身為一個熱愛美食、喜歡在城市裡挖掘驚喜的人，臺中公益路一直是我最常出沒的地方之一。這條路可說是「臺中人的美食戰場」，從精緻西餐到創意火鍋，從日式丼飯到義式早午餐，每走幾步，就會有完全不同的特色料理餐廳。

這次我特別花了一整個月，實際造訪了公益路上十間口碑不錯的餐廳。有的是網友熱推的打卡名店，也有隱藏在巷弄裡的小驚喜。我以環境氛圍、口味表現、價格CP值與再訪意願為基準，整理出這篇實測評比。希望能幫正在猶豫去哪裡吃飯的你，找到那一間「吃完會想再來」的餐廳。

評比標準與整理方向

這次我走訪的10家餐廳橫跨不同料理類型，從高質感牛排館到巷弄系早午餐，每一間都有自己獨特的風格。為了讓整體比較更客觀，我依照以下四大面向進行評比，並搭配實際用餐體驗來打分。

整體而言，我希望這份評比不只是「哪家好吃」，而是幫你在不同情境下（約會、家庭聚餐、朋友小聚、商業午餐）都能快速找到合適的選擇。畢竟，美食不只是味覺的滿足，更是一段段與朋友共享的生活記憶。

10間臺中公益路餐廳評比懶人包

公益路向來是臺中人聚餐的首選地段，從火鍋、燒肉到中式料理與早午餐，每走幾步就有驚喜。以下是我實際造訪過的10間代表性餐廳清單，橫跨平價、創意、高級各路風格。

一頭牛日式燒肉｜炭香濃郁的和牛饗宴，約會聚餐首選

走在公益路上，很難不被 一頭牛日式燒肉 的木質外觀吸引。低調卻不失質感的門面，搭配昏黃燈光與暖色調的內裝，讓人一進門就感受到濃濃的日式職人氛圍。店內空間不大，但桌距規劃得宜，每桌皆設有獨立排煙設備，烤肉時完全不怕滿身油煙味。

餐點特色

一頭牛的靈魂，絕對是他們招牌的「三國和牛拼盤」。
嚴選的和牛部位，共八個部位、十樣餐點，讓人能從牛頭一路品嘗到牛尾。
油花分布均勻、切片厚薄恰好，經過炭火烤炙後香氣四溢，焦香與油脂在口中交融，入口即化的滑順感令人難忘。
值得一提的是，一頭牛的菜單設計十分彈性
想要一次體驗完整套餐也可以，偏好客製口味則能自由單點組合，不受套餐限制，想吃什麼就點什麼。
而且每桌都能選擇「自行燒烤」或「專人代烤」服務，代烤師的火侯掌握與節奏讓整體體驗更輕鬆愉快。
除了主角和牛，旬味野炊飯 與 主廚冰淇淋 也是隱藏版亮點，前者粒粒分明、香氣撲鼻；後者以香草與焙茶為基底，隨季節更換口味，完美收尾。整體服務親切熱情，特別是壽星還能享有 生日畫盤驚喜，讓慶祝時刻更添儀式感。

用餐體驗

整體節奏掌握得非常好。店員會在你剛想烤下一片肉時貼心遞上夾子、幫忙換烤網，讓人完全不用分心。整場用餐過程就像一場表演，從視覺、嗅覺到味覺都被滿足。
如果是第一次約會或慶祝特別節日，這裡的氛圍既不尷尬又不吵鬧，是營造氣氛的理想選擇。

綜合評分

地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段162號

電話：04-23206800

官網：http://www.marihuana.com.tw/yakiniku/index.html

小結語

一頭牛日式燒肉不僅是「吃肉的地方」，更像是一場五感盛宴。從進門那一刻到最後一道甜點，都能感受到他們對細節的用心。
若要在公益路找一間能讓人「邊吃邊微笑」的燒肉店，一頭牛 絕對值得列入你的必訪清單。

TANG Zhan 湯棧｜文青系火鍋代表，麻香湯底與視覺美感並重

在公益路這條美食戰線上，TANG Zhan 湯棧 是讓人一眼就會想走進去的那一種。
黑灰調的現代外觀、搭配微霧玻璃與招牌的「湯棧」燈字，呈現出一種低調的時尚感。
店內設計延續品牌主題，以「湯」為靈魂打造整體體驗，從裝潢到香氣，都有濃厚的溫潤氣息。

餐點特色

湯棧最有名的當然是它的「麻香鍋」。
湯底以雞骨與多種辛香料慢熬，香氣濃郁卻不嗆辣，入口後會在喉間留下柔和的花椒香。
「招牌麻油雞鍋」與「黃金牛奶鍋」也是人氣選項，特別是在冬天，溫潤的湯底配上滑嫩肉片，讓人每一口都覺得暖心。
他們的「滷肉飯」和「香蔥豆腐皮」更是許多老客人必點的靈魂配角，簡單卻有記憶點。

用餐體驗

整體氛圍比一般火鍋店更有質感。
桌距寬敞、燈光柔和，店員動作俐落又親切。即使客滿，也不會感覺吵雜或壓迫。
不論是一個人想靜靜吃鍋、或是朋友聚餐，湯棧都能給你剛剛好的距離與溫度。
值得一提的是，上菜速度快、湯底續湯毫不手軟，細節服務到位。

綜合評分

地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段248號

電話：04-22580617

官網：https://www.facebook.com/TangZhan.tw/

小結語

NINI 尼尼臺中店｜明亮寬敞的義式早午餐天堂

如果說前兩間是肉食愛好者的天堂，那 NINI 尼尼臺中店 絕對是想放鬆、聊聊天的好地方。餐廳外觀以白色系與大片玻璃窗為主，陽光灑進室內，讓人一踏入就有種度假般的輕盈感。假日早午餐時段特別熱鬧，建議提早訂位。

