“The trend of foraging for fresh herbs and self-sufficiency is a growing trend worldwide, and we wanted to come up with a sustainable way to do so in our own ‘backyard’ says Rob Kucera, general manager for Westin. "The rooftop garden serves as a great eco-friendly resource in the growing methods we practice and provides nutritionally dense produce that we can control from a safety and quality perspective, which is a big part of our hotel wellness and responsible tourism movement.”
The garden operates in a fully recyclable capacity, whereby an automated drip irrigation system collects excess water to be recycled through a pump. The rooftop also boasts a small-scale wormery where kitchen food waste products are fed to the worms and the fertiliser produced then feeds the plants.
Executive chef at the hotel's ON19 restaurant, Grant Cullingworth, believes that in growing their own herbs and vegetables, they can offer guests uniquely flavoured dishes. “The variety in the garden lets us embrace creativity by exploring wild ingredients with interesting flavours and textures that our guests won’t find anywhere else.” Capetonians can enjoy the ‘farm to plate’ style dining experience at ON19 restaurant which is open daily.
