Before she was a world-renowned artist, Mirka Mora created the Tolarno restaurant in St Kilda, for which she created a bas-relief and painted murals on the walls. The Tolarno has been closed since 2020, but it will open for one day only to celebrate the life of the treasured Melbourne artist.
Chef Ellie Bouhadana, who made and delivered thousands of three-course homemade pasta meals during lockdown, is on the pans for lunch and dinner. The day is a collaboration with the Jewish Museum of Australia, which is hosting huge Mirka Mora exhibition Mirka.
Bouhadana will be making a French-influenced meal in honour of Mora, who hid from the Nazis in the forests of France. The lunch sitting will be accompanied by a discussion between William Mora and Eleni Papavasileiou, senior curator and collection manager at the Jewish Museum. Local musician Gideon Preiss will be performing French bistro music over dinner.
The menu includes trout en papillot, fennel, browned caper butter served with confit zucchini and mayonnaise (made from Mora's own family recipe); freshly baked bread; and chocolate mousse. Vegetarian, pescatarian and Kosher meals are also available.