Tyler Gray, professional mushroom forager

Mikuni Wild Harvest has grown from a Vancouver basement operation to become one of North America’s leading “wild food” purveyors, now supplying North America’s top chefs with precious fungi, atypical wild greens, unfamiliar forest berries and sustainably harvested fish roes. Co-founder and owner, Tyler Gray, began the company over a decade ago as a full-time forager, himself collecting the wild mushrooms in and around Vancouver’s Coast Mountains. These days, the fresh-faced, thirty-something entrepreneur manages a sizeable staff and has been propelled head first into the continent’s high-end food scene – he was recently a guest judge on Iron Chef America. Still, for Gray, it’s all about the food, and he comes across like a kid at an Easter egg hunt when describing his passion for the abundance of richly-flavoured “found” foods that are available exclusively in British Columbia’s wilderness.

Where are you from? What developed your love of mushrooms?
My love of mushrooms? I remember being at a friend’s house for dinner when I was a young boy and we were having a chicken and mushroom casserole. I was excited as they were two ingredients that I loved… so when dinner was served I couldn’t help but notice that the mushrooms were really different from what I was used to. They weren’t the chanterelles or matsutake that my Mom and I would go and hunt for… rather they were button mushrooms out of a can. After I finished my dinner, there was a pile of mushrooms on the side of my plate and my friend’s mom noticed and made a comment about me not liking mushrooms. I of course nodded like a polite boy, but in fact the truth of the thing was I had become a mushroom snob at 13. I love wild mushrooms because each of them have very unique characteristics… flavor, texture, aroma and aesthetics vary dramatically depending on the species… Oh, and they are fun to look for.

Can you find any interesting mushrooms in Vancouver’s parks and green spaces?
Porcini, morel, chanterelle, matsutake, chicken of the woods, hedgehog... The forests, fields and meadows are teeming with wild mushrooms in BC and Vancouver. I remember playing a round of golf one time. We were on hole number eight at the UBC Golf Course and I was not playing well… I hit my tee shot into the woods. Unfortunately the ball was lost and I probably scored a triple bogey on the hole, however I did happen to find a patch of really large cauliflower mushrooms, which are known for having the most amazing floral bouquet. I loaded my golf bag, my arms were full, and I think I even tried to convince my friend to load his bag… I’m pretty sure I paid for that round of golf with that patch of cauliflowers.

Do you still take your truck restaurant-to-restaurant, selling mushrooms directly to chefs?
We have always operated our company very differently than our competition. The truck thing is a perfect example. I’m not sure I know of any other company who pulls up to a restaurant with a refrigerated van packed with some of the most amazing foods in the world so chefs can come out and pick their wares. Witnessing this event is kind of like seeing a kid in a candy store, it’s a lot of fun. Every Friday in our Vancouver, New York, Las Vegas and Portland warehouses a van filled with goodies is inspiring and influencing the chefs in these cities for their weekend menus.

Your company, Mikuni Wild Harvest, supplies Jean George Vongerichten's restaurants in New York. Were you excited when he set up shop in Vancouver at MARKET?
It’s really an honour to be doing business with some of the chefs and restaurants that use our products; Jean George is certainly one of those people. I was really excited to hear that he was coming to the city… it’s great to see some of these world-class talents setting up shop in Vancouver and recognizing what an amazing city we have. I’ve travelled and eaten all across the USA, and I think Vancouver has lots of very exciting restaurants that are serving food that can compete with some of the best restaurants in the USA. We have amazing products, a beautiful city, and lots of passionate people who inhabit this great part of the world. It’s really no wonder people like Jean George or Daniel [Boulud] are setting up shop here.

What is the most unusual product you are selling at the moment?
Fermented aged black garlic… it’s got an umami quality to it. It’s super interesting and chefs have been really excited about it.

What's your favourite thing to do in Vancouver, when you’re not hawking fungi?
I have a pretty good balance of activities that occupy my leisure time. I go to lots of live music shows - I typically stick to smaller venues like The Biltmore or The Railway Club. I love art and try to get out to different openings. I like to snowboard and play squash in the winter. In the summer, I get out for some water sports and I’ll try to golf once or twice a week. I also spend lots of time around Main Street and Gastown… I like checking out all the vintage stores, I kinda have a thing for old shoes.

For more information on Tyler Gray or Mikuni Wild Harvest, visit www.mikuniwildharvest.com.

This email interview took place in August 2009.