From lush lawns to alleys and parking lots, some chefs on the Jersey shore are cultivating gardens growing fresh produce and herbs. Along the sidewalk and alley way in Long Branch, Tre Amici Chef/ Owner Matthew Zappoli is growing heirloom tomatoes, concord grapes, numerous herbs and peppers, including the fiery Thai Dragon and yellow Vietnamese peppers. Overhanging the sidewalk along side of Tre Amici, Chef Zappoli has nurtured what was a sickly fig tree into an abundantly fruitful and magnificent tree.

In a tiny fenced-in plot off the restaurant's parking lot, Chef Dago and his kitchen staff at Gaetano's Italian Restaurant  & Market in Red Bank have transformed a paltry plot of soil, composting and fertilizing it, into a fruit-bearing plot where cantaloupe, watermelon and peppers are now blossoming forth.

And behind Doris & Ed's restaurant in the Highlands, on the verdant lawn by the ocean, Chef Thomas Donohoe and owner, Jim Filip, have created a veritable English herb garden replete with two bay laurel trees, rosemary, three kinds of basil ~ lemon, opal and Genovese ~ chives, thyme, lemon thyme, sage, tarragon, mint, leek and Italian parsley. It is always an enjoyable dining treat to see the Chef meander out to his herb garden and pick herbs that  will eventually garnish or flavor your food.

These three chefs have truly taken farm to table to a new level. Toques off to them!

** For other stories covering food news, cooking and recipes, please visit my Shore Region Food Examiner page at http://www.examiner.com/x-29445-Shore-Region-Food-

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