餐點特色

NINI 的菜單融合義式與臺灣人口味，選擇多樣且份量十足。主打的 松露燉飯 濃郁卻不膩口，米芯保留微Q口感；而 香蒜海鮮義大利麵 則以新鮮白蝦、花枝與淡菜搭配微辣蒜香，口感層次豐富。
此外，他們的薄餅披薩相當受歡迎，餅皮薄脆、餡料新鮮，是三五好友共享的好選擇。

用餐體驗

店內氣氛輕鬆不拘謹，無論是一個人帶電腦工作、或朋友聚餐，都能找到舒服角落。餐點上桌速度穩定，服務人員態度親切、補水與收盤都非常主動。整體節奏讓人覺得「時間變慢了」，很適合想遠離忙碌日常的人。

綜合評分

地址：40861臺中市南屯區公益路二段18號

電話：04-23288498

官網：https://nini.com.tw/

小結語

加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物｜平價卻用心的湯頭系火鍋，家庭聚餐好選擇

在公益路這條高質感餐廳林立的戰場上，加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物 走的是截然不同的路線。它沒有浮誇的裝潢、也沒有高價位的套餐，但靠著實在的湯頭與親切的服務，默默吸引許多回頭客。每到用餐時間，總能看到家庭或情侶三兩成群地圍著鍋邊聊天。

餐點特色

主打 北海道浜中昆布湯底，湯頭清澈卻不單薄，越煮越能喝出海藻與柴魚的自然香氣。
我這次點的是「牛奶昆布鍋」，入口時奶香與昆布香完美融合，搭配新鮮的牛五花肉片，滑順又不膩。
菜盤走健康取向，蔬菜比例高，連玉米、南瓜、豆皮都能吃出甜味；附餐的烏龍麵Q彈有嚼勁，吃完十分有飽足感。

用餐體驗

整體氛圍偏家庭取向，桌距寬敞、座位舒適，帶小孩來也不覺擁擠。店員態度親切，補湯、收盤都很勤快，給人一種「被照顧著」的安心感。
最難得的是，即使價位不高，食材新鮮度仍維持得很好，能感受到店家對品質的堅持。

綜合評分

地址：403臺中市西區公益路288號

電話：0910855180

官網：https://giafine100.com/

小結語

加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物是一間「不浮誇、但會讓人想再訪」的火鍋店。它不追求豪華擺盤，而是用最簡單的湯頭與新鮮食材，傳遞出家常卻不平凡的溫度。
如果你想在公益路找一間可以放心帶家人一起吃的鍋物店，這裡絕對會讓人感到「加分」不少。

印月餐廳｜中式料理的藝術演繹，宴客與家庭聚會首選

說到臺中公益路的中式料理代表，印月餐廳 絕對是榜上有名。這間開業多年的餐廳以「中菜西吃」的概念聞名，把傳統中式料理以現代手法重新詮釋。從建築外觀到餐具擺設，每個細節都散發著低調的典雅氣息。
走進印月，挑高的空間、柔和的燈光與木質桌椅構成沉穩的氛圍。
不論是家庭聚餐、商務宴客，還是節日慶祝，都能找到恰到好處的格調。

餐點特色

印月最令人印象深刻的是他們將傳統中菜融入創意手法。
這次我品嚐的「松露雞湯」香氣濃郁、層次分明，一口下去既有中式的溫潤感，又帶出西式松露的奢華香氣。
「蒜香牛肋條」則是另一道招牌菜，外酥內嫩、油香十足，咬下去肉汁在口中散開，搭配特調醬汁非常過癮。
此外，他們的創意港點如「麻辣小籠包」與「金沙流沙包」也深受年輕客群喜愛，既保留經典又玩出新意。

用餐體驗

服務方面完全對得起餐廳的高級定位。從入座、點餐到上菜節奏，都拿捏得恰如其分。每道菜都會有服務人員細心介紹食材與吃法，讓人感受到「被款待」的尊榮感。
雖然價位偏中高，但在這樣的氛圍與品質下，物有所值。

綜合評分

地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段818號

電話：0422511155

官網：https://wein818.com/

小結語

印月餐廳是一間「不只吃飯，更像品味生活」的地方。
它成功地讓中式料理不再只是圓桌菜，而是能展現質感、講究細節的美食體驗。
若你在找一間能同時滿足味蕾與體面的餐廳，印月 絕對是公益路上的不敗經典。

KoDō 和牛燒肉｜極致職人精神，專為儀式感與頂級味覺而生

若要形容 KoDō 和牛燒肉 的用餐體驗，一句話足以總結——「像在欣賞一場關於肉的表演」。
隱身在公益路一隅，KoDō 的外觀低調典雅，店內以深色木質調與間接照明營造出沉穩氛圍。
從踏入店門那一刻開始，服務人員的態度、動線、聲音控制，全都精準到位，讓人彷彿走進日式劇場。

餐點特色

這裡主打 日本A5和牛冷藏肉，以「精切厚燒」的方式呈現。
我點的「壽喜燒風和牛套餐」是本日最驚艷的一道——服務人員現場以鐵鍋輕煎，再淋上特製壽喜燒醬汁，香氣瞬間瀰漫整桌。
肉片油花細緻、入口即化，搭配生蛋液後更添柔滑口感。
另一道「冷藏肋眼心」則保留了和牛的彈性與甜度，每一口都能感受到油脂與炭火交織出的層次。
即使是配角如「季節小菜」與「日式和風飯」也毫不馬虎，整體呈現出高級卻不造作的平衡。

