The New Mexican cuisine: Chefs believe that Mexico should have more features on the select list of the best restaurants in the world
EFE Agency.- "The mexican cuisine is in the middle of a new revolution and according to the chefs of Biko and Pujol, the list of San Pellegrino's 50
best restaurants in the world,should feature more mexican restaurants.
"This year, Mexico had a gastronomic revolution and I though more restaurants from the country would appear on the list", confessed Mikel Alonso, chef
of Biko Restaurant who holds the 38 place of the prestigious list made by the British Magazine "Restaurant".
The spanish chef directs the kitchen along Bruno Oteiza and he thinks that places like Pangea from Guillermo González Beristáin, who has "many years
giving happiness to the people" and Casa Oaxaca from Alejandro Ruiz should be part of the list.
"I haven't met anyone who has come out of that restaurant thinking that the meals were bad, every single person is enchanted by the food", he assured.
"The base of the restaurants is this: experience, not only which technic did you use", pointed the Basque-chef, disciple of Juan Mari Arzak.
For Enrique Olvera, chef of Pujol, the list should also present more Mexican chefs; he went to the award show in London and recognized that in his
personal bet where more restaurants from his country.
"For me, Mexican cuisine is extremely important, it already has her own place, but I believe we can still do things well and when all the Mexican
Restaurants do things right, we will have a bigger representation" he said.
The San Pellegrino's list dictates tendencies, said Olvera, with the idea that he won't be on the list always/. "Someone else will decide the next
step in a couple of years and we will have to move aside" he commented.
This year, Pujol has a lot to presume: it's the second year in a row that the restaurant appears on the list and in one year he went up 13 places,
from 49 to 36, something that has become a huge motivation for their chef.
"It's a recognition to do things right, but the main achievement is to have your restaurant full of people, otherwise it wouldn't matter", mentioned
the Mexican.
Olvera is satisfied with the actual results and he assures that since Pujol, the have made big efforts to improve on every single detail, like
changing providers to offer better products.
"We have a unique style, we aren't looking to be creative but to have our own style" assured the chef of Pujol, where you can have a menu of ten
courses for 64 dollars with elements as a taco de ceviche with popcorn.
Biko has been on the list for three years in a row of the 50 best restaurants in the world and this time it was featured in the 38 spot.
"We give more importance to the people who come to the restaurant than the list" said Alonso who also thinks he won't appear on the list forever and
others chefs and restaurants shouldn't be sad if they don't are in the list.
According to the chef, in Biko the wake up every single day with the same "passion and rage of wanting to give the best possible and this passion
would remain even if they aren't in the list".
The kitchen of Biko is the mix of Mexican and Basque cuisine since they buy all their ingredients in the country. The menu to taste everything in the
restaurant has six courses and a cost of 71 dollars.
In the opinion of Alonso, not only Mexico but Latin-American should appear more on the list but for that to happen, the region should have more
representation in the voters of the list.
"I've traveled and I have eaten in places that have touched my soul, where you eat in a hallucinating way and the service is great. What happens is
that Latin-America is huge and only a few Europeans travel to the hidden spots of the Amazon", he pointed.
On his opinion, Latin-America is registering "a brutal movement in the kitchen" and this isn't reflected on the list.
Even after moving down some spots, he's satisfied with just being there. "At the end of the day is a list of the 50 world's best restaurants, just
being there is worth it" he commented."
[Edited on 5-9-2012 by Gypsy Jan]
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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