Summer 2024 – Issue 44
Photo of edible mushrooms

Mighty Cap Mushrooms grown in San Luis Obispo are served at restaurants across California

In this article, Chris Batlle shares the origins of his Mighty Cap Mushrooms business and how the mycelium has become stars on the plates of restaurants across San Luis Obispo County and beyond.
In Season - Photos of three food items

In Season: San Luis Obispo Chef’s dynamic cooking methods preserve and punch up flavor

In this article, Chef Rachel Ponce of Frunchroom and Pair With shares recipes that use dynamic cooking methods like dehydration, fermentation and curing.
Photo of people at a table from a top down view

Storybook weddings come to life thanks to consonance of San Luis Obispo County food, drink and design vendors

For this styled photo essay, a team of food, drink and design vendors come together to produce a beautiful wedding scene at Greengate Ranch & Vineyard in San Luis Obispo County.
Photo of strawberries in a bowl with rice

Last Bite: Sweet Rice with Fresh Strawberry Black Pepper Jam

This dessert is a cross between sticky rice and rice pudding. The sweetened, creamy rice is topped with a strawberry jam that has a lingering savory heat, thanks to...
Participants are guided in harvesting their own seaweed on local shorelines.

Foraged seaweed off the coast of Cayucos is the protein of the future

In this article, San Luis Obispo chefs and fisherman explain how seaweed fished off Cayucos offers sustainable protein for the future. The vegetarian ocean product is driving the Harmony Coast Aquaculture Institute, a world class seaweed producer.
Food for Thought - Summer 2024

Summer Food for Thought: Letter from the Editor

Anyone who has ever worked back of house at a restaurant during a dinner rush knows how hectic the shift can be — an open flame on the grill, plates whipping down the line, “CORNER!” reverberating off the kitchen walls. A nicer word for the commotion is “dynamic.”
Candice and Ariette making food and taking photos

Creston chef and photographer with Mexican heritage shares stories through food

In this article, Chef Candice Custodio and Ariette Armella tell their story of friendship and Mexican heritage through food and photography. The San Luis Obispo County women together produced the book “The Versatile Chef.”
Birchwood Co-owner Howdy Nunez welcomes guests.

Birchwood Nipomo offers beer garden and community in South San Luis Obispo County

This article illustrates how Birchwood Nipomo has served as a community gathering place in South San Luis Obispo County for decades, potentially acting as the site of the famed Migrant Mother with Two Children photo.
Brook captures the natural sounds of the vines and vineyard as he hears them from day to day.

San Luis Obispo composer and winemaker Brook Munro creates album from sounds of harvest

This article explores how Brook Munro used his San Luis Obispo studio to produce an album that harmonizes the sounds of harvesting wine grapes in the Edna Valley. His album is called “Harvest in Twelve Parts.”