用餐體驗

KoDō 的最大特色是「儀式感」。
每位店員的動作都有節奏，從擺盤、火候、換網到講解，都像排練過無數次的演出。
在這裡用餐，會自然地放慢速度，專注於每一口肉帶來的細膩變化。
特別推薦搭配店內的紅酒或日本威士忌，風味更加圓潤。

綜合評分

地址：403臺中市西區公益路260號

電話：0423220312

官網：https://www.facebook.com/kodo2018/

小結語

KoDō 和牛燒肉不是日常餐廳，而是一場體驗。
從環境、服務到食材，每個細節都讓人感受到對「完美」的執著。
若你想在公益路找一間能讓人留下深刻印象、適合紀念日慶祝的餐廳，KoDō 絕對是值得收藏的一次「味覺儀式」。

永心鳳茶｜在茶香裡用餐的優雅時光，臺味早午餐的新詮釋

走進 永心鳳茶公益店，彷彿進入一間有氣質的茶館。
柔和的燈光灑在復古綠牆上，搭配大理石桌面與金色餐具，整體氛圍既典雅又帶有一絲文青氣息。
這裡不只是喝茶的地方，更像是把「臺灣味」以早午餐的形式重新演繹。

餐點特色

永心鳳茶的餐點結合中式靈魂與西式擺盤，無論是「炸雞腿飯」還是「紅玉紅茶拿鐵」，都能讓人感受到熟悉卻不平凡的味道。
炸雞腿外酥內嫩，搭配自製酸菜與溏心蛋，鹹香中帶著層次感。
「鳳茶甜點拼盤」則以茶為靈魂——伯爵茶蛋糕、烏龍茶奶酪、紅茶雪酥，每一口都有細緻的香氣變化。
最特別的是他們的茶飲，從臺灣高山紅茶到金萱冷泡茶，每一壺都現泡現倒，香氣清雅。
對我而言，這不只是一頓飯，更是一段放鬆的午後儀式。

用餐體驗

店內服務人員態度溫和，對茶品介紹詳盡。上餐節奏剛好，不急不徐。
整體氛圍很「耐坐」，許多客人吃完正餐後仍會續點一壺茶聊天。
音樂輕柔、光線柔和，是那種可以靜靜待上兩小時的地方。

綜合評分

地址：40360臺中市西區公益路68號三樓(勤美誠品)

電話：0423221118

官網：https://linktr.ee/yonshin

小結語

永心鳳茶讓人重新定義「臺味」。
它不走傳統路線，而是把熟悉的元素以更細緻、更現代的方式呈現。
無論是姊妹下午茶、親子餐聚，或是想一個人沉澱片刻，永心鳳茶 都是一處能讓人慢下來、品味生活的好地方。

三希樓｜老饕級江浙功夫菜，穩重又帶人情味的中式饗宴

位於公益路上的 三希樓 是許多臺中老饕的口袋名單。
它沒有浮誇的裝潢，卻有一種低調的自信。從大門進入，就能聞到淡淡的醬香與蒸氣味，那是正宗江浙菜的靈魂。
整體裝潢以深木色為主，搭配圓桌與包廂設計，非常適合家庭聚餐或請客宴會。

餐點特色

三希樓的菜色以 江浙與港式料理 為主，兼顧傳統與現代風味。
我這次點了「東坡肉」與「蝦仁炒飯」，兩道都展現了主廚深厚的火候功力。
東坡肉油亮卻不膩，入口即化、鹹甜交織；蝦仁炒飯粒粒分明、香氣十足，每一口都吃得到鑊氣。
此外，「小籠包」皮薄多汁，是幾乎每桌必點的招牌；港點類如「金牌流沙包」與「干貝燒賣」也都表現穩定。

用餐體驗

三希樓的服務給人一種老派但貼心的感覺。
店員上菜節奏掌握得很好，會主動幫忙分菜、收盤，態度沉穩而不打擾。
最讓我印象深刻的是，這裡的客群非常多元——有帶長輩的家庭、公司聚餐，也有情侶共度節日，卻都能在同一空間裡感到自在。

綜合評分

地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段95號

電話：0423202322

官網：https://www.sanxilou.com.tw/

小結語

三希樓是一間「吃得出功夫」的餐廳。
它不追求創新，而是用穩定的味道與真材實料，抓住每一位饕客的胃。
如果你想在公益路上找一間能兼顧長輩口味、氣氛又不拘謹的中餐廳，三希樓 絕對是最穩妥的選擇。

一笈壽司｜低調奢華的無菜單日料，職人手藝詮釋旬味極致

在熱鬧的公益路上，一笈壽司 低調得幾乎不顯眼。
外觀簡約，沒有華麗招牌，只有小小的木質門面與柔黃燈光。
一推開門，迎面而來的是日式杉木香氣與寧靜的氛圍，吧檯座位整齊排列，主廚站在中間，彷彿舞臺上的演出者。

餐點特色

一笈壽司採 Omakase（無菜單料理） 形式，每一餐都由主廚根據當日食材設計。
我這次選擇中價位套餐（約 $1200），共十多道料理，從前菜、小鉢、刺身、握壽司到甜點一氣呵成。
「比目魚鰭邊握」是整場最驚豔的瞬間——主廚以火槍輕炙，油脂瞬間釋放，入口後化成柔滑香氣。
「甜蝦海膽軍艦」則完美展現鮮度與層次感，海膽甘甜、甜蝦緊實。
搭配主廚親自調配的醬汁，每一口都像在品嚐季節的節奏。

