Kyle Eckert got into mushrooms while staying at a friend’s ranch in Wisconsin during the pandemic, when he’d forage for various species every day. “I enjoyed it out there,” said the third generation Santa Barbaran. “It was nice to be out in nature.”
As he learned more, the video-game-designer-turned-bartender realized how healthy mushrooms are, especially when it comes to brain health. Having watched the only grandma he ever knew suffer with Alzheimer’s — and worrying that his mom would be next — he honed in on lion’s mane, the large, shaggy white mushrooms that resemble a lion’s mane as they grow.
“When I read that lion’s mane helps with cognitive function and can repair the connection between neurons, and can delay, maybe even reverse, Alzheimer’s, I started to get my mom to take it,” he said.
But back in Santa Barbara, where he was helping to run The Imperial bar in Goleta, he couldn’t really find a good, fairly priced source. “I had time and a little bit of space in my bedroom, so I started growing lion’s mane,” said Eckert, who also dabbled in oysters, chestnuts, and a few other species. “That turned into me growing too much. That’s just how I work.”
The plan was to sell to chef friends and get into the farmers’ market, but that proved tougher than expected. Then he ran into some mushroom jerkies in the store. “I just didn’t like them,” he said. “I thought the texture was weird. I didn’t like the choice of mushrooms, and they were getting them from overseas.”
The San Marcos High grad figured out how to make his own, realizing that the lion’s mane texture was perfectly meaty. It took a couple months of recipe tweaking to finalize four flavors, which he boils into the fungi before dehydrating them, but Riviera Mushrooms was off and running in March 2024.
His current four creations — Black Pepper, Cajun Spice, Savory Teriyaki, and Chili Cheeze, all vegan, soy-, gluten-, and GMO-free — are all downright delicious. They stunningly resemble fresh beef jerky, chewy in texture, umami-drenched in flavor.
“I’m not necessarily looking to mimic meat. I don’t like that side of the vegan market. I just want to make it taste good,” said Eckert. “But I do want that smoky minerality that you get from eating beef in jerky form. That’s super satisfying to me.”
He got his 64-square-foot farm — a k a his house, near the corner of Mission and Modoc — certified with the state and recently applied to sell at the farmers’ market. He hasn’t been accepted yet, but he’s hopeful, explaining, “My farm is the closest farm to the farmers’ market.” Eckert is also trying to get on the shelves at Gelson’s, but is open to any market that’s interested.
For now, you can buy his mushrooms online, sign up for a subscription, or find them at a few spots around town, including The Imperial, Island Seed & Feed, the Drift Hotel, the MOXI, and occasional pop-ups. He’s turning out multiple harvests weekly, and working on a couple more flavors.
His mom, by the way, isn’t slamming jerky. Instead, he makes her supplements. “Who knows if they’re doing anything?” he admitted. “But it’s not hurting, and things are not getting worse.”
See rivieramushrooms.com.
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