Last summer, the Iván Cerdeño restaurant was placed for the first time among the hundred best in Europe according to the list prepared each season by the international platform Opinionated About Dining (OAD). For the chef from Toledo, occupying the 62nd position in this continental top, which also includes indisputable figures from our cuisine such as Etxebarri (number 3), Quique Dacosta (7), Diverxo (12) or El Celler de Can Roca (26). , is a new recognition to add to his recent achievements: two Michelin stars and 3 Repsol suns. No one in Castilla-La Mancha had reached so high in the scores of the gastronomic guides!
Iván Cerdeño (1979), who discovered his vocation for cooking in his parents' restaurant (Tic-Tac, in Mocetón) and later became a disciple of Pepe Rodríguez Rey (El Bohío), Koldo Rodero and the Roca brothers, has not stopped progressing since he received the first rosette of the red bible in 1993, when he officiated at La Casa del Carmen (Olías del Rey). Then came his move in 1994 to Carmen de Montesión, already in the imperial city, obtaining a new macarón. And, since 2019, he has been hosting El Cigarral del Ángel Custodio, an old stately recreational estate with impressive views of Toledo, built in the 11th century to be the summer palace of Governor Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Aziz.
Always accompanied on this journey by his wife and partner, Annika García-Escudero, who runs the room and is also in charge of the impressive wine selection, our protagonist has not stopped growing as a chef over the years, taking his gastronomic proposal attached to the territory towards a higher level where the technique is put at the service of the local product to explore the roots of the Toledo recipe book and the landscape of the Tagus River.
For some time we had pending a visit to the oldest of the existing Toledo cigars. A place full of history, which belonged to the Marqués de Villena until the 16th century, then to Cardinal Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, then to the order of the Capuchins of San Francisco and which, in the last two centuries, functioned as a private residence, being one of its last owners the writer and composer Fina de Calderón, who turned it into a center of cultural activities and poetic gatherings.
Today this formidable estate, full of mulberry trees and rose bushes, with its perfectly restored hermitage and convent, offers for the celebration of weddings and events the Cloister of the Hermitage, the Patio de los Poetas, the Palacete, the Terraza del Río or the Jardín de Agalen. And it also houses, in the main building, a gastronomic restaurant that fully justifies the trip to the mountain range that surrounds the city of Toledo to the southwest.
“We cook orchards and riverbanks observing the sea from afar, from the praise of our nearby mountains. The gastronomic imprint left by the different cultures that have passed through the city, on which we have been working for a long time, is the axis around which our cuisine is articulated ”, explains Iván on his website.
Sitting at the table, enjoying privileged views of the Toledo skyline, the menu offers three tasting menus: Monte y ribera (€120), Olvidado Toledo (€140) and Memories of a cigarral (€170), as well as a very advantageous lunch formula –available Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at noon (except holidays)–, with appetizers and three courses for €85. Since we have never lacked an appetite –and even more so after the short train ride from Madrid–, we opted for the longest and we put ourselves in the hands of the sommelier Miguel Rodríguez for the liquid accompaniment.
Tables well separated, crockery, glassware and cutlery of exquisite taste. Although Iván's recipes vindicate the popular flavors of the mountains and orchards of La Mancha, his staging is of a refinement worthy of the great European houses. As for our menu, Memories of a Cigarral, it is a perfectly designed parade of flavors, in which there is no shortage of references to the recipes of bygone masters such as Ruperto de Nola or Ángel Muro, without anything seeming fake. On the contrary, everything is natural, denotes sensitivity and transmits happiness.
We start by putting ourselves in a situation with a seasoned bean tatin and some commended chickpeas with clear flavors and a lot of attachment to the territory. We continue with four bites that respond to the statement of Orchard and riverside environment: a cucumber foam with herring; a crispy mushroom and vinaigrillo; a pâté of green peppers with salted meats and a bun made of fresh sprouts.
The next chapter, entitled Adobos y marinados, begins with corn from the shore and trout in adobo and continues with a contemporary version of a Manchego barbecue, that is, turned into a crispy fritter stuffed with peppers. The free-range chicken millefeuille that comes after reveals a fine job with the crispiness of the bird's skin. While the partridge pie that closes this part recalls the great tradition of terrines made by the most illustrious maisons of Lyon.
Under the heading of Mountain and sea cuisine comes first a sea urchin with almortas cream that delicately plays the trick of the sea and mountains. It is followed by roasted tomatoes with almonds and herb soup that seems like a hymn to the surrounding orchard. The crayfish and caviar curd, with its addictive texture, evokes those Japanese chawanmusi that have become so fashionable, finely combining humble and luxurious ingredients.
The piñonada deserves a full stop, as it is one of the iconic dishes of this house: a tribute to the city of the three cultures, created a couple of years ago influencing the memory of what Toledo was and is. A hydrated pine nut risotto in a La Sagra beer reduction, with partridge egg yolk, herb veil, fried chives and wild mushrooms, which arrives presented in a traditional Talavera ceramic piece. A marvel.
We have already fully entered retrospective vision and the sardine with red partridge reinvents in reverse an 18th century recipe recorded in El Practicón (1894) by Ángel Muro; only that in said manual it was indicated how to prepare a partridge stuffed with sardines and here it is the opposite. Another fantastic find.
This is followed by an eel in white sauce accompanied by a casserole of exquisitely cooked eels à la meunière, to honor the days not so long ago when the Tagus had a large flow, was not yet polluted and was home to hundreds of these teleost fish. For its part, the kid with peas, mint and sheep's milk represents a succulent tribute to the diet of shepherds.
Finally, the senator's hare is a version of the historical lièvre à la Royale created at the beginning of the 18th century for the monarch Louis XIV and later codified by the legendary Carême, which deserves a brief explanation. While the original recipe is marinated and boneless to then stuff the loin with foie gras, truffle, pork jowls and minced hare meat, the adaptation popularized in Paris by Senator Aristide Couteaux at the end of the 19th century consists of an effiloché (or shredded) of previously cooked hare, which is then covered with a well-mixed sauce. This is the variant that has become fashionable in recent decades in the best establishments in the Hexagon, highlighting that of Jean-François Piège in his homonymous restaurant. And it goes without saying that Iván and his faithful head chef, Alberto García, do it to perfection.
In the sweet section, everything follows the same paths of balance of flavors and satisfaction of the diner: first, some red fruits with ginger and black sesame; then a chestnut with vanilla and truffle; to finish, a roasted milk with palodú (Glycyrrhiza glabra, also called orozuz) with duke gunpowder, which delves into the Book of stews, delicacies and stews by Ruperto de Nola, the first cooking manual in Spanish that was printed precisely in Toledo in 1525. And with that the circle of an outstanding menu that certifies the very high level of this must-visit house is closed. Go!
