This September, TOZI Restaurant & Bar in Victoria will honour the late Antonio Carluccio with a special four-course menu inspired by his lifelong love of funghi. Running from 23 to 27 September and priced at £60 per person, the menu marks the reissue of A Passion for Mushrooms, Carluccio’s classic book, and will raise funds for the Antonio Carluccio Foundation, which supports disadvantaged young chefs and global hunger initiatives. A quarter of menu sales will be donated directly to the foundation.
Head chef Maurilio Molteni, who has led TOZI for almost 13 years, worked alongside Carluccio at the legendary Neal Street Restaurant and describes the menu as a tribute to both their friendship and a shared devotion to authentic Italian cooking and seasonal produce.
The feast opens with wild mushroom crostini, one of Carluccio’s beloved antipasti, before moving to TOZI’s signature buffalo ricotta ravioli with winter black truffle. The centrepiece is pheasant breast with cauliflower mushroom and jus, a dish first created for King Charles (then Prince of Wales) after his own foraging finds in Balmoral Woods. To finish, diners can expect TOZI’s celebrated pistachio tiramisu, a Sicilian twist on the classic.
First published in 1989, A Passion for Mushrooms introduced countless home cooks to the joys of foraging and cooking wild funghi, blending over 100 recipes with Carluccio’s trademark warmth and wit. The new edition retains his original text but comes in a refreshed format with new illustrations and a foreword by Giorgio Locatelli.
The Passion for Mushrooms Menu will run from 23–27 September at TOZI Victoria, £60pp for four courses. Bookings can be made at tozirestaurant.co.uk.
A Passion for Mushrooms is reissued by Pavilion, HarperCollins on 28 August, available online at carluccios.com (with free delivery) and at good bookshops.