About Simbiosis
Simbiosis · San Miguel de Allende · Since 2014
A community devoted to fungi culture
Mushrooms never grow alone. Beneath every forest lies a mycelium: an invisible network that connects trees, nutrients and memory. Simbiosis is exactly that, but among people — scientists, artists, nanacateras, chefs, growers and the curious, united by their fascination with the fungi kingdom.
We don't sell mushrooms: we spread an entire kingdom
In the heart of San Miguel de Allende, Simbiosis | The Mushroom Boutique is a community and platform that celebrates the fungi kingdom in every dimension: gastronomy, science, art, design, natural medicine, education and sustainability.
Since its founding in 2014 by expert Arif Towns Alonso, Simbiosis has become a leading space for the education and exploration of the fungal world, connecting chefs, artists, scientists, Indigenous communities and nature lovers with the transformative potential of mushrooms.
★★★★★ 5.0 on Google · 44 reviews from those who've already visited us →
01The story behind Simbiosis
Every network has a point where the first hypha germinated. Ours began in the forest, walking alongside those who truly know it.
I grew up among Otomí communities who knew every mushroom in the forest by its name, its season and its use. That changed the way I see the world, and it is the reason Simbiosis exists.
Simbiosis The Mushroom Boutique was born in 2014 in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, out of that fascination. We didn't start from a business plan: we started from the forest, from walking it with those who truly know it.
The knowledge of the forest comes from them, not from us. Our relationship is one of debt, respect and reciprocity.
Today we work with Indigenous communities across six states whose mycological knowledge science is only beginning to document. From there we built a business with two roots that never let go of each other: functional mushroom supplements — dual-extraction capsules, powders and tinctures, made with ultrasonic extraction to preserve the mushroom's potency — and a cultural layer no other place brings together quite like this: fungi art, community craftwork, foraging tours and deep education about the fungi kingdom.
Simbiosis is a meeting point between the forest, science, art and people.
Six states, five peoples, one shared knowledge
We work hand in hand with Indigenous communities in Guanajuato, Michoacán, the State of Mexico, Puebla, Hidalgo and Oaxaca. Each one holds a living ethnomycological knowledge, passed down from generation to generation long before mycology existed as a science.
02The mycelium's path
From two hundred bags of mushrooms sold by hand to a full cultural platform. That's how the network grew.
2014
The first hypha
Simbiosis is born in San Miguel de Allende. The first mushrooms are sold by hand, one by one, sustained by fascination more than by any plan.
2014–2020
Roots in the forest
The relationship with Indigenous communities across six states is woven. Ethnomycological knowledge becomes the heart of the project, not an ornament.
2020–2024
Science and product
Dual-extraction functional supplements with ultrasonic technology arrive, along with collaborators' fungi art and the network of scientists and artists.
Today
The Shrooms Bar & Deli and the platform
The physical node in Mercado Sano, the online store, the tours, the El Micelio blog and a nationwide community of fungívoros. The mycelium keeps spreading.
03The lexicon of our own
Every community invents its own words. These two were born at Simbiosis to name something that had no name before.
Noun · Simbiosis neologism
Fungívoro
fun·gí·vo·ro
One who feeds on mushrooms — but also on their knowledge, their culture and their experiences. The fungívoro doesn't just eat mushrooms: they devour history, science, art and fungal territory. A mycophile at heart and a lifelong apprentice. If you've made it this far, you probably already are one.
Noun · Simbiosis neologism
Fungidencias
fun·gi·den·cias
The trends, innovations and cultural expressions blossoming around the fungi kingdom: mycomaterials, signature gastronomy, mycoremediation, art, biotechnology, fermentation. Fungidencias are the currents reshaping the world from the mycelium outward — and Simbiosis exists to document them, drive them and share them.
How fungívoro are you? Discover the levels, the map and the readings →
04The mycelium map
The Simbiosis community is already alive across different territories and disciplines. These are its nodes — each with its own story, territory and language.
Science and mycology
Researchers and mycologists
Alonso Cortés-Pérez, a specialist in bioluminescent Mycena — 11 of the 16 species described for Mexico. Robert Kelly, a Cordyceps naturalist in Morelos — 18 species documented. And the living memory of Maestra Horalia Díaz Barriga, mentor of the project.
11 Mycena species described · 18 Cordyceps recorded
Meet the scientistsCommunity knowledge
Nanacateras
The guardians of Mexico's fungal forest. Francisca Quiroz Olvera and the communities across six states who have inhabited and read the forest for centuries — a knowledge no laboratory can fully reproduce.
6 states · 5 native peoples · situated knowledge
Meet the nanacaterasFungi art
César Kevin Pérez Pacheco
Designer, artist, biologist and mycologist from Oaxaca. Limited-edition screen prints celebrating the fungi kingdom and the worldview of Oaxaca.
29 screen prints in store
See the fungi art →Signature cuisine
Collaborating chefs
Cooks who have taken Simbiosis mushrooms from foraging to plate, in restaurants and events over more than a decade.
See chefs →Outreach
El Micelio — blog
Science, history, art and fungal culture with verifiable backing. Nourishment for the fungívoro within you.
Read El Micelio →Citizen science
Mexico: Fungi Kingdom
Add your wild-mushroom observations to the national database via iNaturalist. The second most biodiverse country for mushrooms in the world.
Take part →05Live the community
The mycelium isn't observed from the outside: it's walked, tasted, celebrated. Two ways to put your body into the network.
Experiences in the forest
Foraging and cooking tours
Join us in season to forage, guided by nanacateras and mycologists. Learn to identify, harvest responsibly and cook what the forest offers, at its exact moment. Living ethnomycology, not postcard tourism.
See experiencesNational fungi gathering
Mexican Mushroom Fair
Mexico is the second most biodiverse country for edible mushrooms in the world, and its mycological culture deserves a celebration. We're weaving the network for a gathering that brings together nanacateras, scientists, cooks, artists and fungívoros from across the country. Add your voice.
I want to take partLetter from the mycelium
Get the fungidencias in your inbox
Science, recipes, seasonal species, foraging dates and community news. No noise — just what a fungívoro wants to read.
You're subscribing to the Simbiosis list. You can leave whenever you like.
The mycelium grows when you feed it
There is no community without conversation. Write to us, ask us, propose, contribute. Every message is a new hypha that extends the network a little further.
WhatsApp simbiosissanmiguel@gmail.com