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EAT THIS: CHEF’S MUSHROOM MIX AT SANTA CRUZ MUSHROOMS
The weather has alternated between wet, cold and sunny over the past few weeks, which means I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the ground. Mushrooms are popping up everywhere, and although all of the ones I’ve seen coming up from the duff along the road and in my yard aren’t edible, I enjoy seeing their otherworldly yet oddly adorable shapes spring from the ground.
I know I can’t eat them, but it doesn’t stop me from working up an appetite for the culinary fungi that I can enjoy.
My stop inside Santa Cruz Mushrooms’ Live Oak storefront last week was well-timed. Upon entering the small shop, co-owner Tiffany Phillips whisked me away to the mushroom farm in the back of the building, where her husband, farmer Chris Phillips, grows around a dozen varieties of mushrooms, including lion’s mane, shiitakes, several varieties of oyster mushrooms and the long-stemmed chestnut mushrooms. It was fascinating to see their ethereal figures growing peacefully in tidy towers of substrate.
They cut their mushrooms fresh to order and charge a flat rate of $15 per pound so customers can mix and match. The chef’s blend of four or five different varieties is their most popular item, Chris told me, because it allows people to explore the different textures.
Watch for a story on Santa Cruz Mushrooms next week, and keep this local mushroom farm in mind if mushrooms are on the menu at your feast next Thursday.
1970 17th Ave., Santa Cruz; santacruzmushrooms.com.
BEST OF THE WEEK AHEAD
Below, find a curated list of the best food and drink events in Santa Cruz County for the coming week. At the top, I share my picks of unmissable local happenings.
NEWS OF THE WEEK
ICYMI – here are food news stories from Lookout that you might have missed.
- Mission West to stay local as Westside couple, industry vets take the helm (Lookout)
- ‘It feels impossible right now’: Ahead of Thanksgiving, families turn to food pantries in record numbers (Lookout)
- Eat This: Thanksgiving Dinner Sandwich at Busy Bees Cafe (Lookout)
- Starbucks workers in Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley join national strike (Lookout)
