Land Trust Opens Glen Leven Fields to Capitol Grille Kitchen

More and more restaurants are buying produce from local organic farms, but one four-star eatery has begun doing the farming itself. The historic Glen Leven farm near Father Ryan High School is now growing fresh produce for the Hermitage Hotel’s Capitol Grille.

Tyler Brown is the executive chef for the Capitol Grille. Each morning, he stops by the rows of heirloom vegetables he planted to see what he’ll have on the menu that night. Brown’s finding that cooking with what the land provides means getting creative.

“Obviously, we’re going to have more than we need of squash, so we’ll be serving it in our employee cafeteria, using fried squash for bar snacks. We have radishes and just butter we did for bar snacks.”

To deal with excess, Brown says he’ll also pickle okra and freeze stewed tomatoes for the winter.

The Hermitage Hotel took on its own farming as an exercise in sustainability. But Brown says he’s keeping track of what’s harvested on a spreadsheet and expects it will save his restaurant money.

The Glen Leven farm was willed to the Land Trust for Tennessee in 2006. The Hermitage Hotel’s organic garden represents the first community access granted to the property.

Glen Leven is hidden from view, even though it’s right in the middle of things – across I-65 from 100 Oaks. The entrance to the 66-acre farm is on Franklin Road.

Land Trust director Jean Nelson says her organization is taking its time to consider how to allow more community access to the property.

“We’re trying to figure out the best ways to go about it, and since this was a farm forever, it made the most sense to have this relationship with the Hermitage.”

Beside’s the hotel’s new organic garden, MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation has also worked on the Glen Leven property, which includes a home built in 1857. Graduate students recently compiled a historic structures report.

Since 2008, the Hermitage Hotel has allowed guests to tack on $2 a night to protect open spaces. So far, the Land Trust for Tennessee has raised $100,000 that way.