SAN FRANCISCO — You’re sipping natural wine in a dining room where the walls, tables and staff are covered in green.
A tower of grilled and roasted squash layered with electric-purple potato puree has been placed before you on a pink plate. Star-shaped radish and black sesame hummus sandwiches surround this miniature tree like fallen leaves, and sugar snap pods filled with carrot puree rest at its base, like logs in a psychedelic forest.
This is The Mushroom, a vegan pop-up marrying food and art in a way San Francisco has never seen. Chef Alex Lauritzen and co-owner Frank Valadez pair eclectic ceramics with bright vegan cuisine in what can only be described as living art.
Lauritzen started the five-course dinners ($200, including wine and service) highlighting those hand-crafted ceramics last summer and has watched as each dinner sells out, with waiting lists long as your arm. (Find details for the latest dinner on their Instagram page.)
The Mushroom has not only mobilized a community of art-loving vegans but also restaurant workers hoping to collaborate with Lauritzen and Valadez. The duo is in search of a permanent space where by year’s end, you’ll be able to order signature dishes, like the phyllo dough mushroom pie made with yellow split pea shoyu and spring pea miso, á la carte for lunch or dinner. That squash tower will be on the menu, too.
Lauritzen, a native of Utah, comes from the fashion world. He moved to San Francisco in 2017 after living in New York and Paris. A stint at Rose Bakery in both cities sealed his future in food. Since arriving in San Francisco, he has worked at several notable restaurants, including Cotogna, Verjus and Yo También! Cantina, but The Mushroom is his first role as a chef.
Valadez is a Southern California native. He attended design school in Los Angeles and moved to San Francisco in 2015, landing a job at legendary Heath Ceramics, best known for its tableware. At Heath, he worked in product development and helped to open their first soft goods studio in their San Francisco factory. Valadez is now on the design team at BAGGU, also in San Francisco. The two came together when Lauritzen asked Valadez to sew aprons and napkins for the first Mushroom.
We recently spoke to them about The Mushroom’s food and ceramics program. Here is an edited version of that conversation.
Q: Why that particular shade of green?
Valadez: The technical name for Mushroom green is Kiwi 16-0235. I would describe it as bright and energetic but balanced. It reminds me of green apple, lichen moss and, of course kiwi. It’s really bold, but it kind of disappears when the whole room is covered in it. It brings a nice energy to any space. Ironically, something about the shade does not look good on an iPhone camera.
Q: How would you describe your food?
Lauritzen: We source our ingredients from the San Rafael farmer’s market on Thursdays, which is geared toward restaurants. The food is super simple. Really close to the earth. Super colorful and whimsical. Part of what brought me to San Francisco is that I’m nostalgic for 1960s psychedelia and have always had an affinity for the ’70s. But the main mission is to highlight vegetables in vibrant and exciting ways.
Q: Why vegetables? Is there a dish you’re excited about right now?
Lauritzen: I’ve been vegetarian since I was 11 and vegan for the past 10 years. There are a lot of connotations around vegan food, and we want to change people’s ideas about it. For instance, a lot of people think they won’t get full. But vegetables fill you up really, really fast. So, we actually started doing miniature versions of our courses because we want people to finish all five.
The gazpacho is something I’m excited about. We always do a soup, and this one is an every-kind-of-stone-fruit and tomato gazpacho with sherry vinegar and basil oil. We serve that with grilled cornflower and summer squash on top.
Q: You have commissioned several pieces by Oaxacan ceramicist Jorge Reynoso. Why does his work resonate with you?
Lauritzen: His work is tactile and organic. You can see the process in all his pieces, even down to his fingerprints interrupting the glaze. I think a similarity in both our work is that none of it is perfect. We are both very into the “gloopy” look and it’s super fun to play with his glazes when we are plating a dish. Some diners even mistake parts of his pieces as food.
Q: You also work with Bay Area ceramicists Daniel Vu and Kidtofer. Tell us about them.
Lauritzen: We met Daniel, who is from the Peninsula, at a craft fair in the city. We were instantly drawn to the precision and quality of his work. Frank’s expertise and knowledge in ceramics really helped with the decisions to commission pieces from Daniel. Although they are the simplest pieces we use, they are beautiful. The color of the glazes are stunning, and they’re durable.
Christopher (Kidtofer) is hands-down one of my favorite ceramists. The collaboration between Chris, Frank and me has been very exciting. We’ve had several meetings to discuss color, print, artwork, and Christopher has even come up with some ideas for plating. We are excited to meld the look of The Mushroom with Kidtofer. Our hope is to turn this into a series of dinners where we work with all sorts of different artists.
Q: What is next for The Mushroom?
Lauritzen: We want a space of our own, but we don’t want to rush anything. For us, the most eye-opening part of this is how excited people are about it. The majority of our guests are in the art, design or food world. And I don’t think there are enough spaces in San Francisco that bring creatives together. Our main goal is to make San Francisco an exciting and vibrant place. We can reminisce about its heyday, but ultimately, it is what you make it. We have big plans and a lot of ideas about the future.
