Q&A with co-founder and Chief Concept Officer Manolo Gonzalez Vergara
What’s it like co-founding a brand with family?
MANOLO: It’s great! As long as you don’t focus on the exact same element. My mom is amazing at everything that has to do with aesthetic, and design, and trends. She’s an amazing artistic director, she has an insanely keen eye. Those are not my strengths. I handled the culinary aspect, which aside from eating, isn’t really her forte. So, it was a really symbiotic process.
Why did you make the jump between loving to cook deciding you want to turn your passions into a business?
MANOLO: This is something that just naturally progressed, and it was less about the cooking and more about wanting to share our culture with the world, to expand people’s expectations of Latin cuisine.
Why a food brand?
MANOLO: Food is the best way to get people interested in a culture! It’s also the best way to share a culture! One bite of our foods tells you almost everything you need to know about Latinos: zesty, tangy, crunchy, sometimes spicy…plus, I love food.
How do you split up the work? What direction does Sofia give and what does Manolo lead?
MANOLO: I handle the food, my mother handles the overall aesthetic, vibes, and creative direction!
Has there been anything you two disagreed about during brand development? Who won?
MANOLO: It took us forever to find a name. I would love one, and she would hate it, but after a lot of back and forth we stumbled upon TOMA, literally stumbled upon it, and then it was a no brainer. So, I would say we both won.
What’s the most exciting part about launching Toma?
MANOLO: Honestly, it’s sharing our food with the world! I love Mexican food, but Latin food is so much more than that, and we want to show people the variety of dishes and flavors we as a collective culture have to offer! Also, seeing people eat our food and smile is very exciting!
How have you integrated Latino culture into the brand, other than the obvious?
MANOLO: We needed to be as authentic as possible, not just in our recipes but also in our personnel and partners. Our partners are Colombian, because a Colombian knows how it’s supposed to taste! They know what I mean when I say “an arepa paisa”, and it just makes everything much smoother and frankly, more delicious. It’s hard trying to find the perfect cheese when you don’t know what the cheese is supposed to taste like, so having that deep-rooted knowledge of our cuisine is pretty important. We also used a Colombian artist, Eloin Rivera, to design our beautiful mural. It’s completely a Latino brand.
Why did you partner with Sam Nazarian on Toma?
MANOLO: I still can’t believe that happened. I love Katsuya, I can eat crispy rice spicy tuna every day for the rest of my life, and what he’s done with his other brands is beyond amazing. The fact that he saw the vision and loves the food as much as we do is awesome, and we are very lucky to have him as our partner, because he’s the best at what he does, plain and simple.
With Toma’s debut at Netflix’s Griselda premier, what was the most memorable moment? And how did guests react to Toma?
MANOLO: We took like a thousand empanadas for the event, and within maybe a couple of hours, we didn’t have one single empanada left. That was awesome. I was also clandestinely recording people and to see their faces turn after their first bite was not only hilarious but really encouraging; it’s so great that people love our empanadas!
What has been the biggest challenge in creating Toma? And how did you overcome it?
MANOLO: Probably just trying to find the correct ingredients. We obviously can’t find everything authentic that we need, so we have to find the best alternatives, and those can be challenging at times, because it has to be delicious but also similar to the original.
What inspired the choice of Toma’s brand name, and what significance does it have?
MANOLO: My mother’s nickname is Toty. Mine is Manolo. TO-MA. TOty, MAnolo. Toma also means take, or drink, in Spanish, so we loved that.
What is the vision behind Toma, and what steps have been taken to execute it?
MANOLO: We want to be people’s home away from home. A delicious facsimile of the foods you would have if you were back in Cuba, Colombia, Argentina, or what have you. Our menu offers a little bit from everywhere, so that if you’re Cuban and miss grandma's croquettes, you can have one of ours and feel like you’re back there, or at least close to it!
About the Menu/Food
Why did you pick these recipes/this menu?
MANOLO: The simple answer is: because they’re delicious. We also want to show the variety of Latin cuisine, so we have a little bit of everything from everywhere. Argentinian empanadas, Venezuelan arepas, Colombian pandebonos and tequenos, Cuban croquettes, etc.
Why did you choose this empanada crust, as opposed to a more traditional Colombian style shell?
MANOLO: Again, the simple answer is because it’s delicious, simple as that. Yes, the other style is good, but this one is better and more versatile - you can bake it or fry it and it still works!
What didn’t make it on the menu that you wish had?
MANOLO: In Barranquilla we have a street food called a chuzzo, that’s like a chicken shish kebab deconstructed and served on a bed of shredded lettuce and garnished with bollo (a corn cake type of thing), and crushed potato chips. It’s niche, definitely, but if doner kabobs can become mainstream in Germany then why can’t this!
What’s your favorite item on the menu?
MANOLO: My favorite empanada is the chicken in salsa verde, and my favorite sweet empanada is the guava and cheese, wooo! Spectacular.
What’s on the menu when Sofia is entertaining? And what have been the guest favorites?
MANOLO: Sweets, mostly. The powdered sugar on the pandebono was her insistence.
What makes Toma empanadas different?
MANOLO: Our dough is pretty special, it’s crispy and light when fried and not oily and heavy like most empanadas. Our chicken in salsa verde is also a unique combination that isn’t found anywhere else!
What makes the perfect empanada? The perfect croqueta?
MANOLO: Love. And, you know, seasoning.
What was the hardest part about creating the brand?
MANOLO: The hardest part was agreeing on a name, but like I said, once we knew, we knew. Otherwise, it has all been such a delight!
What’s your first memory of cooking?
MANOLO: I think the first thing I remember cooking was an egg. My grandma taught me with a tiny little egg pan, it was delicious.
Manolo, if you’re not cooking Latin American food for dinner at home, what’s on the menu?
MANOLO: I really love Middle Eastern food, and French, mostly. Italian I cook now and then, but I’m really more drawn to Mediterranean flavors. French food is fun to cook because a lot of it feels very “COOKING” to me. When you’re cooking French food is very clearly an “Oh, I’m cooking cooking” situation versus just throwing something on the grill and not paying any attention to it.
What tricks have transferred over from home cooking, to the creation of Toma?
MANOLO: Not necessarily tricks but my personal recipes serve as the foundation of the menu in general, and some items in there are fully my own.
Fun Facts
What is Manolo not good at cooking?
MANOLO: I can tell you right now I am not good at cooking a poached egg. It’s impossible. I’m also not great at baking.
Manolo, if Sofia is cooking dinner, what are you hoping she’s making?
MANOLO: Reservations.
If Netflix’s Griselda were hangry, what Toma menu items are you feeding her?
MANOLO: Pandebonos!
Earlier tabloids reported that Sofia’s pre-workout includes eating 3 beef empanadas and that she mixes post-workout powder into a Guava and Cheese Milkshake after. Can you confirm or deny and set the record straight?
MANOLO: Empanadas are nature’s protein bar, haven’t you heard?
Manolo, for the fans…is it true that you attribute your great hair to smothering every meal in Toma’s Creamy Cilantro Sauce? Tell us about that routine.
MANOLO: Yes, I wash my hair with Cilantro Sauce in the winter, and then in the Summer I switch to the Salsa Roja. I brush my teeth with the bechamel from a croqueta. Bechamel mucho.
How would you describe Toma in three words?
MANOLO: Authentic, Delicious, Family
What is the best and worst thing about working with family?
MANOLO: The best thing about working with family is working with family. The worst thing about working with family is working with family.