These chefs grow mushrooms under their restaurants

For several years now, some chefs have been calling for ever-shorter supply chains, notably by growing their own vegetable gardens, or by going out into the forest themselves to gather aromatic plants, berries and even mushrooms. For the latter, some chefs go even further by setting up a mushroom farm on their premises, so that they can enjoy their own harvest of oyster mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms all year round. Why this choice? And what delights do the chefs prepare with these cellar-grown mushrooms? Find out from Florent Pietravalle, chef at La Mirande restaurant (4 toques) in Avignon, and Maxime Thomas, from Le Grand Lucé in the Sarthe region.

Adapted cellars

It's an understatement to say that Florent Pietravalle does nothing like everyone else. The chef at La Mirande restaurant, Grand de Demain 2022, is a fan of fermentation, powerful flavors and products rarely found elsewhere. Not to be outdone, the chef, who trained with Pierre Gagnaire among others, has decided to make a name for himself in 2019 by installing a mushroom cellar on the premises. "We have large vaulted cellars beneath the hotel, a place that lends itself perfectly to growing mushrooms. Since then, we've been growing oyster mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms with the help of Comme des Champignons, which had already set up shop in a very small facility in Avignon," he recalls. " Members of the association come every morning, Monday to Friday, to look after them," adds Florent Pietravalle.

For Maxime Thomas, the initial idea was the same: to exploit the galleries beneath the Château du Grand-Lucé, an ideal environment for mushroom cultivation. "The château is built on cellars and tunnels created to extract the stone used in its construction. At first, we joked that it was the perfect place to grow mushrooms. Then, finally, the idea matured and became a reality", recalls the chef, who says that for the moment, he and his team are in the "experimental" phase. "We started this winter with oyster mushrooms, and the idea is to eventually become self-sufficient. Philippe, the château gardener, is in charge of implementation. We all learned together, on the job. We use large plastic buckets with soil and mycelium to grow oyster mushrooms. The first few weeks were a bit tricky, as oyster mushrooms are fickle and need constant temperature and humidity. We sometimes have to move the buckets around to maintain these parameters", explains Maxime Thomas.

DR - Michael Spengler

An anti-waste loop

For the chef at Château Le Grand Lucé, the desire to grow more and more things on site is very much present. "We also have our own beehives, for example. It's always an added value to do things ourselves. What's more, it allows the teams to get involved and have a common project. It's quite unifying," he assures us.

For Florent Pietravalle, the idea was also to create an "anti-waste loop", with the coffee grounds being recycled to facilitate mushroom growth. " We make our own mixture with compost, mycelium, hay and coffee grounds", he explains. Another source of satisfaction? The chef at La Mirande was able to select the variety he was most interested in for his plates. "There are around fifteen varieties of oyster mushroom, and we were able to choose the one best suited to our tastes. I have to say, too, that watching them grow before they end up on your plate is a pretty pleasant feeling!" A few years ago, one of his signature desserts was a French toast with pine nut and mushroom ice cream from the La Mirande cellars (4 toques). Recently, Florent Pietravalle created a poached oyster, horseradish and mushroom soy in double extraction. For his part, Maxime Thomas has imagined a springtime dish based around asparagus, served with an egg yolk confit, wild garlic emulsion, oyster mushrooms and brioche mouillettes." We also serve a mushroom poêlée every morning for hotel guests," he explains.

In the near future, Florent Pietravalle would like to develop the cultivation of lion's mane mushrooms in the cellars of La Mirande, a variety often used by vegans for its chicken-like texture. Maxime Thomas, meanwhile, would like to try his hand at button mushrooms... To be continued!