OPP Friend: Sara Gasbarra, Green Thumb / Big Heart

You know Sara from the latest For Reals Meals (remember how she gifted all the guests with the cutest plants ever?). But what you might not know is that she plants and manages gardens for some the best restaurants in the city with her company Verdura. One of those gardens is for OPP partner Floriole.

Right outside of Floriole’s second floor sits one of Sara’s beautiful gardens, literally taking the farm-to-table concept to the next level. When I was there shooting these photos, Sandra (Floriole’s owner) was picking greens for the dishes she was serving that day. This might just play a part in how insanely delicious everything is there.

Sara’s gardens are pretty cool…but it’s her natural ability to connect people that makes her the coolest. She offered to hook me up with her restaurant pals when she found out about OPP (before we even became friends). And the Green City Market event that I’m co-hosting? She and her bud Chef Jared Van Camp are the ones who helped make that happen. So as much as these photos are a nice way to show off her green thumb, it’s also just a little tribute to what an incredible person she is. It’s people like Sara that make big things happen…all while helping other people along the way.

See Verdura’s other pretty plants and gardens, and then learn more about her in this great feature at The Urbaness.