Valencia’s RiFF restaurant is closed during an investigation into the death of a woman who ate a dish of mushrooms that are fatal if prepared incorrectly. Maria Jesus Fernandez Calvo, aged 46, was dining at RiFF on Saturday night, and died on Sunday, after spells of vomiting and diarrhoea. There were reports of other customers experiencing similar symptoms after eating at RiFF the same night.
Only the post-mortem will reveal whether the mushrooms directly caused the fatality, or whether it caused the symptoms that lead to death.
Health inspectors are investigating whether the mushrooms served were the correct mushrooms—mochella fungi or ‘true morels’—or if the mushrooms served were the wrong, inedible, and more poisonous ones instead.
RiFF’s Chef, Bernd Knoller has expressed his deep sorrow over the death and has offered his complete cooperation with the Valencian health authority. The restaurant received its Michelin star in 2009.
