Mexico’s national restaurant association Canirac has named Pepe Salinas — of the contemporary Mexican eatery Balcón del Zócalo in Mexico City — as Chef of the Year in its 2024 Restaurant Merit Awards.
The results of the 33rd edition of the annual awards — for people and restaurants that elevate Mexico’s restaurant industry — were announced last week in a ceremony at the Ex-Convento de San Hipólito in Mexico City.
Canirac’s voting committee included insiders and experts from Mexico’s tourism, gastronomy and academic fields.
Canirac is arguably Mexico’s most prestigious restaurant trade association, representing more than 670,000 gastronomy establishments nationwide, according to its website.
The association’s award for Restaurant/Business of the Year went to Grupo Dinar and its founder and CEO, Javier Romo Aramburo.
Mexico City–based Grupo Dinar’s restaurants include Ling Ling by Hakkasan (Asian-inspired cuisine in a sky-high setting); the STK steakhouse; the restaurant chain El Cardenal (a 55-year-old favorite serving traditional foods) and Restaurante Diana, which offers regional favorites in the capital’s luxurious St. Regis hotel on Paseo de la Reforma.
At stylish and noise-balanced Balcón del Zócalo, Salinas exudes a “nonconformist and creative character [that] has led to the development of a cuisine that takes risks,” according to the restaurant’s website. Salinas aims to create dishes and tasting menus that “surprise and excite diners in search of new experiences,” the site adds.
For example, there is an “experience menu” that changes with the seasons. The current one, which lasts through Sept. 21, is called “Day Zero.” Its offerings relate to a time in the future when water shortages will be commonplace, if not catastrophic.
The experience begins with a glass of water served from a jug in the shape of Tlaloc, the Mexica god of rain, and then a paleta (popsicle) made with sangrita, tequila and lemon and served on a rock meant to represent a meteorite (some of which have water inside).
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Salinas’ latest “menu experience” creation, “Day Zero,” at Balcón del Zócalo restaurant in Mexico City, evokes the diner to contemplate a day in the future where Mexico City runs out of water. Click on the image to see a video presentation of the “Día Cero” menu experience by the restaurant.
There is also a dish inspired by Michoacan’s drought-stricken Lake Pátzcuaro: a melon aguachile on a corn tostada and freeze-dried strawberry, served on a porcelain plate that mimics a dried, cracked, exposed lake bed.
Salinas also prepares a daily chef’s menu, an example of which can be seen here.
Each of the winners received a sculpture designed by Mexican artist Miguel Michel.
“This industry is made up of a large family willing to satisfy the needs of customers with the recipe that only Mexican gastronomy has: quality and warmth in service,” said Daniela Mijares, Canirac’s executive president. “Customers are the basis of what we are today: one of the most important industries for the growth of Mexico.”
This year’s winners
- Restaurant/Business of the Year: Javier Romo Aramburo, Grupo Dinar (Mexico City)
- Chef of the Year: Pepe Salinas, Balcón del Zócalo (Mexico City)
- Young Chef of the Year: Thalía Barrios García, Levadura de Olla (Oaxaca)
- Young Entrepreneur of the Year: Braulio D. Cárdenas Abedrop (Saltillo, Coahuila)
- Outstanding Mexican Chef Abroad: Indra Carrillo Perea, La Condesa (Paris, France)
- Pastry Chef of the Year: Marisa Lazo Corvera, Pastelería Marisa (Guadalajara)
- Traditional Cook of the Year: Rosalba Morales Bartolo, La Cocina de Rosalba (Quiroga, Michoacán)
- Director of the Year: Hugo Antonio Magaña Iñiguez, Santas Alitas (Guadalajara)
- Best Mexican Kitchen: Nixtamal, Cooking with Fire and Ash (Bacalar, Quintana Roo)
- Best Preservation, Knowledge and Promotion of Mexican Gastronomy: Itanoní (Oaxaca)
- Best Foreign Specialty Food: Zeru (Mexico City)
- Best Restaurant Innovation: Mezcal Cultural Center (Oaxaca)
- Best Hotel Restaurant: Ramona, NIZUC Resort & Spa (Cancún)
- Mixologist of the Year: Claudia Cabrera, Kaito del Valle (Mexico City)
- Barista of the Year: Matías G. Durán Quintanar, The Quantum Crack Coffee Roasters (Querétaro)
- Sommelier of the Year: Priscila Frausto Torres, Pangea Group (Nuevo León)
- Best Commitment to Sustainability and a Green Mexico: Green Me (Puebla)
In addition, awards were handed to honor those with a long record of dedication and commitment.
The list of 12 people with more than 20 years of experience at the same restaurant or in the same restaurant group was headed by Victoria Saldaña Silis (64 years with the Sanborns national chain of restaurants) and Juan Segura Segura (53 years at Restaurant Estoril in the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City).
Also honored was Ricardo Muñoz Zurita, a chef-turned-researcher who has been a pioneer in examining and raising awareness of Mexico’s regional cuisines. Going forward, the Young Chef of the Year award will be named for him.
Earlier this year, the Michelin Guide announced its first star ratings for Mexico. Two restaurants received two stars and 16 got one star. Levadura de Olla in Oaxaca was the only restaurant on both the Michelin list (one star) and the Canirac list (an award for young chef Thalía Barrios García, who also won Michelin’s young chef award earlier this year).
With reports from El Universal and Food & Wine en español