用餐體驗

整場用餐約90分鐘，節奏緩慢但沉穩。
主廚會邊料理邊與客人互動，介紹魚種產地與食材處理方式。
雖然整體空間不大，但氣氛極佳——柔和的音樂、清酒的香氣、刀刃切魚時的聲音，讓人完全沉浸其中。
特別喜歡他們最後的甜點「焙茶奶酪」，收尾清爽優雅，為整場體驗畫下完美句點。

綜合評分

地址：408臺中市南屯區公益路二段25號

電話：0423206368

官網：https://www.facebook.com/YIJI.sushi/

小結語

一笈壽司是一間真正讓人「放慢呼吸」的餐廳。
這裡沒有多餘擺盤，也不靠噱頭，而是以主廚對食材的尊重與技術堆疊出一場味覺饗宴。
若你想在公益路體驗日本料理最純粹的精神，一笈壽司 絕對值得你預約、靜靜期待。

茶六燒肉堂｜人氣爆棚的和牛燒肉聖地，肉香與幸福感同時滿分

若要票選公益路上「最難訂位」的餐廳，茶六燒肉堂 絕對名列前茅。
不管平日或假日，用餐時段幾乎一位難求。外觀以木質格柵搭配大面玻璃設計，呈現出年輕又有質感的風格。店內空間明亮、桌距適中，播放著輕快的音樂，整體氛圍熱鬧中帶點高級感，是許多年輕人聚餐、慶生的首選地。

餐點特色

茶六主打 和牛燒肉套餐，價格約落在 $700–$1000 間，份量與品質兼具。
我這次點的是「厚切牛舌套餐」，肉片厚實彈牙，略帶脆感，搭配鹽蔥提味剛剛好。
另一道「和牛拼盤」也相當受歡迎，油花分布均勻、香氣濃郁，輕烤幾秒即可入口即化。
套餐附餐部分也相當用心：沙拉新鮮、味噌湯濃郁，最後還有一份「茶香冰淇淋」作結尾，香氣清爽，完美收尾。

用餐體驗

茶六的服務效率相當高。店員親切、換網勤快、補水速度快，整場用餐流程流暢無壓力。
雖然客人很多，但環境維持得乾淨整潔，動線規劃良好。
最令人印象深刻的是他們的 整體節奏拿捏得剛剛好 ——餐點上桌快、氣氛熱絡，卻不會讓人覺得匆忙。
不論是朋友聚會、家庭聚餐，甚至是情侶約會，都能找到各自的樂趣。

綜合評分

地址：403臺中市西區公益路268號

電話：0423281167

官網：https://inline.app/booking/-L93VSXuz8o86ahWDRg0:inline-live-karuizawa/-LUYUEIOYwa7GCUpAFWA

小結語

茶六燒肉堂用「穩定品質＋輕奢氛圍」抓住了臺中年輕族群的心。
不論是第一次約會還是老朋友重聚，都能在這裡找到屬於燒肉的快樂節奏。
若你在公益路只想挑一家「保證不踩雷」的燒肉店，茶六燒肉堂 絕對是首選。

吃完10家公益路餐廳後的心得與結語

吃完這十家餐廳後，臺中公益路不只是一條美食街，而是一段生活風景線。

有的餐廳講究細膩與儀式感，像 一頭牛日式燒肉 與 一笈壽司，讓人感受到食材最純粹的美好

有的則以親切與溫度打動人心，像 加分昆布鍋物、永心鳳茶，讓人明白吃飯不只是為了飽足，而是一種被照顧的幸福。

而像茶六燒肉堂、TANG Zhan 湯棧 這類人氣名店，則用穩定的品質與熱絡的氛圍，成為許多臺中人心中「想吃肉就去那裡」的代名詞。

這十家店，構成了公益路最動人的縮影

有華麗的，也有溫柔的；有傳統的，也有創新的。

 每一家都在自己的風格裡發光，讓人吃到的不只是料理，而是一種生活的溫度與節奏。

對我而言，這不僅是一場美食旅程，更是一趟關於「臺中味道」的回憶之旅。

FAQ：關於臺中公益路美食常見問題

Q1：公益路哪一區的餐廳最集中？
 最熱鬧的區段大約在「公益路與黎明路口」一帶，這裡聚集了許多知名餐廳，從高級燒肉到早午餐通通有。
像 一頭牛日式燒肉、TANG Zhan 湯棧、茶六燒肉堂 都在這附近，交通方便、停車也相對容易。

Q2：需要提前訂位嗎？
 公益路的熱門餐廳幾乎都建議 提早3～5天訂位，尤其是假日或節慶期間。
特別是 一頭牛日式燒肉、KoDō 和牛燒肉、一笈壽司 這幾家，若臨時前往幾乎很難有位。

最後的話

若要用一句話形容這趟美食之旅，我會說：
「在公益路，吃飯不是選擇，而是一種享受。」
這條路上的每一次用餐，都像一段城市裡的小旅行。
下次當你不確定想吃什麼時，不妨沿著公益路走一圈，或許下一家，正好就是你新的最愛。

