The move marks both a physical and figurative shift that highlights what top chefs around the world are predicting will become the most influential cuisine around the world: the foods and flavours of Mexico.
For the past few years, Peruvian cuisine has been the darling of the Latin American food world, with international chefs becoming enamored with the rich, cross-pollination of Japanese, Chinese and South American flavours.
The Peruvian capital of Lima was also chosen to host the inaugural event last year.
The Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants is an offshoot of Restaurant magazine’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards.
At a chef’s forum held in New York last month, Mexican cuisine was top of mind among influential US food figures including chef April Bloomfield and Food & Wine magazine’s restaurant editor Kate Krader.
“It’s delicious, it’s soulful, it’s local. They don’t buy any of their produce from anywhere else, it comes from their plot of land and it’s super delicious, complex, diverse and spicy,” Bloomfield had said.
On an international scale, Krader noted that the pendulum is swinging away from Nordic and Scandinavian cuisine towards Latin America, a decidedly different culinary landscape punctuated by bold, complex flavours and spices.
Mexico currently has 10 dining addresses listed on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants that includes Enrique Olvera’s Pujol, the highest-ranking Mexican eatery in the No. 6 spot.
The title of best restaurant in Latin America last year went to Central, in Lima.
