Just a few steps away from the crowded Royal Mile in Edinburgh, there is a restaurant which houses an underground lair, where experiments are carried out in tall plastic tubes under the glow of UV lights.
I'm relieved to tell you that this is not the introduction to an unsettling horror story, but instead the tale of Mushroom Emporium at Makars Gourmet Mash Bar, which is pioneering sustainable growing techniques and serving a menu of plant-based alternatives unlike any other.
Last month, just as the beginnings of Fringe Festival fever had taken hold of the city centre, I was met at Makars by ‘fun guy’ and mushroom expert Chris Allan, who has played an instrumental role in transforming the restaurant’s basement space.
Joining us soon after was head makar John Stamp, brimming with all the frenetic energy you’d expect from a man whose two North Bank Street locations are queued out the door from open until close.
“We bought this second property just before lockdown,’ he explained while leading us downwards towards a cave-like room, where planters filled with sprouting spores lined the walls.
“At the time this space was being used as storage for junk from the restaurant.
“Then one day I met Chris while I was out skating with my daughter, and we got to chatting about the fact that he grows mushrooms.
“He’s an absolute wizard with it and I learned so much even from that one conversation.”
And so, quite by chance, a partnership was born.
The lower level of Makars restaurant now serves as a multi-purpose space, half production hub-half visual exhibition, which diners are invited to ‘enter at their own risk’ before or after their meal.
It really is every bit as surreal as it sounds, with John and Chris happy to play up to the bizarre setting using a soft soundtrack of eerie music and psychedelic jellyfish artwork hand painted by a team member.
As talk returned to the functional use of the emporium, however, there was no hiding a clear vision behind the theatrics.
John said: “I’ve always been really interested in plant-based cooking and growing our own produce for the restaurant.
“Not Frankenstein food, but proper meat alternatives like lentils or mushrooms.
“There will always be meat on our menu but it’s about putting less demand on the production levels where possible.
“We serve around 300 lamb shanks day at the restaurant, so if we could sell even twenty portions of mushroom instead that would be a lot of animals saved.
“The way things are going; I estimate that in ten years’ time around 30-40% of our customers will be vegan and it’s important for us to keep levelling up our plant-based options.”
Later, as we returned to street level, I was given the chance to put this signature Lion's Mane dish to the test.
Despite a preamble from John and Chris, who had spoken enthusiastically about the varying textures that can be achieved using different sections of the bulbous mushrooms, I still found myself caught off guard by just how meat-like this firm chunk of funghi was.
Without relying on ultra-processed soy or seitan, the kitchen has cleverly mastered a cooking process which delivers real bite, made all the more satisfying with an obligatory serving of buttery mashed potato. 
They're certainly on to a winner, and with plans to expand into a new emporium at the Summerhall arts complex and events venue next month, there will soon be plenty more to go around.
Chris said: “Right now the biggest problem we have is keeping up with demand for our Lion's Mane so we're looking forward to having the room to scale up what we’re doing.
“When we were first being shown some spaces at Summerhall none of them seemed right.
“A maintenance guy suggested that we check out the machine workshop but warned us that it might be too warm and damp.
“As soon as we walked in, we knew it would be perfect.
“It was another disused space that could so easily be turned into a growing hub, especially if we can incorporate waste from the venue.”
The real beauty of the sustainable operation which is to be replicated at Summerhall lies in its simplicity.
Next to no extra electricity is needed to create an ambient temperature for mushroom growth at Makars thanks to a system which pumps hot air from the restaurant above downstairs during summer and upstairs in the colder months.
Better yet, the team are able to utilise the peel from the hundreds of potatoes mashed each day in the kitchen for composting to further minimise waste levels.
Having learned all this and more in the space of just a few hours, a fleeting visit to the emporium feels like witnessing the start of something big, with a sense that John and Chris have developed a blueprint that could well go on revolutionise the world of urban food production.
“I’m super passionate about everything that we’re doing down here,” John told me earnestly while pulling open a tent to check on their latest batch of Lion’s Mane.
“It feels like the right way forward to be growing our own stuff and lowering food miles.
“We do still have a challenge to face in converting the people who will come in and say ‘Oh, I hate mushrooms and always pick them off my pizza’.
“But, sometimes I’ll come down here and find a group of people who are visibly fascinated by the whole thing.
"It makes me happy that we’re creating something that’s different to any other restaurant.
“It’s really, really cool food.”
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