Many of our Flagstaff members consider Coppa Café to be the local clubhouse for the Arizona Mushroom Society. Executive chef Brian Konefal gives a European flair to locally farmed and wild-foraged food, including lots of our favorite mushrooms. His wife, pastry chef Paola Fioravanti, is responsible for the fabulous desserts, and their display case of baked goods is like an Aladdin's Cave of sweet deliciousness.
Perhaps the greatest pleasure of mushroom hunting in the Flagstaff area is to stop by Coppa afterwards, and have Brian create a mouth-watering meal from what you have collected, like this spectacular morel dish that capped off one of our Society forays on the Slide Fire in May:
The weekend of September 16-18, the café will be holding its annual Mushroom Dinner. It's a popular event among Flagstaff foodies and always sells out. This year, though, we're pleased to inform the members of this Society that they have priority for the Saturday night seating.
Space and time are limited, and you have only 4 days to make your booking at the special AMS rate. Registration opens at 7:00 a.m. on Thursday 9/8/16 and closes at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, 9/11/16. If any spaces remain thereafter, you will need to reserve the dinner directly with the Coppa Café and pay the higher rate charged to the general public. (The Coppa Café is taking public reservations for the Friday night seating right now, so consider booking directly with them if you can't make it to our club event Saturday night.)
The menu will be as follows:
- Pickled fungi butter, ponderosa pine mousse, warm baguette
- Variations of dandelion, coppa di testa, pickled velvet-foots (Flammulina velutipes)
- Wild sage tarte of slippery jacks (Suillus luteus), shallot confit, nasturtium
- Fusilli pasta of smoked Sun Caesars (Amanita "cochiseana"), wild greens, pancetta
- Potato & crayfish with lobster mushrooms (Hypomyces lactifluorum)
- Grass-fed AZ beef and white porcini (Boletus barrowsii)
- Variations of Wild Elderberries
When you register, you can also choose to indulge in a selection of fine wines, many of them local, that Brian and his wine expert have curated to match the food courses.
As a bonus for AZ Mushroom Society members, Chef Brian will give us a demonstration of mushroom preservation techniques before the dinner, at 3:00 p.m. on the afternoon of Saturday 9/17/16. You'll learn pickling, smoking, salt-curing and more.
If Hurricane Newton has favored us with rain, and there are edibles to be found, we may also have a foray on the morning of the same day. Perhaps you can find something worth taking to the preservation workshop. This foray, if it takes place, will be limited to fewer than 25 members and will not require payment of any additional fee. An announcement about the foray will be made by Wednesday, Sep. 21.
Click this link for a map to the restaurant:
UPDATE: A limited number of spaces are now open for those who want to attend the afternoon demo only. Cost is $10.