加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物CP 值高嗎？

如果你也和我一樣喜歡用味蕾探索一座城市，那就把這篇公益路美食攻略收藏起來吧。一笈壽司再訪意願高嗎？

無論是約會、慶生、家庭聚餐，或只是想犒賞一下辛苦的自己——這條路上永遠會有一間剛剛好的餐廳在等你。永心鳳茶春酒活動適合在這裡辦嗎？

下一餐，不妨從這10家開始。印月餐廳口味偏臺式還是日式？

打開手機、約上朋友，讓公益路成為你生活裡最容易抵達的小確幸。永心鳳茶清淡口味適合嗎？

如果你有私心愛店，也歡迎留言分享，茶六燒肉堂單點比較好嗎？

你的推薦，可能讓我下一趟美食旅程變得更精彩。加分100%浜中特選昆布鍋物過年期間會開門嗎？

The East Javan food called oncom is made by growing orange Neurospora mold on soy pulp left over from making tofu. In about 36 hours, the soy pulp is turned into a tasty and nutritious food. Credit: Vayu Hill-Maini, UC Berkeley Researcher makes the case for Neurospora-laced oat pulp and cheesy moldy bread. Vayu Hill-Maini explores the culinary potential of Neurospora fungi to turn food waste into flavorful dishes. Working with top chefs and Michelin-starred restaurants, his innovative research could redefine sustainability in the food industry, turning by-products into nutritious and appealing foods. Transforming Food Waste Into Culinary Delights Chef-turned-chemist Vayu Hill-Maini has a passion: to turn food waste into culinary treats using fungi. One of his collaborators is Rasmus Munk, head chef and co-owner of the Michelin two-star restaurant Alchemist in Copenhagen, who serves a dessert — orange-colored Neurospora mold grown on rice — inspired by Hill-Maini. For the past two years, Hill-Maini has worked with a team of chefs at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, a Michelin two-star restaurant in Pocantico Hills, New York, to generate tasty morsels from Neurospora mold grown on grains and pulses, including the pulp left over from making oat milk. At Blue Hill, you may soon be served a patty of grain covered with orange Neurospora with a side of moldy bread — orange Neurospora grown on rice bread that, when fried, smells and tastes like a toasted cheese sandwich. A sauteed patty composed of soy pulp innoculated with Neurospora mold and left to ferment for several days. UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow Vayu Hill-Maini prepared and cooked the patty, plating it with a cashew cream sauce, baked yams and a fresh cherry tomato and cucumber salad. Credit: Vayu Hill-Maini, UC Berkeley A Deep Dive Into Fungal Food Science That’s only the beginning for Hill-Maini, a Miller postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. Working in the lab of Jay Keasling, UC Berkeley professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, he has devoted himself to learning everything there is to know about Neurospora intermedia — a widespread fungus that is traditionally used in Indonesia to make a food called oncom (pronounced ahn’ cham) from soy pulp — so it can be adapted broadly to Western food waste and Western palates. “Our food system is very inefficient. A third or so of all food that’s produced in the U.S. alone is wasted, and it isn’t just eggshells in your trash. It’s on an industrial scale,” said Hill-Maini. “What happens to all the grain that was involved in the brewing process, all the oats that didn’t make it into the oat milk, the soybeans that didn’t make it into the soy milk? It’s thrown out.” When a fellow chef from Indonesia introduced him to fermented oncom, he said it struck him that “this food is a beautiful example of how we can take waste, ferment it and make human food from it. So let’s learn from this example, study this process in detail, and maybe there’s broader lessons we can draw about how to tackle the general challenge of food waste.” Neurospora intermedia, an orange mold, turns day-old bread into a cheesy treat when toasted (left). The mold transforms sugarless rice custard into a sweet dessert served at the Alchemist restaurant in Copenhagen (right). Credit: Blue Hill at Stone Farm and Alchemist Pioneering Fungal Innovations in Gastronomy Hill-Maini’s evangelizing about the benefits of Neurospora inspired Blue Hill to install an incubator and tissue culture hood in its test kitchen this summer, allowing the restaurant to dive more deeply into fungal foods. Before, Luzmore, chef in charge of special projects, FedExed various substrates to Hill-Maini’s lab at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) in Emeryville, California, near UC Berkeley, where Neurospora magically transformed them for study. Luzmore has tasted many Neurospora experiments, though his favorite is made from stale rice bread. “It’s incredibly delicious. It looks and tastes like you grated cheddar onto bread and toasted it,” Luzmore said. “It’s a very clear window into what can be done with this.” While people from many cultures have long eaten foods transformed by fungi — grain turned into alcohol by yeast, milk curds turned into blue cheese by Penicillium mold, soy sauce and miso produced from soybeans by koji mold (Aspergillus oryzae) — oncom is unique in being produced from waste food. Developed by native Javans long ago, it appears to be the only human food fermented solely by Neurospora mold. But not for long. Breakthroughs in Fungal Food Research A paper by Hill-Maini about the genetics of the Neurospora intermedia strains that transform soy milk waste into oncom, and how the fungi chemically alter 30 different kinds of plant waste, will be published online today (August 29) in the journal Nature Microbiology. “In the last few years, I think, fungi and molds have caught the public eye for their health and environmental benefits, but a lot less is known about the molecular processes that these fungi carry out to transform ingredients into food,” he said. “Our discovery, I think, opens our eyes to these possibilities and unlocks further the potential of these fungi for planetary health and planetary sustainability.” In West Java, oncom comes in two varieties: red oncom, which is made by fermenting soy pulp left over from making tofu, and black oncom, which is grown on the leftover pressings from making peanut oil. They’re used similarly — in stir-fries, as fried snacks and with rice as a dumpling filling. Fungal Foods: From Science to Dining Table One of the amazing things about these moldy concoctions, Hill-Maini found, is that the fungi transform indigestible plant material — polysaccharides, including pectin and cellulose, originating from the plant cell wall — into digestible, nutritious and tasty food in about 36 hours. “The fungus readily eats those things and in doing so makes this food and also more of itself, which increases the protein content,” he said. “So you actually have a transformation in the nutritional value. You see a change in the flavor profile. Some of the off-flavors that are associated with soybeans disappear. And finally, some beneficial metabolites are produced in high amounts.” Yeast — a single-celled fungus — is famously transformative, fermenting grain and fruit into alcohol. But the fungus that makes oncom is different: it’s a filamentous fungus, growing and spreading as filaments identical to the mycorrhizae of fungi that live in forest soil and produce mushrooms. The oncom fungus does not produce mushrooms, however; it is like the mold that grows on spoiled food. The Penicillium mold that produces blue cheese and the koji mold that produces soy sauce, miso and sake are examples of filamentous fungi that raise bland food to a whole new level. Oncom, however, is one of the only, if not the only, fungal food grown on food by-products. In the new paper, Hill-Maini demonstrated that N. intermedia can grow on 30 different types of agricultural waste, from sugar cane bagasse and tomato pomace to almond hulls and banana peels, without producing any toxins that can accumulate in some mushrooms and molds. He also analyzed the genetics of the fungi that produce oncom. Surprisingly, he found that the fungus responsible for red oncom is primarily N. intermedia — it was the main fungus in all 10 samples from West Java. “What was very clear is, wow, this fungus is probably dominant and maybe sufficient for making this food possible, growing on the cellulose-rich soy milk waste and making the food in 36 hours,” Hill-Maini said. The fungi in black oncom, however, were dominated by a range of Rhizopus species that depended on where it was made. It also contained many bacteria. Tempeh, another ancient and popular Javanese source of protein, is also produced by Rhizopus mold fermenting fresh soybeans. Delving deeper into the genetics of the Neurospora in red oncom and comparing its genes with the genes of Neurospora intermedia strains not found in red oncom, he discovered that there are essentially two types of the mold: wild strains found worldwide, and strains adapted specifically to agricultural waste produced by humans. “What we think has happened is that there’s been a domestication as humans started generating waste or by-products, and it created a new niche for Neurospora intermedia. And through that, probably the practice of making oncom emerged,” Hill-Maini said. “And we found that those strains are better at degrading cellulose. So it seems to have a unique trajectory on waste, from trash to treasure.” But Is It Tasty? Since the domesticated Neurospora strain degrades the cellulose in soy and peanut waste into a tasty food, Hill-Maini wondered if it could make other waste products edible. “The most important thing, especially for me as a chef, is, ‘Is it tasty?’ Sure, we can grow it on all these different things, but if it doesn’t have sensory appeal, if people don’t perceive it positively outside of a very specific cultural context, then it might be a dead end,” he said. In collaboration with Munk at Alchemist, he presented red oncom to 60 people who had never encountered it before and asked their opinions. “We found that, basically people who never tried this food before assigned it positive attributes — it was more earthy, nutty, mushroomy,” Hill-Maini said. “It consistently rated above six out of nine.” The chefs at Alchemist also grew Neurospora on peanuts, cashews and pine nuts and everyone liked those, too, he said. “Its flavor is not polarizing and intense like blue cheese. It’s a milder, savory kind of umami earthiness,” Hill-Maini said. Different substrates impart their own flavors, however, including fruity notes when grown on rice hulls or apple pomace. This led Munk to add a Neurospora dessert to Alchemist’s menu: a bed of jellied plum wine topped with unsweetened rice custard inoculated with Neurospora, left to ferment for 60 hours and served cold, topped with a drop of lime syrup made from roasted leftover lime peel. “We experienced that the process changed the aromas and flavors in quite a dramatic way — adding sweet, fruity aromas,” Munk said. “I found it mind-blowing to suddenly discover flavors like banana and pickled fruit without adding anything besides the fungi itself. Initially, we were thinking of creating a savory dish, but the results made us decide to instead serve it as a dessert.” This dessert was among other edible Neurospora fermentations discussed in a paper published last December in the International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, in which Hill-Maini, Munk and their colleagues reported on taste tests of oncom and oncom-like foods grown on substrates other than soy. “I think it is amazing that we as a restaurant can contribute something like this to the scientific community,” Munk added. “We have said from the start that Alchemist’s ambition is to change the world through gastronomy, and this project has that kind of potential. I am very excited to see what other culinary applications this research can lead to in the future and using other waste products from the food industry.” Munk recently launched a food innovation center, Spora, initially focused on upcycling side-streams from the food industry and developing delicious and diverse protein sources. A Culinary Upbringing Hill-Maini grew up in a household centered around cooking. His mother, of Indian descent from Kenya, held cooking classes in their apartment in Stockholm, Sweden, in the 1990s, introducing Swedes to the spices and cooking styles of India. His father is of Cuban and Norwegian descent. “Growing up, I got connected to cooking really early on as a way to understand my cultural heritage and where I came from,” he said. After high school, he took his love of cooking to New York City, where he worked low-level food-prep jobs at several restaurants before impressing one employer with the sandwiches he brought for lunch. At the age of 18, he was chosen to redesign the menu of a venerable sandwich shop in Manhattan. One creation was voted among the city’s top veggie sandwiches by the New York Times. He eventually returned to school, supporting himself as a chef for hire, and became interested in the science behind the chemical transformations possible with cooking. After obtaining his bachelor’s degree from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, he was accepted into the graduate program at Harvard University, where he studied biochemistry and did Ph.D. work on the gut microbiome. “Then, you know, I wanted to come back to the kitchen,” he said. “The Miller Fellowship was an opportunity to say, ‘I have training in the culinary world. I have training in biochemistry, microbiology. How do I bring them together, especially looking at the sustainability challenges that we’re facing and how wasteful and devastating our food system is on the planet?’” With fellowship support, he visited restaurants — including Blue Hill, Alchemist and the Basque Culinary Center in Spain — to give workshops on fermentation. “That inspired me to go back to Berkeley and think about my research differently,” Hill-Maini said. A New Era of Culinary Innovation Blue Hill has hosted him five times over the past two years, most recently in late June to help inaugurate the restaurant’s microbiology lab, where Luzmore hopes Hill-Maini and other chef-scientists will visit and experiment. “The reason why we have loved working with Vayu so much is because I think he really embodies a lot of where we are going,” Luzmore said. Now 20 years old, the for-profit Blue Hill restaurant and the nonprofit Stone Hill Farm are transitioning from being a champion of farm-to-table dining to “endeavoring to make research a bigger part of what we do here and not just have it be a farm and a restaurant, but really, hopefully, be a hub of innovation — what I feel to be a sandbox — and to bring people in, like Vayu, to do this research.” In addition to playing in Blue Hill’s sandbox, Hill-Maini will soon have his own: a kitchen-equipped lab at Stanford University, where he has been appointed an assistant professor of bioengineering. Taste Test Sauteing an oat milk waste burger he made in his Berkeley apartment last June, Hill-Maini talked enthusiastically about the opportunities opened up by Neurospora and the debt he owes to the Javanese, who long ago coopted the fungus to make oncom. Neurospora provides another type of fermentation complementary to the widely used koji mold, which in recent years has been adapted by chefs to transform so many foods that it has become tiresome, he said. “This is a new tool in the chef’s toolbox,” he said. Hill-Maini plated the perfectly-seared burger, indistinguishable from a small beef patty, on a bed of cashew-avocado sauce, pairing it with roasted sweet potatoes and a fresh cucumber-cherry tomato salad with herbs and lemon. He cut the burger with a fork, swirled it through the sauce and lifted it to his mouth. “Mmm, look at that — waste to food,” he said. “It has good bite, it’s savory, a note of mushrooms, some fun, fruity aromas.” In future research, he hopes to discover how Neurospora produces these flavors and aromas, but at the same time make a dent in the food waste stream. “The science that I do — it’s a new way of cooking, a new way of looking at food that hopefully makes it into solutions that could be relevant for the world,” he said. Reference: “Neurospora intermedia from a traditional fermented food enables waste-to-food conversion” 29 August 2024, Nature Microbiology. DOI: 10.1038/s41564-024-01799-3 Hill-Maini’s co-authors on the Nature Microbiology paper include Keasling; Munk, Nabila Rodriguez-Valeron, Mikel Olaizola Garcia and Diego Prado Vásquez of Alchemist; José Manuel Villalobos-Escobedo of UC Berkeley; Alexander Rosales and Edward Baidoo of JBEI, part of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Christofora Hanny Wijaya, Lilis Nuraida and Isty Damayanti of Bogor Agricultural University in Dramaga, Indonesia; and Ana Calheiros de Carvalho and Pablo-Cruz Morales of the Technical University of Denmark in Lyngby. The genome sequencing was performed at Berkeley Lab’s Joint Genome Institute by Robert Riley, Anna Lipzen, Guifen He, Mi Yan, Sajeet Haridas, Christopher Daum, Yuko Yoshinaga, Vivian Ng and Igor V. Grigoriev.

