The Beet: A Podcast For Plant Lovers · Epic Gardening

Reclaim the Harvest with Chris Starkus

·1 hr 49 min·5 clips

Urban Farmer’s menu links an Icelandic wolf fish to a QR code showing the fishermen and the journey to the plate.

Kevin opens by framing Chris as both chef and grower. Chris runs Urban Farmer Denver in downtown Denver, by Union Station at the Oxford Hotel on 16th and Wazee, and he also owns Lost Creek Microfarm, so the conversation stays close to both the restaurant and the field. They start with farm to table, and Chris says the phrase gets used a lot, but in his case it means paying attention to cattle feed, treatment, and how steaks and whole cows are handled on the menu. The restaurant works with grass-fed and grain-fed beef, dry aging, and whole-animal butchery, and Kevin uses that to pull the idea back to home cooking. From there they turn to garnish and what a garnish should be from a chef's point of view. Chris says it should add value to the plate, can take forms like puree, raw ingredients, or gel, and should be something you can eat rather than just decorative. Kevin brings up the old parsley-on-the-rim idea, but Chris keeps the focus on food that improves flavor, texture, and presentation. The conversation then turns to the garden. Chris talks about purple snap peas at Lost Creek and notes that purple can fade when produce is cooked, so he keeps them raw when he wants the color to stay visible. He uses them on a vegan cauliflower steak at the steakhouse, topping the plate with pea shoots and pea flowers so the dish gets color, crunch, and fresh raw contrast alongside the cooked element. The pink pea flower and purple snap pea create enough visual pop that only a few pieces are needed, which is why the garnish pulls a lot of weight. The episode closes with Chris sharing his social handles and talking about summer road travel with his wife, family, and national parks, plus visits to more stricken parts of the United States while he talks about Boss Defrost and 360-degree sustainability.

As heard by us

A practical look at how Chef Chris connects farm, plate, and garnish.

Chef Chris makes farm-to-table feel usable here, tying Lost Creek Microfarm to the Urban Farmer Denver menu and treating garnish as food first.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Want farm-to-table ideas you can use in your garden and kitchen?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Beet: A Podcast For Plant Lovers