CRG Grow Hydroponic Farming: From Seed to Table

With fresh produce bursting from hydroponic towers at both Vida and Modita, the Cunningham Restaurant Group has taken “Farm to Table” to the next level. A remarkable example of self-sufficient sustainability, you should know the produce grown from these “living walls” starts from seed. 

A History of Growth

In 2016, CRG opened its own USDA certified greenhouse; CRG Grow. This impressive 7000 square foot glass and steel structure is located on Meridian just south of I-70.  Jam packed with hydroponic towers and hydroponic flood production tables, the site supplies a wide variety of microgreens, herbs, greens and vegetables to CRG’s growing number of restaurants as well as restaurants across the city.

Carissa Newton, Vice President of Marketing at CRG said, “At Cunningham Restaurant Group, we believe the experience is everything!  Part of that experience is providing the highest quality and freshest ingredients.”

The Benefits of Growing Their Own

Growing their own produce not only allows the company to maintain control over the quality of their produce, it also provides endless possibilities and year round cultivation. 

Using sustainable growing practices like organic pest control, same-day safe growing, and purified water, CRG Grow ensures their process minimally impacts the environment. 

Matthew Croft, Manager of CRG Grow since 2020, said he works with the chefs at Cunnigham directly to ensure they get exactly what they are looking for.  He asks them “Are the microgreens the right size for their desired usage? Is this the right lettuce or combination of lettuces to stand up on the plate? Is there something new they are looking for?”

Vida and Modita Utilize Living Walls

CRG Grow also maintains the 23 living hydroponic towers at Vida and 14 at Modita.  Each tower holds between 16-32 plants depending on the size and shape desired. The chefs at Vida and Modita create the menus and Croft and his team fill the towers.

“For a restaurant and a team to achieve something truly special, there has to be consistency. This is especially important with respect to the quality of ingredients. The partnership with CRG Grow gives Vida the opportunity to focus on such. Having heirloom varieties of vegetables grown and harvested so close we can walk to see the progress is an incredible blessing,” said Vida’s James Beard nominated Executive Chef Thomas Melvin. “The ability to use herbs from a growing plant takes a dish up another level. For this, I am grateful to Matt and his team…it has been truly one of the best partnerships I have had, as a chef, to make my vision for the food at Vida a reality.”

The perfect showcase of the wall at Vida is the Baby Greens Salad. Baby chicory, frisee, escarole and basil with cherry tomatoes and zucchini grown at CGR Grow. Pecorino romano, lemon breadcrumbs and avocado-boquerones (white anchovy from Spain) vinaigrette. Light, crisp and alive. In fact every menu item comes with a flourish from the wall, even the amuse bouche. Cilantro sprouts with the coriander seed still attached; brilliant. Incredible flavor in a tiny little green plant.

Chef Megan Stoller of Modita said, “Having a living wall at Modita gives us the opportunity to freshly harvest herbs and greens to use immediately in our dishes. In addition to having this available to us, it is also a great focal point in our eclectic restaurant!”

She uses the wall’s Thai Basil for the oil on the popular Ora King Salmon at Modita and then garnishes it with fresh sprigs of the same. Like Vida, the wall is used to embellish each plate that leaves the kitchen. The added flavor and dimension to each dish takes the fresh ingredients far beyond pretty garnish.

The Beauty and Variety at CRG Grow

To that end, CRG Grow produces a vast array of crops including a comprehensive amount of herbs, greens and microgreens. There are aisles of grow tables overflowing with numerous kinds of basil in all stages of growth alongside micro mustard, micro radishes and pea shoots, just to name a few.  There are rows of towers brimming with greens, some that typically cannot grow in Indiana, like watercress and wasabi-arugula; pungent and spicy just like the root. Adorning one side of the greenhouse you will find pepper plants the size of small trees, like the sugar rush peach (akin to a sweet habanero), aji cachucha (looks like a habanero but sweet with only a hint of heat) , and the Brazilian starfish (like a smoky bell pepper). 

Croft and his team grow to sell to other local restaurants via Indianapolis produce distributor, Piazza, as well. “CRG Grow” is on the package.  “I don’t want someone to be able to hold up our product against someone else’s and not be able to tell the difference,” Croft said.

Matthew Croft’s passion for growing and tending to “his babies” shines through as he explains how he and his team start each plant from seed (with a few exceptions) and nurture it to its peak.  His face lights up to see my reaction as he hands me a piece of green sorrel to taste. “Wow! Now that is unexpected!”  Tender, yet sour like a green apple and tart like a lemon.

Although Croft says there is little waste at CGR Grow and they have gotten very good at growing only what they need, it can be challenging to make a greenhouse profitable on its own. 

Private Dinners at CRG Grow

Last year Cunningham created an entertainment side to the greenhouse to add to the magic and the brand. As you enter through the front of CRG Grow and walk beneath ripening purple passion fruit spilling through a lattice drop-ceiling, you will develop a sense of what is about to unfold.  White lights illuminate the space, reflecting off the glass walls and ceiling of the greenhouse as they lead to a lavishly decorated communal table for up to 32 guests.  

Surrounded by a jungle of pepper bushes, taro trees, and loaded hydroponic towers, guests are immersed in nature as they watch CRG’s best chefs prepare the meal from a display kitchen at one end. Foraging from their surroundings as they prepare each course, you can feast on the abundance CRG Grow has to offer. 

These dinners haven’t been marketed to the public yet. “They are typically private dinners by request only,” said Newton. “It’s been much more intimate and privately curated.”  They have marketed a couple of these special dinners through CRG’s private club, The Bemberg. Contact CRG Dining with inquiries.

Photos Courtesy of Cunningham Restaurant Group