05-18-2024
CO.DESIGN

This is the first Mexican taco stand to earn a Michelin star

In this tiny, 10-by-10-foot business, the heat makes the meat. And the heat is intense.

https://images.fastcompany.com/image/upload/f_auto,c_fit,w_1200,q_auto/wp-cms-2/2024/05/AP24136804960780.jpg

An employee tosses a tortilla on a griddle at the Tacos El Califa de León taco stand in Mexico City. May 15, 2024. [Photo: Fernando Llano/AP]


BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
4 MINUTE READ

Arturo Rivera Martínez stood over an insanely hot grill Wednesday at his newly minted Michelin-starred establishment—the first Mexican taco stand ever to get a coveted star from the French dining guide—and did exactly the same thing he’s been doing for 20 years: searing meat.

Though Michelin representatives came by Wednesday to present him with one of the company’s heavy, full-sleeved, pristine white chef’s jackets, he didn’t put it on: In this tiny, 10-by-10-foot business, the heat makes the meat. And the heat is intense.

At Mexico City’s Tacos El Califa de León, in the scruffy-bohemian San Rafael neighborhood, there are only four things on the menu, all tacos, and all of which came from some area around a cow’s rib, loin, or fore shank.

“The secret is the simplicity of our taco. It has only a tortilla, red or green sauce, and that’s it. That, and the quality of the meat,” said Rivera Martínez. He’s also probably the only proprietor of a Michelin-starred eatery who, when asked what beverage should accompany his food, answers “I like a Coke.”

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