San Diego Chef Grows Michelin-Star Mold

San Diego Magazine's Happy Half Hour · May 5, 2022 · 50m

During the day, Michael Vera cooks at standout Pacific Beach restaurant, The Fishery. In his off time, he grows delicious bacteria. The words mold or fungus may not make your mouth water, but they should. They're the gateways to fermentation, which gives us bread, coffee, miso, chocolate, beer, kimchi, wine, cheese, soy sauce, other forms of dear-god delicious. And right now, no fungus is hotter than Japanese koji—rice grains cultured with aspergillus oryzae. "It's a sweet, funky marinade that tenderizes and intensifies with umami," says Michael Vera, owner of West Coast Koji, a company he…