“I lost 130 pounds and am in better shape now than what I was in high school,” Sutton said.
“I’ve wanted to grow things myself for a long time and thought it would be cool to grow veggies outside and bring them in. Every chef’s dream is to walk outside and pick something to use in the kitchen.”
The garden still is young and the two have had a few hurdles to overcome, but all herbs and flowers, including nasturtiums, come from the garden, and Sutton has harvested several lettuces including baby romaine, mixed greens and arugula for his salads. Recently, they’re seeing green beans, purple beans, tomatoes and bell peppers emerge.
Sutton and Brandt are quick to give credit to their “garden whisperer” for the garden.
“We hired a woman we call our garden whisperer, Nikki Inskip, to help us, and she is the one who brought my vision and thoughts of what I wanted to fruition and put them in the garden to get things going,” Sutton said. “And sometimes she shot down what I wanted because she knew it wouldn’t work here in Florida.”
Inskip mapped out the placement for each crop based on sunlight and soil, using marigolds as bug repellent and other creative natural measures. Inskip has harvested some of the items, including picking the herbs and lettuces.
“We are creating an environment that allows food to be produced in a way that nurtures rather than destroys the land, while we are feeding people with food that is as healthy and nutritious as possible,” Brandt said.
In the future, Brandt and Sutton hope the garden will be grown sufficiently to give diners the option of roaming freely in the garden to select their own ingredients, glass of wine in hand.
Here’s a tip: For an elevated wine experience, give Marco Garcia the reins for your table. Garcia is a whisperer himself, a wine whisperer. He is more like a wine and dining guide than staff member and keeps the heartbeat of the restaurant in rhythm. He joins Brandt and Sutton in their enthusiasm for the future of Jardin E.
One of Sutton’s dreams is to have a garden atmosphere similar to places such as Amagansett in the Hamptons where guests can sit in the garden and eat, drink coffee or wine, get a little peace and quiet.
“But I want people to be able to also have food that’s insanely good while sitting in the garden,” he said. That part seems easy for Sutton, whose trademark hot-and-crunchy grouper draws diners from all over.
He prepared it for years at his former restaurant, Tropical Reef, and brought the dish with him to Veranda E in the Hotel Escalante. When people heard Sutton’s grouper was kicking up the flavor at his new post, they began coming in for that dish, and returning to try other items and follow the progress of the garden project.
“It’s hot because of chili flakes and sambal in the sauce, but sweet from the black grouper and butter,” Sutton said. Surprisingly — because it is so crunchy — the hot-and-crunchy grouper also is gluten free. Chef Sutton adds his hearty punch of crunch with hand-ground cornflakes, almonds and sesame seeds.
Some of Sutton’s other favorite dishes include his Hawaiian Monchong with coconut bamboo rice, sweet chili beurre blanc and Maine lobster chowchow; tempura bluefin tuna stuffed with avocado, crab and wasabi; and his signature pink Gulf shrimp with white stone-ground corn grits. Its Creole bacon sauce combines a melody of tangy and sweet flavors.
All of these dishes include herbs harvested from Jardin E, and when lettuces are available, those are incorporated into the organic hearts of romaine salad, which Chef Sutton prepares with an aged blue cheese Caesar dressing. His Wagyu beef specials change every week; one of the preparations includes celeriac purée, roasted baby beets, cabernet demi and fried shallots.
The Hotel Escalante is easy to miss if you’re not looking for it, which is part of its charm. A true boutique hotel, it has just 10 rooms and suites along a tranquil courtyard with tropical gardens, private patios and verandas. Veranda E is an accessory to the hotel. Against the backdrop of impossibly romantic Hotel Escalante, its lush foliage and pool, Chef Sutton already is incorporating as many organic ingredients as possible into his cuisine—ready to explore dishes prepared from his garden ingredients once they are ready for harvest.
