Restaurants along the River Oaks Shopping Center will partner from Sept. 2-30 with Urban Harvest to create limited-edition, farm-to-table dishes using locally-sourced ingredients from market vendors, with 10% of sales benefitting Urban Harvest.

Urban Harvest is a Houston-based nonprofit organization that aims to increase access to fresh, local food through its farmers markets, gardens and education programs. The organization also owns the largest farmers market in Houston, with all farmers, ranchers and food vendors located within 180 miles of the city, according to its website.
The Urban Harvest Farmers Market is one of the only markets operated by a nonprofit organization. (Courtesy Urban Harvest Farmers Market)
The Urban Harvest Farmers Market is one of the only markets operated by a nonprofit organization. (Courtesy Urban Harvest Farmers Market)
How it works

According to an Aug. 28 news release, the four local participating restaurants have committed to using ingredients from Urban Harvest vendors, with each restaurant choosing a key farmers market ingredient to incorporate into a dish for customers to try during the month.

Check out the list below to see which restaurants are participating and what ingredients they are incorporating into their dishes:
  • Brasserie 19: Mushrooms and goat cheese will be featured in a dish of grilled tri-tip beef served with a mushroom and goat cheese-stuffed tomato. The fungi come from Lone Star Mushrooms in Tomball and the chevre hails from The Dapper Goat Dairy in Waelder.
  • Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina: The center’s newest restaurant will offer an appetizer of toasted masa cake with mesquite-charred gourmet mushroom tinga from Lone Star Mushrooms, and an entrée of Mexico City-style quesadilla filled with roasted mushrooms from the Tomball mushroom cultivator.
Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina opened in the River Oaks Shopping Center this year and specializes in authentic Mexican food, South Texas staples and Gulf Coast cooking. (Courtesy Lalani Media)
Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina opened in the River Oaks Shopping Center this year and specializes in authentic Mexican food, South Texas staples and Gulf Coast cooking. (Courtesy Lalani Media)
  • Zanti Cucina Italiana: The posh Italian restaurant will use ricotta in a variety of dishes. Diners will find the creamy cheese in three different presentations—Spring Garden Ricotta, cannelloni stuffed with ricotta and jumbo lump crab, and a ricotta-filled dessert cannoli. The cheese comes from Lira Rossa Artisan Cheese, a fourth-generation family farm in Moulton.
  • Leo’s River Oaks: The dinner-only New American restaurant will feature tomatoes from Atkinson Farms in Spring in the heirloom tomato and thyme martini, as well as in a tart made with broiled heirloom cherry tomatoes.
Ten percent of all sales from the special menu additions will go back to Urban Harvest to promote initiatives that support the nonprofits goal to transform food accessibility in Greater Houston, per the release.

“Our partnership with Urban Harvest is about bringing the community together through food while celebrating local talent,” said Lauren Granit, general manager of River Oaks Shopping Center. “The collaboration not only highlights kitchen inventiveness from these very talented River Oaks Shopping Center chefs through creative, seasonal dishes, but also showcases the bounty of local artisan food purveyors.”