Anyone who keeps up with The Apollos has read about what has been happening at the St. Regis Café. This time, it is all about mushrooms: more specifically, shiitake mushrooms from the VIC. Cultivated by the Adirondack Mycology Club, and given to the St. Regis by the VIC facility manager Brian McDonnell, the mushrooms are turned into a memorable experience for mushroom lovers and non-lovers alike. McDonnell also generously gave the café birch syrup, which is really valuable. To make a mason jar filled with birch syrup, takes 80 gallons of sap.
The café receives the mushrooms on the logs they were grown on. This growing process starts by taking a log and drilling holes into it. They then proceed by inserting the spores of the mushroom breed into the holes and cover them with water. To grow best, the mushrooms need a cold environment and water. This is all done at the VIC.
The logs arrive at the St. Regis Café early in the morning and are put in water while they are being observed. Our customers have been mushroom lovers since we first started using them. We developed a menu using the mushrooms from the VIC. We used the log as the centerpiece on the table. Before the second course is served, a culinary student comes out of the kitchen with a pair of tongs, a paring knife, and a bowl. The student walks up to the center of the table and asks the two guest to be aware of the knife while the student reaches into the log and starts selecting mushrooms for their dish. The mushroom lovers usually rush to get their phones out to take pictures and document their lunch.
This experience was recreated at one of our Tuesday farm-to-table dinners for more than 20 guests. Brian McDonnell attended. During our Tuesday dinners the students go up to the table and introduce each course to the guests and tell them where the food comes from. They didn’t think anything of it until we told them, “These particular mushrooms are shitakes and are grown at the VIC.” It is really an amazing feeling to make the customers’ experience so memorable with these simple gestures, which bring them so much joy.
Not only are they Shiitakes, but they are some of the most delicious Shiitakes that I have ever eaten.
It’s good to see that the word is getting out about some of the cool stuff that is going on in the Paul Smith’s College Culinary programs.
Milos, you should come visit The St Regis Cafe at Paul Smith’s, so you can see how we, as students get to experience harvesting, preparing, and serving you our own Shiitakes within a matter of minutes. It’s an awesome experience!
Now that is cool , thanks for sharing
These do not look like shitakes, more like a meringue. I have seen shiitakes growing on oak logs.
Milos
I am the instructor of this class and I assure you that these are real shiitake mushrooms This is part of a partnership project with our on-campus mycology club in the visitors interpretation center The logs are Sugar Maple and they were inoculated In 2013 through 2015 It really is quite an amazing project and if you are ever in our area I would be happy to give you a personal tour Please feel free to contact me via email if I can answer any other questions Kmccarthy@paulsmiths.edu. Have a great Thanksgiving