For restaurateur and chef Justin Cucci, sustainability and community are the most important aspects of running a restaurant.
“It takes a village to create a place like this,” Cucci stated. He was referring to the restaurant we were visiting, Vital Root, which is part of a network of locations he has founded, all part of the Edible Beats restaurant group. Each site is unique and dedicated to clean ingredients and outstanding dishes. To aid in this mission, there is a new addition to Vital Root — a hydroponic farm behind the building housed in a large shipping container.
“In the last ten years, we have tried everything to grow our own food,” Cucci explained. “We used to rent dirt in various neighborhoods to grow food. Being thoughtful about our resources has always been a part of who we are.” When COVID came, things had to change. Those relationships were given up, and they were approached with the idea of making their own farm. “It took a year and a half, and there were a lot of challenges, but this is the future.”
BeatBox Farms has wholly transformed how obtaining fresh ingredients had worked before. With a limited growing year in Denver due to the weather changes, having a hydroponic farm allows them to grow produce and herbs year-round while reducing the amount of water and resources that would have been used in a traditional farm. “We now can work at a level that we were unable to do before. The plants can be grown more quickly and will last longer.”
It is an impressive sight to see, as each section holds 3,973 plants, resulting in a whopping 7,946 plants that can be grown at once. Everything is watered by either bottom watering smaller herbs or by having them vertically trickle down the hanging wall of plants and then re-circulating, amounting to only three gallons of water daily.
The freshly grown produce supplies not only Vital Root but all other Edible Beats restaurants. It is a collaborative process with the chefs as they decide what they want on their menus, which change quarterly with the micro-seasons.
While there won’t be full menu changes, things will be swapped in and out depending on what is in season. A delicate balance must be struck as every chef has preferences, so they attempt to choose greens that will fulfill all their wants and needs. One mix that they have specially curated for the chefs is the “BeatBox Mix,” which is featured on certain menus and consists of tat soi, red Russian kale, wasabina mustard, red scarlet frills and rocket arugula, all of which are grown in the farm.
This collaborative process is intrinsically connected to Edible Beats, as Chef Cucci recently made the group an ESOP, which stands for a 100% Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The employees are the owners and, over time, will earn shares. “This creates a deeper and richer culture of ownership,” Cucci explained. “It’s about wanting to be connected where you work and believing that what you’re doing has worth. It keeps us connected to employees in a way no other business has that is privately held.”
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Fostering an environment that upholds sustainability in all aspects is a rare sight to see. This dedication helps to incite a culture of continuous growth and to provide guests with food that does not compromise. “An important aspect of the food that Edible Beats provides is that it allows people to try things and that it makes them feel good,” Cucci emphasized. “If someone has an allergy or a dietary restriction, we want them to enjoy our food the same as everyone else without making them feel like a burden.”
It is clear from the care given to the food, customers and employees that Edible Beats is trailblazing a new path in terms of how restaurants are run and the quality of food that is offered.
Vital Root is open on Monday – Friday from 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. and on Sunday from 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.