Cordyceps that won’t create zombies. Columbus chef finds niche with mushrooms
An urban farmer and Columbus chef has found a niche growing mushrooms that he promises will not serve as a precursor to a “The Last of Us” kind of zombie apocalypse.
Marcus Smith, owner of Marc’s Gourmet Mushrooms, began growing mushrooms during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he told the Ledger-Enquirer.
What began with a few grow kits, grew into a lab and evolved into a larger “grow room.”
“(Growing mushrooms) slowed down around 2022 when COVID was kind of ending,” Smith said.
He had returned to the restaurant industry for a couple of years, but the mushrooms had become Smith’s passion. He grows gourmet mushrooms full-time now, selling them at Market Days and other markets in Columbus and Opelika.
“I’m still kind of small,” Smith said. “So, it’s hard. But we’re growing every day.”
From Red Lobster to fine dining
Smith has been a chef for about 15 years.
Early in his career, he worked at restaurants like Red Lobster, Olive Garden and various Mexican restaurants. That’s where he first found his passion for food.
He is a naturally creative person who loves to work with his hands, Smith said. The science of food and learning the processes of creating recipes also appealed to him.
“It’s art without a canvas,” Smith said. “Every time you make something, it will inevitably be destroyed. It’s food. It’s going to get eaten, dropped burnt and changed. But it’s just a good avenue for creativity.”
After growing from chain restaurants, Smith worked at other popular restaurants in Columbus, including the Wicked Hen and Buckhead Steak and Wine. During this time, he became interested in fine-dining products, such as truffles, caviar and high-end mushrooms.
In 2020, when he was growing mushrooms as a hobby, Smith realized there was a market for gourmet mushrooms in Columbus.
“I noticed that there was no one in town, no one the area, really doing it,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Hey, I can really turn this into something.’”
‘They don’t turn us into clicker zombies’
Marc’s Gourmet Mushrooms offers a variety of mushroom-based products.
One of the best-selling items he offers is mushroom jerky. Mushrooms have a meaty texture, so his company dehydrates the mushrooms they grow and marinates them with a proprietary blend of spices. Then they rehydrate the mushrooms before dehydrating them again to lock in the flavor.
“I’ve had nothing but rave reviews on them,” he said. “Even kids love them. It’s the best review if a kid will eat it and then go back for more.”
It’s a good way to get kids to eat mushrooms, Smith said, and it’s good for them. The protein content is on par with red-meat jerky, he said, but there is less sodium.
Customers can purchase a variety of fresh mushrooms, including blue, pink and elm oyster. There also are lion’s mane mushrooms, Smith said, which gained popularity for their health benefits.
The lion’s mane and cordyceps tinctures Marc’s Gourmet Mushrooms offers are also good for those looking to capitalize on the vegetable’s health benefits, he said.
“If you’ve ever seen ‘The Last of Us’ show or played the game, these (cordyceps) mushrooms are the ones from that show,” Smith said. “But they don’t turn us into clicker zombies.”
Mushrooms are good sources of micronutrients, like magnesium and zinc. But they also can have anti-cancer properties and are good for brain health, lowering blood pressure and fighting heart disease, Smith said.
“A lot of folks are scared by them when you really shouldn’t be,” Smith said.
His business also offers an option for those who would like to grow mushrooms at home.
The 5-pound grow kits are the same kind that the company uses, he said. People can group them on countertops or near other indoor plants, Smith said.
Mushrooms are like humans in that they breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. This makes them beneficial to have near other plants because they can have a symbiotic relationship, he said.
“It’s a great gift option,” Smith said.
Marc’s Gourmet Mushrooms has sold wholesale products to popular Columbus restaurants, including Hotel Indigo, Epic Restaurant, Animal Farm and Gabagool.
Customers can find his mushrooms on Tuesdays at the Farmer’s Market in the Opelika Courthouse Square, Fridays at the Farmstand Friday market at the MercyMed Farm on Second Avenue and Saturdays at Market Days on Broadway.
Smith is proud to produce his products locally in an urban farm, he said. This ensures the mushrooms are fresh when he sells them.
“We go from spore to fork very quickly,” Smith said.
