Lockwood executive chef Greg Elliott hasn’t wasted any time making The Palmer House his own. When he’s not cooking in the acclaimed restaurant or hosting special events, he’s making over the whole menu for Potter’s Lounge. Now we learn that he also has something of a green thumb, as he just launched a 2,000-square foot garden on the rooftop of the 25-story Loop hotel. To be sure, this is less of a picturesque garden to wander through, and more of a serious way to get extremely local produce.
Elliott hopes to grow a rotation of fresh vegetables, including sorrel greens, red oak lettuce, radishes, sugar snap peas, hyacinth beans, bell peppers, chilis, carrots, and a collection of tomatoes. Also, herbs like marjoram, oregano, cilantro, basil, parsley, chives, and dill, will always be available.
To help with the pollination of all those plants, the rooftop garden will have its own beehive. Thanks to an ideal location near Millennium Park, the bees are also set up to steal reap the benefits of the park’s gardens. All told, the bees are expected to bring in 20 to 40 gallons of honey each year.
Though Elliott hopes to use as much of the fresh foods and honey at Lockwood as possible, the garden is being described as a “hotel-wide initiative.” The hotel hopes to use the garden as a way to promote healthy living for its staffers.
