Carefully Grown Garden Items Inform Willie Jane Menu

Correction: The Cook's Garden is part of Home Grown Edible Landscapes, which partners with restaurants to grow the edibles they need for their freshly prepared dishes. 

The Southern-inspired California menu created by Chef Govind Armstrong for his Willie Jane restaurant is taking the farm-to-table concept to another level. And diners apparently can't get enough.

With online reviews that glow about Armstrong's cuisine, Willie Jane is making a tasteful mark on the Venice dining scene.

• Jonathan Gold | L.A. restaurant review: At Willie Jane, a local phenom refined (Los Angeles Times)

But there's more behind the scenes: Armstrong is working with Certified Master Gardener/Horticulturist Geri Miller of Home Grown Edible Landscapes to inform his dishes with items grown right next door in The Cook's Garden by Home Grown Edibles.

“I worked with Geri at our restaurant Post & Beam in Baldwin Hills to create a boutique garden, the bounty of which is seen throughout the menu,” said Armstrong. “However, Geri’s vision to create an expansive garden on a vacant urban lot next door to Willie Jane presented us with the opportunity to take the garden-to-table concept to a different level. Not only do our diners experience only the freshest and most nutritious ingredients, but an education hub has been created where chef, horticulturist and community gather and collaborate.” 

The Cook’s Garden is grown from carefully sourced seeds, supplying the restaurant with produce. One salad combines a mix of red vein sorrel, watercress and mustard frill greens with grilled watermelon tossed in benne seed dressing. Another positions torn herbs atop a salad of garden cucumbers, tomatoes, fried bread and locally made ricotta. Another uses pickled garden peppers simmered with greens for an Angeleno twist on a Southern classic. 

The garden also has its own coop with hens named Michelle Obama and Claudia Schiffer strut their stuff, their eggs used in Willie Jane brunch dishes such as the shrimp grits with soft scrambled eggs, bacon and Fresno chili. 

Willie Jane is at 1031 Abbot Kinney Blvd.; (310) 392-2425.