> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.dailydetroit.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Meet 4 Metro Detroit Restaurants Growing Their Own Food - URL: https://www.dailydetroit.com/meet-4-metro-detroit-restaurants-growing-their-own-food/ - Published: 2026-09-13T18:39:40.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-13T18:39:40.000Z - Description: Rose's, Coriander, Sylvan Table, and Takoi all tend their own gardens and farms — here's how (and why) they make it work. - Author: Amy Oprean - Tags: Newsletter, Food and Drink Hi all, Amy here. I spent the summer dodging cyclospora. I suspect many of you did, too. Every new food recall, every time I side-eyed a blueberry or spinach leaf, I was reminded of something I’ve known for a while: where our food comes from matters. It also brought to mind something I’ve been itching to cover – Metro Detroit restaurants that have their own farms or gardens. My interest stems from far more than food safety concerns. I’m smitten when I see mouth-watering images of vibrant, just-picked tomatoes, cucumbers, or radishes headed straight to a guest’s plate. I wanted to know: Who are they? How do they make it work? *Why* do they make it work? The following is an introduction to four restaurants that are “locally sourced” in the most literal sense. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/09/MollyEdited.jpeg) ### Rose’s On a sun-battered part of East Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, Rose’s owner Molly Mitchell has carved out an oasis. In what used to be a parking lot, she grows tomatoes, zucchini, cucumber, and a long list of herbs, including sage, thyme, anise, chervil, lemon balm, tarragon, for her restaurant’s Polish-inspired fare. “Gardening and farming and making food are so intertwined in my mind,” Mitchell said. “I wanted to have my food as close as possible.” The bulk of Mitchell’s produce, however, still comes from other local farms, including Sown in Peace Farm, Amalgam Farms, and Fisheye Farms in Detroit, and Country Valley Farm in Ann Arbor. “The larger conversation is that our food system is broken,” Mitchell said. “And I don’t worry about that, because I know the people I’m getting my food from, and I know their farming practices.” Mitchell installed her first garden beds in 2020, at the same time she set up the space for outdoor dining in response to COVID-19\. Turbulent times followed, with the restaurant closing in 2023 and reopening in 2025\. “I want to grow more and more, so that we are really led by the garden,” Mitchell said. “Right now, we are led by all the amazing local farms and I will always work with them. But it’s so special to come out here and be like, 'OK, I have all these fennel flowers… what can I do with that?'” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/09/Kielbasa-with-herbs.jpeg) One excellent use of fennel? Rose's herb-covered kielbasa. It also includes garden basil, dill and marigolds. Served with a Calabrian chile Crème fraîche and dill pickle pesto. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/09/IMG_8854-Large.jpeg) ### Coriander Kitchen and Farm This one’s right in the name. Coriander, the charming, canal-side restaurant on Detroit’s far east side, gets much of its produce from its own farm, located about a mile away. Farmer and Coriander Co-Owner Gwen Meyer estimates she grows around 190 different crops, including turnips, squash, kale, about 10 different kinds of peppers, and a wide array of herbs and flowers. “A lot of people don’t really understand what it takes to be a true farm to table establishment, because there are so many things that vary every day – crop failures, crop bounty – and it’s like, what do you do in either of those scenarios? How do you manage?” she said. Meyer works closely with Coriander Co-Owner and Chef Alison Heeres to create dishes that sync with the crops she grows. She also leans on neighboring farms when experiencing a crop shortage. When she has a bounty, the extra goes to the Detroit Produce Club, of which Coriander is a founding member. Meyer and Heeres met in the early 2010s through the Detroit urban agriculture community. They launched Coriander in 2015 as a farm-to-table catering company and opened the restaurant in its current location in 2020\. “I don’t think I would do it with anyone but her,” Meyer said of Heeres. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/09/IMG_8790.JPG) The pair have faced challenges sustaining their farm-to-table vision, from failed restaurants to failed farm sites. Coriander is in its second full growing season at its current farm site. Heeres said Coriander has shifted fancier than they originally had in mind, and in turn have become more focused on paying their employees as much as possible. “Part of the reason it can’t be as affordable as we would like it to be is because we work with people who treat their land well, treat their employees well, and treat their animals well, and that’s not cheap to do.