Monday, June 3, 2024

Michelin guide to Mexico: 18 restaurants earn their first stars

Finally, what food aficionados had been waiting for — the Michelin Guide has arrived in Mexico!

During a ceremony held in Mexico City on May 14, Michelin unveiled Stars for 18 restaurants across Mexico, including 2 two-star and 16 one-star ratings. The storied guide also awarded 6 Green Stars and 42 Bib Gourmands.

A ceremony for the long-awaited Michelin guide to Mexico was held in Mexico City on May 14.
A ceremony for the long-awaited Michelin guide to Mexico was held in Mexico City on May 14. (X)

The restaurants in the Michelin Guide Mexico 2024 are located in Mexico City, Quintana Roo, Oaxaca, Baja California, Baja California Sur and Nuevo León. 

First published in France in 1900 by the Michelin tire company to incentivize motorists to use their tires, the Michelin guide has become the most famous restaurant ranking in the world — and the most coveted recognition by restaurateurs.  

From taquerías to family-run restaurants and high-end dining, here are the Mexican restaurants that hold one or two Michelin Stars in 2024.  

Two Michelin Stars

According to the Michelin Guide, restaurants with two Michelin Stars reflect in their expertly crafted dishes the personality and talent of the chef; with food that is inspired and refined.

Mexico City’s Quintonil is one of just two Mexican restaurants to receive two Michelin stars. (Wikimedia Commons)

Quintonil

Newton 55, Polanco, Mexico City 

Located in the heart of Polanco, Quintonil stood out to Michelin for its “enticing melding of excellent local product, impressive execution and great creativity to produce refined compositions,” the guide explains. 

The restaurant is named after a native herb of the state of Oaxaca. 

Owned by Chef Jorge Vallejo and his wife Alejandra Flores, the tasting menu is constantly evolving. The dishes praised by the guide include crab and shards of blue corn tostada with a vivid pipián verde, and a crème fraîche sorbet with caviar and Melipona honey. 

Pujol

Tennyson 133, Polanco, Mexico City 

Owned by Chef Enrique Olvera, Pujol has long stood as one of Mexico’s most acclaimed restaurants

The restaurant is mostly famous for its mole madre (mother mole) dish, which consists of two circles of sauce placed in the middle of a circular plate. The small one, at the center, is a deep orange color. The large one, which surrounds the middle one, is almost black in color and has been cooked for years. Diners are informed of the exact number of days the mole has been cooking before tasting it.  

The mole madre is the star dish of Pujol’s seven-course tasting menu. For the Michelin guide, the dish represents “an effort like no other that celebrates Mexican history and cuisine in the most profound way.” 

Rosetta restaurant in Roma Norte
Elena Reygadas’s Rosetta in Roma Norte received one Michelin Star. (Rosetta)

One Michelin Star

The one-star distinction is awarded to restaurants where dishes are prepared to a consistently high standard with distinct flavors using top-quality ingredients, the guide explains.  

Here is the complete list of restaurants with one Michelin Star in Mexico: 

Mexico City

Sud 777 

Esquina Común 

Rosetta 

Taquería El Califa de León

EM 

Oaxaca

Levadura de Olla Restaurante

Los Danzantes 

Baja California Sur

Cocina de Autor Los Cabos

Baja California

Animalón

Conchas de Piedra

Damiana

Quintana Roo

Le Chique

HA’

Cocina de Autor Riviera Maya

Nuevo León

Pangea

Koli Cocina de Origen

Mexico News Daily

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