STORY BY MAHMOOD FAZAL, PHOTOS BY CHRIS TURNER

In 2016 Matt Donnelly and Jo Corrigan, two professional chefs, swapped the confines of the kitchen for the adventure of the forest. After a decade at the helm of The Commoner, a bustling Modern British restaurant in the heart of Fitzroy, the couple decided to pursue the world of fungi and Mushrooms Anonymous was born.

“We were cooking at The Commoner when some people came in to try and sell us some wild mushrooms,” explains Matt. “We had a shoestring budget so, when I was confident I could identify a slippery jack and pine mushroom, I decided to go out and have a go myself. I went out to Healesville.”

“I was hooked from day one.” On his breaks, he would hire a flexi car and go foraging. When asked why he got hooked? “Well, they’re delicious.” It wasn’t long before Matt began selling his surplus to friends at some of Melbourne’s best restaurants; Movida and Cutler & Co.

“I had spent a great deal of time in London cooking and had a dream to open a restaurant that really celebrated that sort of modern British food,” says Jo.

The attitude of The Commoner was grounded, “If it isn't in season, we wouldn’t serve it. We would print the menu during service if we ran out of an ingredient and another dish would replace it. It was a very, very fresh approach to menu making.”

Suddenly, eight years in, Jo was diagnosed with breast cancer. “And my mother had died of it four years earlier. I knew it wasn't a small thing. I had watched her go through a lot. I wasn't able to really be physically part of the running of The Commoner.” She decided to throw in the towel. “By the time I sold The Commoner, Matt was already up and running. All I did was join him. And it's been a joy every year.”

Now, nestled among the lush pine forests of the Macedon Ranges, Mushrooms Anonymous supplies Melbourne’s best Chefs directly with both wild and home grown produce throughout the year. “We specialise in Pine mushrooms, and slippery jacks. And we keep it really simple,” says Jo. The business prides itself on chemical free growing and waste free values.

“There are other mushrooms that we pick in small amounts,” she adds. “But because they occur in very small amounts compared to the pine and the slippery jacks, we find that it's nice just to pick a very small amount of those in case there’s some lovely creature out there that enjoys them as much as we do.”

Over the past few years, Mushrooms Anonymous has setup a farm on Cope William Winery in Romsey, where Jo and Matt grow heirloom tomatoes, heirloom pumpkin, fermented black garlic, zucchini flowers and heirloom zucchini.

But for Matt, the thrill remains in the chase. “It’s something that has excited my primal hunter-gatherer brain,” explains Matt. “You're walking around in the forest, doing the job on autopilot, and I find you can really just plan and think. All the wargames in my head just play out. It’s a real luxury to have the time to just think things right through without distractions. It keeps me happy. I’m very happy in my life.”

Mushrooms Anonymous

0430 049 190

www.mushroomsanonymous.com.au

29 Smokeytown Rd, Springmount