed to plate . ’ ”
Perhaps that ’s why Chef Gillespie finds himself with a enwrapped audience on this Clarence Shepard Day Jr. in the garden . It ’s not all about the celebrity but about the magic of the soil as well .
