Mark and Lev - All the most delicious in Tula region!

Farm cooperative "Mark and Lev" is located in Zaokskiy District of the Tula region, 120 km from Moscow. It unites the most innovative ideas and, what's more important, devoted people, who create gastronomic center of Tula region.
One of the projects is the locavore restaurant “Mark & Lev”, included in top 100 best Russian restaurants by Spoon Guide. The concept is rather unique: we use only locally sourced produce from small and mid-sized farms within a 150 km range. The menu changes every couple of weeks depending on the availability of fresh meat, poultry, vegetables, berries, mushrooms, and herbs. Our mission is the development and popularization of the Russian regional cuisine. We follow international gastronomic tendencies attentively, creating a new language for the regional Russian cuisine by combining contemporary techniques with recipes and flavors deeply rooted in Russia’s culinary tradition. We devote special attention to using heritage and half-forgotten varieties of vegetables and herbs. The restaurant has received local and international awards (International Restaurant Concepts Award “Palme Fest” in 2015, “TimeOut Moscow” Awards in 2016) and became a member of international convivium “Slow Food”. Our sense of being “local” also involves exploring the rich culinary heritage of Tula Oblast. We work closely with local museums and regularly include in our menus dishes based on the family recipes of Leo Tolstoy; famous Russian painter Vasily Polenov; Andrei Bolotov, one of the first Russian agricultural scholars; and Vasily Levshin, a distinguished 18th century author of household books and cookbooks.
In 2016, “Mark & Lev” contributed to the 200 years anniversary edition of the first cookbook devoted solely to the Russian cuisine, Levshin’s Russkaya Povarnya.

In 2016 the cooperative created comfortable hotel in the Dvoryaninovo village, historic homeland of Russian agronomist Andrei Bolotov, "Bolotov.Dacha". Now it is the cultural center of the village and the whole district. Here we have built big and hospitable house in the Russian estate style with spacious living-room, sun porch and outdoor patio. Below the windows the river Skniga is flowing, here you can walk along the fields and woods, visit historic places and farms. Now at “Bolotov.Dacha” you can stay at cozy rooms, and soon there’s going to be a nice village.
“Mark and Lev” is not only gastronomic project: working with farmers, creating new workplaces and rising touristic potential of Tula region, we take part in Russian village renaissance.