4. Bell Book and Candle Restaurant

Situated in a quaint neighborhood of the West Village, Bell Book and Candle is a restaurant whose menu cycles significantly throughout the year. This is in large part due to a rooftop garden  at the restaurant that procures a major portion of the produce that they cook with.

While Bell Book and Candle’s food “strives for an element of originality and individualism,” their food “revolves around local, organic, sustainable and overall responsible procurement.” By using an automatic hydroponic system on a vertical structure, the restaurant—the first New York City restaurant to employ a rooftop garden—grows a plethora of vegetables such as strawberries, squash blossoms, heads of romaine and Bibb lettuces, chickpeas, and more.

In addition to supplying over 60% of the produce for the restaurant, the hydroponic technique engenders a faster growth rate for the plants, such that the lettuce grow 25% faster than conventional lettuce. Since the inception of the restaurant in 2010, numerous other restaurants have taken heed and employed their own rooftop garden.