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Rooftop Veggie Dinner

July 2017

45 excited guests joined Beefsteak, Little Wild Things City Farm, and Up Top Acres for a beautiful four-course farm-to-table dinner filled with microgreens and fresh vegetables. It was “Beefsteak a little dressed up” says Bennett Haynes, the Chief of Produce at José Andrés ThinkFoodGroup. 

The dinner was set up right next to Up Top Acres’ farm on a rooftop in Northwest Washington, DC, with most of the produce harvested there that morning. Guests enjoyed dishes filled with fresh vegetables, including a summer salad with red veined sorrel, turnips, roasted beets, pea shoots, and a tahini turmeric dressing with fresh crumbled feta cheese.

Beefsteak, José’s fast-casual veggie restaurant, partnered with the two small urban farms to discuss the importance of foodsheds, urban farming, and local farms. “The concept was to celebrate these urban farms” Bennett said. Up Top Acres designs, builds, and operates commercial rooftop soil farms in the D.C. metropolitan area. Little Wild Things is an urban farm in Washington, D.C. that produces microgreens.  They provided the edible Gem Marigolds, Bachelor’s Button Flower, and Calendula, as well as parsley, fennel and a microgreen called micro chervil for the dinner.  

Beefsteak is working with the two organizations to find new ways to incorporate sustainable farming in their menu, so watch out for another dinner in the future – check out their website here to learn more about Beefsteak and where you can get your veggie fix!