If you’ve recently dined at one of the restaurants that sits under Fortitude Valley’s luxe accommodation destination The Calile Hotel, then there is a very good chance that you have munched on produce grown in The Calile Hotel’s Rooftop Garden. The growing space, which covers around 50sqm, cultivates produce that not only feeds the Lobby Bar but also the hotel’s in-house banquet events kitchen, Hellenika, sAme sAme and BIANCA. The garden was built in early February 2021, with eight rows of ModBOX timber planter boxes installed into the area, along with soil and an irrigation system. From there, a custom trellis system that allows the garden and vines to grow up was designed by Richards & Spence alum Ingrid Richards, one of the architects of the The Calile Hotel, whilst gardeners from Future Wild – pros in growing gardens in urban spaces according to strict organic, biodynamic and permaculture principles – have nurtured the garden from (quite literally) the ground up.

The crops were curated by Future Wild to suit the climate and environment and to fulfil kitchen needs, ensuring a fresh and diverse offering of produce. The autumn crop is a prime example of this, and includes 42 different varieties of fruit and vegetables like a mix of lettuces, sorrel, spinach, radishes, sugar-snap peas, chilies, spring onions, cherry tomatoes, a large selection of herbs and much, much more. The rooftop is also home to The Calile’s own bee colony with four beehives. Each hive contains ten frames and these frames produce more than two kilograms of honey each, which is harvested in spring and summer. Fresh honey will soon be stocked in The Calile Hotel’s lobby shop, Museum of Small Things and will feature in Lobby Bar dishes. Those wanting a closer look into this enchanted garden don’t necessarily have to be part of a secret society, but you do have to be a guest of The Calile Hotel. To book in a stay, pop over here.