CITRUS WEEK AT TOKLAS

Toklas restaurant, bar and bakery is delighted to introduce a curated programme of events from 20th to 24th February to celebrate the restaurant’s links with the Todolí Citrus Fundacio. Playing host to founder Vicente Todolí who cultivates over 400 varieties, the events will be a chance for diners and friends of Toklas alike to learn more about lesser known varieties of the fruit, which were first imported by Toklas in 2021.

On Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st February, the Restaurant will close for two consecutive ticketed dinners in collaboration with pioneering Mexican chef Eleyna Reygadas and Todolí’s founder Vicente Todolí. Reygadas, voted the World’s Best Female Chef in 2023 by World’s 50 Best, is the Chef Owner of Mexico City’s much-loved Rosetta, alongside other projects Lardo, Café Nin and Aurora. Throughout her menu, Reygadas will spotlight fruits both familiar and rare in a menu that blends Toklas’ Mediterranean cooking with the diverse flavours of Reygadas’ Mexican culture, in dishes that will include Aguachile, Tamales and Moles, using the best British seafood alongside the Todolí citrus.

Throughout each sitting, Todolí will conduct tastings of notable varieties grown on his foundation, highlighting the raw flavour profiles of fruits such as tangelos, pomelos and rangpurs. Tickets for dinner on 20th and 21st are now sold out, with a waiting list available via the Toklas website. The dinner is priced at £125.

In a first for the Toklas Bar, Friday 23rd February will see a collaboration with World's 50 Best bartending legends Candelaria, Paris. Utilising a selection of different citrus varieties from Todolí within a brand new bar menu, Toklas’s Head of Beverage Agustina Basilico Miara will join forces with Candelaria’s bar Director, Chris Mcnulty on never-before-seen drinks. From early evening until late, friend of Toklas, Daniel Willis (co-founder of the Clove Club, Luca & Outcrop Social) will be DJing for the night, setting the scene with a curated mix of music. With the citrus cocktail menu served alongside Toklas’ usual mix of west European natural wines and Mediterranean classic cocktails, tickets are available via the restaurant’s website, and includes access to the takeover, plus a welcome drink (£15).

Finishing Citrus Week on a high, Saturday 24th February will see a market pop-up from the team at the ever-popular Toklas Bakery. Open from 10am, the pop-up will be a chance to try limited-edition bakes from Head Baker Janine Edwards and team, all of which feature Todolí fruits across a range of sweet and savoury buns, pastries, bread and preserves. Delights such as Pursha lime pie and Toklas’ Soda bread with honeyed citron will be available to buy, each bake crafted to showcase the finest fruits of this year’s Todolí harvest. Joining Toklas Bakery will be a selection of guest traders; BRAT, La Grotta Ices and Rita’s Dining all showcasing their own uses of the citrus on the day, with the bakery setting up with a tasting table for the public to trial raw forms of the rare fruits alongside preserves.

Founders of Toklas Matthew Slotover and Amanda Sharp and bar have enjoyed a longstanding friendship with the Todolí Citrus Fundacio for many years. The Fundacio, which cultivates over 400 varieties of citrus in the Spanish region of Bartolï, has been in founder Vicente Todolí’s family for six generations. Previously Head Curator at the Tate, Todolí is often preoccupied with the ways in which art and citrus intersect, citing the Medici family as the world’s first citrus collectors during the Renaissance period. It seems natural, therefore, that Toklas has acted as the first and only importer of Todolí citrus to the UK since 2021, recently passing the baton to Shrub Provisions thanks to overwhelming demand.

Citrus Week at Toklas will run from Tuesday 20th to Saturday 24th February. Tickets for the collaboration dinners and lunch with Elena Reygadas, and Bar Takeover with Candelaria are available via the Toklas website.

For more information please contact jess@gemmabellandcompany.com