Foraging is a way of life...and business

Foraging their way through Missouri, Bulrush Chefs Rob Connoley and Justin Bell Say Goodbye Grocery by Robert Langelier, Riverfront Times, St. Louis, January 30, 2019

Many underestimate the variety of foods our forests can provide. St. Louis chefs Rob Connoley and Justin Bell of Bulrush, a new Ozark-inspired restaurant in St. Louis, make foraging a way of life and business. They find mushrooms, chickweed, garlic mustard and other edible plants in the region around the city to add to their ever-changing menu.

Kara Nielsen commented that their behavior fits into the wider trend of hyper-localism popularized by René Redzepi of Copenhagen’s award-winning Noma. Chefs foraging for ingredients became a fad for a time some years ago, but it’s very time consuming and hard. The French Laundry employs its own forager but most fine dining establishments count on relationships with local purveyors instead of doing the hunting themselves.

Image credit: Foraging their way through Missouri | Photographer: Virginia Harold | riverfronttimes.com