“The Greenhouse is about designing and operating better places for people. Places that let us touch natural materials, understand where everyday things come from and taste fresh food straight from the garden.

Designers, engineers, builders, scientists, farmers, chefs and others are among those whose knowledge and advice have gone into every aspect of creating the Greenhouse, from the lighting, to the menu, to the fresh baked bread and the worm farm. The Greenhouse aims to harness the growing understanding of the human footprint to offer alternative solutions that tread a fine balance between functionality, sustainability and beauty.”

In the summer of ’08/’09 The Greenhouse was set up as an instillation in Melbourne’s Federation Square, now no longer in Melbourne the only Greenhouse restaurant is here in Perth, WA. The good news is, this is no installation, this is hopefully going to be in Perth for a long time to come. Opening up in mid-December the Greenhouse offers a wonderful small night spot with a mix of good food, wine, beer, cocktails and environmental design.

Now that the doors are open, the garden has grown and is ready to be eaten I made sure to head into this garden wonderland to see what is was like. Only being open for a few weeks, it is easy to expect a few teething issues with any new restaurant but everything was smooth sailing as far as I’m concerned.

The menu contains a great selection of fresh WA produce, with majority of the ingredients coming from the rooftop garden. Being a strict vegetarian I can’t talk about the majority of the food on the menu, however there is a great selection of dishes for both vegetarian and vegan dietary needs and the friendly staff was more the willing to adjust some of the dishes to be vegetarian and also adjusting the cost of the dishes too.

(To slightly jump topic, this is usually a pet hate of mine when a restaurant will be more than happy to change a standard main meal into a vegetarian dish, yet they still charge you the same as a dish containing meat. I didn’t have to even need to ask this time, this gave the Greenhouse a thumbs up from me)

Back to the food, Bree (my wife) and I ordered a vegetarian version of the ‘Bits and Pieces from the Greenhouse Garden’ (pictured above), the ‘Wood roasted baby carrots, saffron & coriander’ (which I sadly forgot to take a picture of) and some simple – sweet lemonade. Since I’m not a food critic I won’t go into bite by bite detail, I’ll just say that these simple dishes with great presentation were extremely enjoyable as a meal to sit, share and talk about the days events.

The industrial design of the Greenhouse is extremely impressive. From the furniture to the environmentally friendly bathrooms and right to the wall art, the entire restaurant is extremely impressive. With all the natural material surrounding you, it is easy to forget that you’re in the middle of the Perth CBD on St Georges Tce. Finally a little word to the wise, if you’re looking to go on a Friday night for dinner, I’d suggest making a booking before hand.

You can read more about the history, menu and future of The Greenhouse at their website: greenhouseperth.com

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