“HELLO! My name is Frank Rubino, and I think the mushrooms Chef Glenn serves at The Garlands of Barrington are awesome!”
It is an enthusiastic and frequent refrain at the end of monthly Garlands member meetings from the proud grandpa of Chicago’s Four Star Mushroom’s founder and CEO, Joe Weber.
The unofficial #1 hype man for the wildly successful mushroom brand, Frank introduced The Garlands Chef and members to his grandson’s fungi through tastings, farmers markets, and even a road trip to the company’s state-of-the-art indoor farm in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood.
Now, gourmet mushroom varieties, such as Chestnut, Blue and Black Oyster, and Lions Mane, are a key ingredient on every Garlands menu. They were even the featured ingredient in a four-course, sold-out Garlands Chef’s Table that concluded with a mushroom-infused cake and mushroom-flavored shortbread!
Top Chefs Choose Four-Star Mushroom
Grandpa Rubino isn’t the only Four Star raving fan. Top Chefs throughout Chicago praise the company’s product, and The Garlands Chef Glenn couldn’t agree more. “Four Star’s quality on the plate is unbelievable, and their commitment to sustainable growing practices is quite remarkable as well.”
Now recognized as the premier mushroom farm supplying exotic ‘shroom varieties to restaurants and retailers, Joe and his lifelong friend and business partner, Sean DiGioia, started the company only four years ago with an even loftier goal—saving the planet.
“Four Star Mushrooms’ mission is to create a sustainable food system by leveraging mushroom cultivation to upcycle organic byproducts, grow superfoods, and build soil,” says Joe, a recent integrative biology graduate of the University of Illinois.
Joe’s vision is to cultivate a regenerative future “where food is grown sustainably in and around urban centers, at scale, allowing our native ecosystems to become strongholds of biological diversity, sustainable food production, and carbon sinks.”
And, with a guy like hype man Grandpa Rubino on his side, Joe’s got a leading advantage for making it so for future generations!
