Scott Girling did not expect his garden to attract so many admirers. When a passion project in the backyard of his casual Italian restaurant in Denton saw its first spring bloom in 2024, passersby began to stop for a closer look at the climbing melon vines and long, curved trombetta squashes dangling from leafy arches. Whenever Girling was out picking weeds or checking for pest damage, the usually reserved chef found himself fielding inquiries on his pots of Italian herbs and engaging in lengthy discussions about growing tomatoes. Now, when he arrives to begin rolling pasta and preparing ragus each day at Osteria il Muro, named for his maternal grandparents from Sicily, it’s common to witness groups pausing to appreciate what his staff now affectionately calls the “Denton Botanical Garden.”
Fruits of this relaxing diversion are wielded on spring and summer menus in the restaurant’s caponata made from the garden’s eggplants and red peppers—a dish that’s served alongside house-made focaccia and sheep’s milk ricotta. A four-varietal tomato salad with basil or arugula is primarily made from ingredients grown on-site. And house-cured lardo is rolled around slices of juicy tiger melon procured from a row outside. All are examples of a preparation that far exceeds Osteria il Muro’s mission to feel like a private dinner party hosted by a personal chef.
A stark contrast to the dining industry’s reliance upon wholesale delivery options, Girling’s verdant Alice in Wonderland-esque attraction is not only a result of horticultural magic, but also an enormous amount of toil and financial investment. Payoff comes, the chef says, from having a decompression zone to escape the stress of the kitchen and a space to grow harder-to-find produce. Additionally, the restaurant garden gives employees an opportunity to appreciate the labor that goes into ingredients otherwise sourced from nearby growers like Comeback Creek Farm in Pittsburg.
“Water, fertilizers, and all the expenses of getting the soil right add up,” Girling says. “But I still think it’s beneficial because of the mental health aspect. The garden gives the staff a change of scenery and a chance to be more creative.”
Although his grandmothers were gardeners, Girling taught himself through YouTube clips and Reddit threads. Now, after two years of building out his agricultural approach, the chef has turned his attention to vegetables native to Italy, such as broccoli rabe and four varieties of Calabrian peppers. “What started as a hobby is something that I’ve fallen in love with,” he says. “And the restaurant reaps the rewards.”
In Houston’s Heights neighborhood, chef Ryan Pera also envisioned a garden when opening his Italian restaurant, Coltivare. Like Girling, Pera is cautious about claiming the plot pays off financially, but it was so valuable to him that when he signed the lease in 2014, he opted to put a garden in a 3,000-square-foot area that could’ve fit approximately 15 parking spots.
Overseen by full-time gardener Jeff Hilson, Coltivare’s garden has now survived a decade’s worth of Texas summers, hurricanes, and late winter freezes. In addition to protecting plants from turbulent weather, Hilson fights pests like vine borers by tending to soil health with a compost tea of his own concoction. The rest of his time is spent nursing plants mostly indigenous to hotter climates, such as African blue basil for pizzas; long beans native to Africa and southeast Asia for a charred pesto dish; and Persian cucumbers harvested for summer salads and a Pimm’s cup-like libation called Bless Your Heart.
Despite the limited parking, Coltivare’s customers also approve of the garden, as it has become the most coveted area to enjoy wood-fired pizzas and a glass of wine. But to Pera, it’s about tranquility and building a sense of connection. “Conversations stem from the garden, and puts people amid the food they will eat,” he says. “And the satisfaction of going from start to finish on any dish is really why I cook.”
