Photos by Patrick Shea Danielle and Tylor Berreth watch their son Bo open an early first birthday gift before the official celebration on March 9 when Breads and Botanicals visitors can enjoy a complimentary slice of cake. Breads and Botanicals offers seating for dining and a couch for relaxing. Skate videos roll in the background. Indian prayer flags dangle above the cash register. Art adorns the walls, and they sell a variety of products. Tylor Berreth flashes fresh Lion’s Mane mushrooms at Breads and Botanicals, a short walk from the Alpine Valley Mushrooms cultivation room behind him.

SAGUACHE — If you want to eat locally grown food at a restaurant, you cannot get any more local than Breads and Botanicals in Saguache. Taking the “farm-to-table” concept one step closer to home, co-owner Tylor Berreth cultivates Lion’s Mane mushrooms on-site — “tent-to-table.”

Danielle and Tylor Berreth opened Breads and Botanicals in the summer of 2021. Almost two years later, the couple echoed the message from the opening post on their Facebook page. “We believe food is our medicine. We also believe in supporting community-based agriculture.”

The Breads and Botanicals menu includes plant-based, vegan options that feature local ingredients. Their offerings have evolved and expanded while keeping sources local. Before opening, the couple had experience working in the food industry (Tylor for Whole Foods and Danielle with Natural Grocers). But growing, cooking, and sharing food is next-level performance in the industry.

“Danielle has a baking background,” Tylor explained. “She’s definitely a natural baker. They have generations of bakers in her family.”

Cookies, cinnamon rolls, and biscuits are a few of Danielle’s featured items at Breads and Botanicals.

“And I enjoy cooking,” Tylor elaborated. “We kind of fell into this spot. We didn’t really plan for this to happen. It was just a bunch of synchronicities that allowed us to be here, and we’ve expanded on those synchronicities.”

Although Breads and Botanicals does not fill a huge space, it offers seating for dining and a couch for relaxing. Skate videos roll in the background. Indian prayer flags dangle above the cash register. Art adorns the walls, and they sell a variety of products. Tumbleweed Bread in Monte Vista attracts regular customers who clear the shelves.

The Berreths source as many local products as possible. For mushroom cultivation, Tylor said, “The only thing that's not local is the oak. But the oysters [oyster mushrooms] I can grow on a totally local substrate.”

Tylor shared his dream of cultivating wild species. “I have a wild clone from my hometown in Colorado [Hudson, northeast of Denver],” Tylor said. “That's really where my passion is, finding local species and cultivating them on local substrate.”

With their 1-year-old son Bo and an increase in customer traffic, the Berreths sought help recently. Joey Yonkoff from Del Norte comes in on Sundays to cook. He also coaches track in Alamosa and runs his own “pop-up restaurant.”

Like many downtown Saguache establishments, Breads and Botanicals is open Thursday through Sunday. “All the businesses are kind of synched up,” Tylor explained. Hours are 10 to 2, but Tylor added, “With Joey along with us, we hope to expand into dinners and bigger things like community dinners.”

Bo turns one on March 9. Everyone who visits can receive a free slice of birthday cake. The menu of the day will feature a variety of dishes with Porcini mushrooms. In a nod to a local species — Boletus rubriceps — Bo’s parents named him Boletus.