RSS FeedHow Does Poste Brasserie’s Garden Grow?
“Doesn’t it smell great,” he said. “That’s awesome!” she said. Just a wayward couple in the Poste Brasserie courtyard on a sunny Saturday? Perhaps. But they weren’t oohing and aahing the 1839 architecture of DC’s first General Post Office, now a Hotel Monaco (700 F St NW). Sure, the Poste Brasserie courtyard is now the Penn Quarter’s worst kept secret as an outdoor dining oasis just steps from the heart of Washington. On their own, the smell of a roast pig being readied for Poste Roasts, the lingering sound of jazz exiting speakers wandering the courtyard and a breeze lightening the load of the sun are enough to be appealing. Add in the visuals that real greenery, an honest-to-goodness vegetable and spice garden, bring and you can understand what captivated the couple. It captivated us too so we took a closer look and spent a few minutes with Poste’s Executive Chef, Robert Weland, to dig a little deeper.
Chef Weland is no stranger to seeing veggies grow. Growing up in New Jersey he bore witness to his grandmother growing peppers and eggplant in her garden. Before coming to Washington and during his stint at The Peninsula in New York City, he grew herbs around the perimeter of the rooftop. He started growing on a small scale at Poste when he arrived five years ago and gradually built the garden up to what it is today taking up a quarter of Poste’s sizable outdoor courtyard. Plantings take place three times yearly (every season except winter) and the garden includes all sorts of edible matter from the substantial (such as heirloom tomatoes and different lettuces) to the dainty (such as tricolor sage used in the sorbets along with other herbs and spices). One staff person is dedicated to tending the garden, keeping it growing and keeping it organic.
Photos courtesy of Michael Harlan Turkell
The second part of this two part series will appear within the next week so stay tuned!
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We highly recommend Chef Weland’s Market to Market dinner. Pictures and commentary here:
http://twodc.blogspot.com/2009/08/poste-market-to-market.html