If you’ve paid a visit to the Tosa Farmer’s Market, which takes place on Saturdays at 7720 Harwood Ave., you may have had the good fortune of running across a stall filled with beautiful foraged products, including bento boxes filled with wild and cultivated mushrooms. And if you have, there’s a fair chance you’ve met Mike Jozwik, aka Mushroom Mike. You may also have picked up a recipe developed by former Locavore chef Van Luu, the newest addition to the staff at Mushroom Mike, LLC.

Jozwik’s business began with the restaurant industry and has grown steadily over the past seven months to include a warehouse and mushroom cultivation facility (which will soon be producing a diverse array of mushrooms including additional Japanese cold weather species never before seen in the city), as well as expanding its focus to include direct sales to customers throughout the city.

Adding Luu to his team, he notes, was just a natural progression.

"I was really convinced that if we brought someone in, I wanted it to be a chef," says Jozwik. "So when Van Luu said he was looking for something different, it was a great fit."

Jozwik notes that Luu, whose resume includes both local fine dining establishments along with experience working alongside Charlie Trotter in both Chicago and Las Vegas, brings a wealth of connections in Chicagoland to the table, as well as insights into how to market foraged items more effectively to chefs. Luu notes that his time with Trotter really imbued him with a love for exceptional products.

"Trotter had a knack for finding some of the best, unique products from all over the world," he explains, "... things like sea lettuce, huitlacoche and black garlic. They were ingredients that can be grown here in the Midwest, but that originated in other countries – and some are things that Mike is providing to restaurants here in Milwaukee."

Jozwik says it was Luu’s appreciation for the products that made him such a good fit for the position.

"When I worked with him at Locavore, he always challenged me to find ingredients that I didn’t have," notes Jozwik, "Things like green strawberries, goji berries and finger limes. He has a wealth of connections he’ll bring to the table. And, even better, he knows how chefs will use the products, how they want them presented and delivered."

_{Photo: Mushroom Mike, LLC.}

Stepping out of the kitchen

But it was Luu’s natural sense of curiosity and lust for learning that drew him to consider leaving the kitchen to partner with Jozwik.

"For me as a chef, I’ve always talked to my cooks about learning about products and finding out as much as you can about them," he explains. "And what’s great about working with Mike is that I get to really delve in and learn more about mushrooms. He has over 20 years of experience, and it’s really great to be able to learn about the cultivation aspect for ingredients I’ve used for years."

Although the work will take him outside of his comfort zone in restaurant kitchens, he says it will also provide new opportunities to be collaborative in ways he’s excited about.

"Chefs love talking with other chefs," he says. "We love to bounce ideas off of one another. And it’s going to be great to get to know some of them more personally through this work. It will also be great to reconnect with some of my friends from Chicago that I haven’t seen for years."

Moving forward, Luu will also be at the helm of product development for the Mushroom MIke brand, including the creation of pickled and dried items, soup mixes and other preserved prepared foods (some of which will be in stock at venues like Bumstead Provisions, which is due to open soon in Bay View). Currently, he’s also spending time creating recipes to share with the company’s farmer’s market customers.

"I’m not hanging up my chef’s hat," he says. "I’m able to create dishes that showcase what we’re growing or bringing in. It helps people to really get to know the more exotic ingredients and get more comfortable with preparing them at home."

Recipes include marinated and grilled lion’s mane mushrooms, wild mushroom risotto, ramp pistou and creamed chanterelles (recipe below), which Luu notes are a great accompaniment for fish, steak or chicken. "And they are delicious served on potatoes," he says.

"The goal is for the recipes to be easy to make and very versatile," Luu says. "Most of them can go with just about anything in your refrigerator."

Jozwik says he’s seen a lot of excitement about his products this year at the Tosa market, and plans to expand his reach to additional markets moving forward.

"We’ve just begun," he notes. "But we’re working our way to a place where we can offer people the opportunity to buy ingredients for an entire meal, accompanied by a recipe."

_{Photo: Mushroom Mike, LLC.}

Creamed Chanterelle Mushroom Recipe
Chef Van Luu/Mushroom Mike

1⁄4 pound chanterelles (washed and cleaned)
1 1⁄2 tbsp olive oil or 1 tbsp butter
2 chopped garlic cloves
1⁄4 cup raisins or dried fruit
1⁄4 chopped onion
1⁄2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp pine nuts
1⁄4 cup Madeira
1⁄2 cup chicken broth
1 pint heavy cream
1⁄2 tsp sherry vinegar

Once oil is hot, add chanterelles and onion and cook through. Add chicken broth and reduce broth by half. Finish with balsamic vinegar and sherry vinegar.

In a hot wide pan, add oil or butter. Add garlic, raisins, pine nuts and Madeira. Reduce until Madeira is almost gone. Add heavy cream and reduce by half. Season with salt and pepper to taste.