Next Wednesday, May 4, the ever-adventurous folks at Molly’s in Soulard are hosting a multi-course dinner featuring foraged mushrooms and wild greens alongside other locally grown eats. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served at 5 p.m., followed by a five-course sit-down dinner. Here’s why we will be attending:
1. We can’t eat enough morels and other seasonal ‘shrooms. One of the main ingredients used to prepare the dinner will be mushrooms foraged by none other than Missouri’s self-proclaimed Mushroom King, Thomas Weipert. “This guy is shorter and 75 pounds heavier than me, and you can barely keep up with [him],” remarked Molly’s executive chef Bryan Flaxbeard about the master morel hunter whose been prowling for mycelium for nearly 40 years and is the founder of morelhunters.com.
2. The menu will be a surprise. Because the menu will be created based on what Weipert nabs in the woods – as well as the other wild edibles foraged by Molly’s kitchen crew – the line-up of dishes won’t be determined until a day or so before the event. However, you can be sure that it will be fresh as can be (and that you won’t just graze on greens and fungi, since the remaining ingredients will be sourced from area growers and farmers).
3. The price. Hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, followed by five more courses, all for $45? Sold!
Want to attend this forest-to-table affair? Call 314.241.6200 to make your reservation.
This article appears in April 2011.