Mushrooms

They can be the size of a cabbage or a child’s pinkie, rich and meaty or subtle and delicate.

Cobras and Matadors: When ordering tapas here, don’t forget the mushrooms--portabellos and oyster mushrooms roasted in a wood oven and tossed with hazelnuts, basil and Sherry vinegar. (Roasting mushrooms, $6.) Cobras and Matadors, 7615 W. Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 932-6178.

Zax: Chef Brooke Williamson serves a marinated flatiron steak on mustard greens, hand-torn croutons and sauteed portabello, oyster and chanterelle mushrooms. On top go cooking juices and roasted garlic. (Flatiron steak with wild mushroom bread salad, $21.) Zax, 11604 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood, (310) 571-3800.

Xiomara: Here churrasco is a grilled skirt steak on mashed potatoes with a sauce of Peruvian beer, garlic, onions--and huitlacoche , a rich Mexican fungus that grows on corn. (Churrasco Nicaraguense, $24.) Xiomara, 69 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, (626) 796-2520.

Ciudad: You get two empanadas in an appetizer order: one filled with Swiss chard, the other with chanterelles, shiitakes and a little cotija cheese. Both come in an annatto-flavored crust accompanied by chipotle crema . (Empanadas, $6.50 apiece, $26 a dozen.) Ciudad, Union Bank Plaza, 445 S. Figueroa St., L.A., (213) 486-5171.

Golden Truffle: Mushroom lover Alan Greeley makes a Thai-style shiitake consomme; a fricassee of wild mushrooms and truffles; rosti potatoes with black chanterelles, creme fraiche and sweet onions; and--last, but not least--creamy scrambled eggs with chanterelles and truffles. (Shiitake consomme, $8; fricassee of wild mushrooms and truffles, $18; rosti potatoes with black chanterelles, $16; scrambled eggs with wild mushrooms and truffles, $22.) Golden Truffle, 1767 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa, (949) 645-9858.

Josie: Josie Lebalch’s customers won’t let her take her mushroom sandwich off the menu. It’s chanterelles, oysters, shiitakes, portabellos and black trumpets simmered in cream and shallots between layers of puff pastry. (Wild mushroom sandwich, $12.) Josie, 2424 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 581-9888.Jessica Strand