Meet the Humans of Downtown: stories and snapshots from the urban core of Las Vegas
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Much like the fungi it specializes in, Lucie’s Mushroom-Forward Bistro sprouted up seemingly overnight and is quickly growing into one of DTLV’s best-kept secrets. The mushroom-forward food truck, situated at 924 S. Main St. in the Las Vegas Arts District, is redefining street food.
What is Lucie’s Mushroom-Forward Bistro Truck?
Named after the French word for light, “A lot of our food is French inspired and mushrooms just need a little bit of light to grow,” co-founder Raquel Lohmann explains. Lucie’s features simple yet bold and unique creations that emphasize the versatility of mushrooms. “Simple’s not always easy, but everything’s done with love by hand,” co-founder Ricardo Guerrero says.
Eat Locally-Sourced Mushrooms
Items include a crunchy lion’s mane sando with a hand-breaded lion’s mane cutlet topped with tangy slaw; a mushroom Swiss burger with a ground mushroom and beef patty topped with sautéed mushrooms, grilled onions, Swiss cheese and dijon aioli; green coconut curry rice noodles topped with sautéed mushrooms and roasted veggies; a mushroom, spinach and cheese galette; and other tasty bites. Their mushrooms are sourced locally from Desert Moon Farms and Atomic Mushrooms.
Love at First Bite
Lucie’s blossomed out of the pandemic—and love. Ricardo, who started one of Las Vegas’ most successful early food trucks with Slidin’ Thru in 2010, co-founded Gaucho’s Sacred Flavors at the Bunkhouse in 2019. It was there that he and Raquel, a fan of their mushroom nachos and frequent customer, met. Ricardo eventually asked Raquel out and the pair began dating.
When Gaucho’s was forced to close, they began developing ideas for a venture of their own.
“We see mushrooms as the future of sustainable food sourcing,” Ricardo says, noting how mushrooms are easy to grow, emit less carbon dioxide and can be harvested every 10 to 14 days. “There’s just lots of cool things to geek out over with mushrooms.”
“And they’re a good middle ground between meat eaters and vegans,” Raquel adds.
The pair hope to eventually open a mushroom farm of their own.
“We’re just stoked on mushrooms and being urban farmers,” Ricardo says.
Lucie’s Mushrooms is located at 924 S. Main St. and open Thursday through Sunday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
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