Ever had an #IndoorGardenLunch? I did at Adera’s beautiful new development: The Shore. Adera is the first developer to construct a six storey wood framed building in North Vancouver. Located next to Mosquito Creek and the recently expanded Trans Canada Trail, The Shore is centrally located to the mountains, forests, parkways and waterways of North Van. It’s also within walking distance of Capilano Mall and restaurants.

The master-planned community by Adera consists of 375 one, two, and three bedroom urban homes and will ultimately welcome and accommodate families of a variety of sizes.

The Shore is a place where family, friends, community, and the environment come together.

One of the many amenities available as an add-on is The Urban Cultivator. The Urban Cultivator Residential is an all-in-one indoor home garden.  With it you can grown flats of greens and vegetables free of chemicals and pesticides. The greens you grow also carry twice the nutritional value of store bought greens. Best part you can grow them year-round straight in your kitchen. It’s truly the “zero mile diet”.

To show us how easy (and tasty!) is to use the Urban Cultivator in your kitchen, Chef Darren Brown created a four-course lunch menu using herbs and vegetables grown with the appliance.

We started with a heirloom tomato salad, made with burrata, basil and nasturtium. I’ve never had nasturtium before and I was surprised by the lingering spice it leaves. The burrata was perfect with the tomatoes. Once thing I was truly surprised by, was by the strong smell and taste of the basil. Chef Brown says it’s because, with the Urban Cultivator, you can choose when you harvest your plants. Baby basil has a stronger taste and better aroma. You can’t buy baby basil.

Next up we had the chilled Cauliflower soup with kale and komatsuna pesto. Chilled soup has never been my thing, and for me, the small shot glass of it was plenty. Chef Brown added a twist by topping the soup with a dollop of  Northern Divine caviar; I’ve written about Northern Divine before, and I’m a big fan of the product.

For the main course came in the form of a freshly made butternut squash ravioli topped with duck confit, mushrooms, sunflower sprouts and pea tendrils. I could’ve eaten ten of these. One of the best ravioli I’ve ever had.

Dessert came in the way of creme brulee, with hints of brown sugar, ginger and basil.  The dishes show how versatile the Urban Cultivator really is.

After lunch, we had a tour of the suites at The Shore. Each home features expansive outdoor space with all top level homes boasting a private rooftop lanai so you can commune with nature from the comfort of your own patio.

Adera cares about sustainability and an environmentally focused lifestyle. They also support a variety of local causes. Currently they’re supporting the BC SPCA by having cardboard cutouts of adoptable animals in their show suites. The cutouts have QR codes that you can scan so you can check out the animal’s SPCA profile. And it’s working! All the profiled animals have found forever homes.

If you’re interested in The Shore or any of their properties, check out their website: www.adera.com . And if you want more information on the Urban Cultivator, click here.