On Sunday, July 26, I had the privilege to attend the Hollywood Harvest Dinner at Tender Greens Hollywood.  There, I had the privilege to meet and sit down with some very important professionals to the SoCal sustainable restaurant chain that is Tender Greens.

Robert Foreman and Niels Thorlaksson are both co-business owners of the company called Green City Farms. They have been with Tender Greens for ten months.  Foreman shared that he and Erik Oberholtzer, one of the owners of Tender Greens, met at urban farming conference called Seedstock, and soon ventured into business together.

As a company, Green City Farms aim to build and maintain urban farms, big and small, for homes and businesses,  They definitely have the mindset to grow the freshest farm to table produce.  They create micro and macro urban farms, and implement resources such as “Aeroponic Tower Gardens.” This offers a new, innovative farming technology.

Above: Chef Oliver Plust, with Robert Foreman & Thorlaksson in TG Hollywood garden patio amongst vertical plant towers. Photo Courtesy of @tendergreens Instagram (https://instagram.com/tendergreens/).

I also got to sit down with Christina Wong, Director of PR and Brand Expression of Tender Greens. She shared that new Tender Greens locations are slated to have on-site growth through Green City Farms as well. Overall, Tender Greens is experimenting with the method called aeroponics, a different way of growing food that is starting to get much more utilized.

The Tender Greens Hollywood location is lucky to have their very own beautiful tower garden. By using this method, “it saves 90% of water compared to conventional farm methods, ” said Thorlaksson.  “There are also no harmful chemicals or pesticides – as well as no transportation costs.

The turnabout of the evening was a very cheerful and warm one. Guests kept going for seconds. Chef Oliver Plust, who was responsible for the amazingly delicious al fresco summer dinner, said he “encourages that kind of behavior.”  The main entree cooked up for the night was a delicious whole salmon with dill and mustard seed buerre blanc, and there were plenty of more delicious sides. The spread also included delicious desserts, and free-flowing beer and wine.

“Everything that was in the harvest salad was grown from the towers,” said Plust.  Everyone that evening came together to the communal table like family, which is what Tender Greens is all about, aside from the fresh and local farm-to-table concept.