From tank to table: How an indoor fish farm gives Lexington chefs a tasty, unique edge
When chef Leandra Forman wanted to source some fresh seafood for a special Meh Rong Korean dinner, she didn’t have to go far: The fish were in the room next door to her FoodChain kitchen.
Tucked into the heart of an old bread factory in Lexington is a synergistic miracle of farming: Kentucky’s largest aquaponic production facility.
Actually, FoodChain might be the only indoor aquaponic facility in the state, said director Becca Self. The operation raises tilapia in tanks and hydroponic lettuces and other greens.
The fish, which is harvested right before it is used, goes to Smithtown Seafood, which also is next door.
“Fresh is a hard thing to measure, but we tend to rely on distance traveled,” Self said. “On average food travels 1,400 miles from farm to plate. This doesn’t even travel 1,400 feet.”
About once a month, Smithtown will take 20 or so freshly harvested tilapia and put them on the menu as a special, served as a whole fish, battered in Weisenberger Mill’s fish mix, deep fried and served with fresh fries, cole slaw and hush puppies.
Occasionally, a few fish make their way into other meals as well, like the Korean fish pop-up for Best Friend Bar that served a host of seafood, including the freshly harvested tilapia to an enthusiastic crowd.
The fish aren’t the only product at the FoodChain farm. In fact they aren’t even the biggest crop. That would be greens.
FoodChain grows beds of leaf lettuce, romaine, arugula, kale, basil and microgreens fertilized by the waste from the fishtanks.
Lettuce grown this way just tastes better, maintains FoodChain farm manager Kaitlyn Dykstra. “Even better than just hydroponic lettuce. It just has more flavor.”
Smithtown Seafood chef Agnes Teresa Marrero Rosa, agrees. She uses about 25 to 30 pounds of fresh greens from FoodChain each week and the difference between those and other greens is striking and customers notice.
“I have customers saying to me that this is amazing, that they have never had greens with this flavor and texture before. Even the kale is amazing,” she said. When she has to buy lettuce elsewhere because FoodChain’s isn’t ready to harvest, she said, “the difference is there.”
Smithtown buys most of the lettuce; microgreens and surplus greens go to more than a dozen other Lexington restaurants, Self said.
The farm, working with Kentucky State University’s aquaculture program, recently added an experimental crop: Marine shrimp.
The first shrimp, which grown in giant saltwater tanks in the former bakery oven room — which helps keep things warm — were harvested for the Best Friend Bar pop-up. Eventually, Smithtown Seafood could offer a special using them as well.
The FoodChain farm is inside the same building as the West Sixth Brewery and you can tour both the aquaponics operation and the brewery on Saturdays, with time for lunch at Smithtown Seafood too.
It makes a great rainy Saturday family outing, Self said.
The farm’s 7,000-gallon system takes up about 2,000 square feet, making it “right on the border between big hobbyist or really small commercial,” Self said. “We operate as a commercial operation, in that we grow and sell the food. But it is also a demonstration system and we bring thousands of people through each year to see it.”
The farm raises about 300 to 400 fish at a time and it takes about a year for the tilapia to grow to a harvestable size, she said.
So while most people might see it as fish farm, in fact about 80 percent of the output is plant-based, she said.
The farm’s scope is based on what Smithtown Seafood and other restaurants can utilize.
Smithtown owner chef Ouita Michel is also on the board of FoodChain and the restaurant was designed to be a collaborative showcase for the farm.
That gives Smithtown Seafood an edge even in a company that prioritizes locally sourced farm goods.
“I am proud to say I am a lucky chef,” Rosa said. “This is a luxury ... Within the company of Ouita’s restaurants, this is unique. And we are unique in the whole city. There’s no place in the city where you can go to the backdoor of the kitchen and there’s an aquaponic farm.”
