Mushroom Magic
How PARC Aspen Is Pairing With The Roaring Fork’s Newest Mushroom Distributor To Bring You Mouthwatering Mushroom-Inspired Dishes Year Round
Interest and appreciation for mushrooms has grown exponentially over the course of the last couple of years, but Executive Chef, Mark Connell, has had a fondness for fungi since he was a young boy. Through PARC Aspen’s partnership with independent mushroom distributor, Steffen Mehnert, we are aiming to keep mushrooms on the menu no matter what the season, starting with our Mushroom and Polenta appetizer.
What Mushrooms are In Season During the Winter Months?
Mushrooms are an incredibly versatile ingredient. They have a unique, earthy flavor that, at times, can feel meaty and rich. Mushrooms are also one of the foods that contain umami which is known as the fifth primary taste and is described by chefs as a savory, brothy taste that covers the tongue and lingers in your mouth.
While the best time to forage mushrooms tends to be during the springtime months. The winter months still gift us with mushroom options that are filled with flavor and are able to be utilized in a variety of dishes such as soups and pastas and pair perfectly with hearty staples like polenta, potatoes, and grits.
Some of the seasonal mushrooms that are specific to Colorado include chanterelle mushrooms which have a strong, earthy flavor and tend to make their appearance in pastas and stir-frys, and lion's mane mushrooms which have a sweet flavor and meaty texture that absorb sauces wonderfully making them great on their own.
While chanterelle and lion's mane do make their winter appearance, the most common winter mushroom is the oyster mushroom. Known for their mild flavor and earthy notes, oyster mushrooms can sometimes have a subtle seafood flavor and can be substituted for meat (they aren’t so bad atop a nice steak either.)
Oyster mushrooms are great to work with because they can be cultivated to be available year-round - which is great news for our diners. Because of the availability of these delectable little fungi, one of our most popular dishes will likely be available for the foreseeable future.
How is parc aspen utilizing the oyster mushroom?
One of the most talked about items on our menu is the Mushroom and Polenta appetizer. Made with both crispy and creamy polenta and a 63-degree farm fresh egg, the oyster mushrooms surround a rich and silky pillow of creamy polenta and are accompanied by crispy polenta nuggets that provide a heavenly juxtaposition to their creamy counterpart. Hidden beneath a frothy dollop of foam is a perfectly cooked 63 degree egg just waiting to be broken open to join the rest of the dish. And right on top of the foamy dollop lies a single, sliced button mushroom chip welcoming you to this delectable experience.
Executive Chef, Mark Connell, has been a fan of mushrooms since he was a kid. While other kids his age were turning their noses up at the mere mention of mushrooms, Connell was chasing after his mother’s homemade mushroom sauce with bacon, red wine, and red onion that she often put on top of their steak dinners.
The PARC Aspen dish did not originate in our mountainous wonderland, however. Mark initially introduced the dish at Santa Fe’s contemporary restaurant Max’s. The dish was really born out of indecision and an excellent mushroom hook-up. After going back and forth on whether or not to make the dish with crispy or creamy polenta, Connell chose to incorporate both alongside a 63-degree egg - which was a big deal at the time - and the readily available mushrooms that consistently lined the walk-in.
The dish is an homage to Connell’s stint in Italy where polenta dishes are common. “When opening a new restaurant,” Connell says, it’s important to have a balance between well-liked dishes and experimental ones.” He knew that this dish would be a hit as long as he was able to get his hands on the same quality mushrooms he found in Santa Fe from a distributor whose vision matched PARC's commitment to quality, local ingredients.
Enter up-and-coming mushroom distributor Steffan Mehnert.
Where IS PARC ASPEN GETTING THEIR MUSHROOMS?
Mushrooms from Mehnert’s January Harvest
Somewhere in Gypsum, Colorado, there is a modest aquaponic mushroom garden growing the mushrooms that will don the plates in some of the Roaring Fork’s hottest restaurants. Currently serving the Velvet Buck and our restaurant in Aspen as well as a handful of restaurants sprinkled along the valley, Steffen Mehnert took what began as an interest and a hobby and is steadily turning it into a career.
After learning about organic gardening and the growing interest in mushrooms from a friend, Mehnert saw a fantastic opportunity for a business venture and began to build his business from scratch in March of 2022.
Mehnert was born and raised in the shadow of Red Rocks and has been involved in real estate to some degree for the majority of his career. Still serving as a real estate broker in Eagle Valley, Mehnert fell in love with aquaponic farming, seeing it as a solution to a rise in supply chain issues and a demand for in farm-to-table dining in the Roaring Fork Valley. He has steadily been learning the business and farming side of his new venture. He has already found great success in riding the wave of the growing popularity of mushroom-heavy dishes.
Mehnert has learned a lot during this process and still finds himself surprised at the fickleness of the fungi he grows. It is clear that he takes great pride in his crop allowing the mushrooms to let him know when they are ready for distribution.
We were lucky enough to become connected with Mehnert through Kris Rettig, owner of Suitable For Framing in downtown Aspen. We now get a weekly visit from Mehnert and look forward to his enthusiastic drop-ins that often end with gorgeous mushroom samples and updates on what else he has growing on the farm.
Right now Mehnert has a versatile selection of oyster mushrooms consisting of black oysters, phoenix, golden and blue along with other varieties such as snow, lion's mane, and shiitake, and coming this spring - king trumpet mushrooms. For now, Mehnert is focusing on providing his crop to restaurants but is considering dabbling in mushroom powders in the future.
If you are interested in learning more about Mehnert and his business or if you would like to bring his mushrooms into your restaurant or home, you can reach him at MushroomsFreshForYou@gmail.com.
How can you enjoy parc aspens mushroom dishes?
Our Mushroom and Polenta appetizer is available now. This creamy and crunchy dish is jam-packed with flavors so complimentary it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Enjoy this dish with one of our many Italian wine selections - particularly wine from the Piedmont region of Italy where polenta originated from.
Stop by this week to enjoy this signature dish and marvel at the glorious mushrooms and polenta perfection that make up our top-selling appetizer.