“Mitochondria are the center of universe to me,” said UVA researcher Zhen Yan. Credit: National Institutes of Health A top exercise researcher at the University of Virginia School of Medicine has revealed how our bodies ensure the proper functioning of the powerhouses of our cells. The findings could open the door to better treatments for many common diseases, including Alzheimer’s and diabetes. The new research from UVA’s Zhen Yan and colleagues reveals how our cells sense problems and perform quality control on cellular “batteries” known as mitochondria. Yan has spent many years seeking to better understand the workings of mitochondria, and he calls the new discovery the most exciting of his career. “Mitochondria are the center of universe to me, since literally all cells in our body rely on mitochondria for energy production and must have a bulletproof system to ensure the powerhouses are functioning properly,” said Yan, the director of the Center for Skeletal Muscle Research at UVA’s Robert M. Berne Cardiovascular Research Center. “Chronic diseases – also known as non-communicable diseases – such as diabetes, heart failure, and Alzheimer’s disease that catastrophically impact so many individuals, families, and the whole society are caused by problems of the mitochondria in the cells.” Stress Detectors Yan and his team discovered special sensors on the outer membrane surrounding the mitochondria in various tissues in both mice and humans. These sensors detect “energetic stress,” such as that caused by exercise or fasting, and signal for damaged mitochondria to be degraded and removed. This essential cleanup process is known as “mitophagy,” and its existence was first suggested more than 100 years ago. But how it works has never been fully understood. Yan’s new research offers long-sought answers. Yan and his colleagues found that the mitochondrial sensors, known as “mitoAMPK,” exist in slightly different forms in different tissues. For example, one type seemed particularly active in skeletal muscle. In a new scientific paper outlining their findings, the researchers describe the variety of sensors as “unexpectedly complex.” They go on to outline how these sensors provide a vital damage-control system that safeguards our cellular energy supply. One finding of the study that Yan finds extremely exciting: Treating mice with metformin, the most effective, first-line anti-diabetes drug, activates mitoAMPK in skeletal muscles without activating AMPK in the other parts of the cells. The finding is the best illustration of the importance of activating mitoAMPK and mitochondrial quality control in the treatment of a common chronic disease that is known to be caused by an accumulation of dysfunctional mitochondria in our body. It also explains why regular exercise is so powerful in preventing and treating such diseases. The new insights gained into mitochondrial quality control will boost efforts to develop new treatments for non-communicable diseases that have reached pandemic proportions and are estimated to cause 71% of all deaths. Yan, who is part of UVA’s Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, says it will be important for doctors to better understand how specific diseases interfere with mitochondrial function. And his new findings set the stage for that. “We have developed genetic models for pinpointing the key steps of mitoAMPK activation and are on our way to discover the magic molecules that are controlled by mitoAMPK,” Yan said. “The findings taught us a lot about the beauty of the sensor system in our body. Society should definitely take advantage of these findings to promote regular exercise for health and disease prevention and develop effective exercise-mimetic drugs.”  Findings Published The researchers have published their findings in the scientific journal PNAS. The research team comprised Joshua C. Drake, Rebecca J. Wilson, Rhianna C. Laker, Yuntian Guan, Hannah R. Spaulding, Anna S. Nichenko, Wenqing Shen, Huayu Shang, Maya V. Dorn, Kian Huang, Mei Zhang, Aloka B. Bandara, Matthew H. Brisendine, Jennifer A. Kashatus, Poonam R. Sharma, Alexander Young, Jitendra Gautam, Ruofan Cao, Horst Wallrabe, Paul A. Chang, Michael Wong, Eric M. Desjardins, Simon A. Hawley, George J. Christ, David F. Kashatus, Clint L. Miller, Matthew J. Wolf, Ammasi Periasamy, Gregory R. Steinber, D. Grahame Hardie and Yan. Reference: “Mitochondria-localized AMPK responds to local energetics and contributes to exercise and energetic stress-induced mitophagy” by Joshua C. Drake, Rebecca J. Wilson, Rhianna C. Laker, Yuntian Guan, Hannah R. Spaulding, Anna S. Nichenko, Wenqing Shen, Huayu Shang, Maya V. Dorn, Kian Huang, Mei Zhang, Aloka B. Bandara, Matthew H. Brisendine, Jennifer A. Kashatus, Poonam R. Sharma, Alexander Young, Jitendra Gautam, Ruofan Cao, Horst Wallrabe, Paul A. Chang, Michael Wong, Eric M. Desjardins, Simon A. Hawley, George J. Christ, David F. Kashatus, Clint L. Miller, Matthew J. Wolf, Ammasi Periasamy, Gregory R. Steinberg, D. Grahame Hardie and Zhen Yan, 8 September 2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2025932118 The research was supported by National Institutes of Health grants R01-AR050429, R00-AG057825, R01-AG067048 and T32 HL007284-37; American Heart Association post-doctoral fellowship 14POST20450061 and grant 114PRE20380254; Canadian Institutes of Health Research Foundation Grant 201709FDN-CEBA-116200; Diabetes Canada Investigator Award DI-5-17-5302-GS; and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair and the J. Bruce Duncan Endowed Chair in Metabolic Diseases. As part of their work, the researchers used a UVA Keck Center Zeiss 780 multiphoton FLIM-FRET microscope and Leica SP5X confocal supported by the NIH.