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/09/Cropped-Lemongrass-Salad.jpg) Coriander’s Lemongrass Chicken Salad includes chives, scallions, jalapeño, mint, basil, cilantro and tomatoes from their farm. Cabbage and carrots come from local farm partners. --- ### Sylvan Table ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/09/IMG_8939-Large.jpeg) Sylvan Table owner Nicole Ryan is passionate about seasonal, simple dishes – and making as little waste as possible. Located directly behind the restaurant, Sylvan Table’s 3-acre farm is manned by Farmer Rick Rigutto. Executive Chef Chris Gadulka uses the produce to create the restaurant’s dishes. “I wouldn't say I'm an environmentalist, I don't really know the definition of that, but I'm passionate about not being a drain on the environment,” Ryan said. “I just want to make sure we're doing our part.” They have two compost piles on-site, totaling 110 cubic yards. Rigutto regularly rotates it using a mini tractor – the only machinery used at the farm. For an item to even make it to the compost pile means all other avenues have been exhausted. “We use a lot of byproducts,” Ryan said. “It’s like, ‘Okay, why—why are we getting rid of lemon peels? We should dry them, and then make lemon dust.” Often, things that might have been thrown away become a feature of a dish. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/09/TomatoLeafPasta-Large.jpeg) The green color of the pasta in the Tomato Leaf Pasta, for example, is not from spinach, but leaves from spent tomato plants. The addition gives the pasta an extra kick of the tomato’s acidity, which Gadulka cuts with a dollop of housemade ricotta. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/09/StuffedJimmyNardelloPepper-Large.jpeg) In the Stuffed Jimmy Nardello Peppers, Gadulka uses trimmings from steak dishes, adding marjoram, parsley and garlic to create the sausage filling. The dish is available now until the peppers run out later this month. --- ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/09/HiOFarm-Large.jpeg) ### Takoi / HiO Farm A Corktown staple, Takoi has served a fusion of modern Thai food and midwest seasonality for more than 10 years. Since 2019, it has grown its own produce on its 1-acre HiO Farm, located about a mile away in the Core City neighborhood. Farmer Noelle Stull said Takoi has always embraced sustainable, local ingredients but took the leap into starting their own farm in part to grow ingredients specific to the restaurant’s southeast Asian profile. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/09/Long-Beans-Growing-Large.jpeg) That means a variety of basils – all with strikingly different scent and flavor profiles – unique peppers, and curious looking beans, like the red noodle bean. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/09/IMG_9074.JPG) It’s used in several Takoi dishes, including being the centerpiece of their Dry Red Curry Long Beans. Stull said she’s learned to accept the ups and downs of farming, including crop failures and animal intruders. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/47/f5/47f528d4-7214-4519-b2b2-26249e48460d/content/images/2026/09/NoellePickingTomatoes-Large.jpeg) “The coolest thing that I’ve learned is just how to let go,” Stull said. “You realize, truly, how little we can control. And how to edge yourself at being more harmonious with the elements. And so every year I fret a little less.” --- ### 📍 If you want to dine at any of these places: **Rose's:** 10551 East Jefferson Avenue, Detroit, MI 48214 | [Website](https://rosesdetroit.com/?ref=dailydetroit.com) **Coriander Kitchen and Farm:** 14601 Riverside Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48215 | [Website](https://www.corianderkitchenandfarm.com/?ref=dailydetroit.com) **Sylvan Table:** 1819 Inverness, Sylvan Lake, MI 48320 | [Website](https://www.sylvantable.com/?ref=dailydetroit.com) **Takoi:** 2520 Michigan Avenue, Detroit, MI 48216 | [Website](https://www.takoidetroit.com/?ref=dailydetroit.com) --- 📬 If you haven't already, [be sure to sign up for future email newsletters for free!](https://www.dailydetroit.com/newsletter/) 🎧 Remember that we have our Daily Detroit podcast [that you can follow on Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/daily-detroit/id1220563942?ref=dailydetroit.com) or wherever you get shows. I'm going be on soon to talk more about this piece, [so send your feedback and questions here.](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdYQzUTZm6AIjkWOLnbndq4-oZOqcFvXfoQmFiNYmaoPOtUYw/viewform?ref=dailydetroit.com) ✅ [Special thanks to our members on Patreon who keep this independent, all-local creative work going — join us today!](https://patreon.com/DailyDetroit?utm%5Fmedium=unknown&utm%5Fsource=join%5Flink&utm%5Fcampaign=creatorshare%5Fcreator&utm%5Fcontent=copyLink) Until next time, we'll see you around Detroit. \-Amy