Cinnabar larvae feeding on ragwort. Credit: Callum McLellan Young birds that eat insects with conspicuous warning coloration to advertise their toxicity to would-be predators quickly learn to avoid other prey that carry the same markings. Developing on this understanding, a University of Bristol team has shown for the very first time that birds don’t just learn the colors of dangerous prey, they can also learn the appearance of the plants such insects live on. To do this, the scientists exposed artificial cinnabar caterpillars, characterized by bright yellow and black stripes, and non-signaling fake caterpillar targets to wild avian predation by presenting them on ragwort and a non-toxic plant — bramble, which is not a natural host of the cinnabar. Both target types survived better on ragwort compared to bramble when experienced predators were abundant in the population. An adult cinnabar moth on a ragwort stem. Credit: Callum McLellan They were also interested in whether birds use the bright yellow flowers of ragwort as a cue for avoidance. They tested this by removing spikes of flowers from the ragwort and pinning them onto bramble, then recording target survival on either plant. In this second experiment, only the non-signaling targets survived better on plants with ragwort flowers, compared to the same plant type without the flowers. The survival of the cinnabar-like target was equal across all plant treatments Lead author Callum McLellan, a graduate student at the School of Biological Sciences, said “Cinnabar caterpillars have this really recognizable, stripey yellow and black appearance. They also only live and feed on ragwort, which itself has distinctive yellow flowers. We have shown that birds learn that the ragwort flowers are a cue for danger, so can avoid going anywhere near toxic prey. It’s more efficient to avoid the whole plant than make decisions about individual caterpillars.” Ragwort. Credit: Callum McLellan Co-author Prof Nick Scott-Samuel of the School of Psychological Science, said: “Our findings suggest that insect herbivores that specialize on easily recognizable host plants gain enhanced protection from predation, independent of their warning signal alone.” Prof Innes Cuthill, who conceived the study, added “Interestingly, any camouflaged caterpillars living on the same plant also benefit from birds’ learned wariness of ragwort, despite being perfectly good to eat. “Our results provide the opening to a brand-new discussion on how toxicity initially evolved in insect prey, and the conditions under which warning coloration is, or is not, favored.” Reference: “Birds learn to avoid aposematic prey by using the appearance of host plants” by Callum F. McLellan, Nicholas E. Scott-Samuel and Innes C. Cuthill, 7 October 2021, Current Biology. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.09.048

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