The Michelin Guide already caused a stir in 2018 when it awarded the street food restaurant "Jay Fai" in Bangkok a star. A restaurant of a similar caliber has now been included in the new Michelin Guide Mexico: the Mexican taco snack bar "El Califa de Leon".
9.29 square meters – that's the size of the Michelin-starred restaurant "El Califa de Leon", which has just won an award in the Michelin Guide Mexico. Only four different tacos are served here: gaonera (beef fillet), bistec (beef steak), chuleta (pork chop) and costilla (beef rib). The only seasoning is a squeeze of lime and a little salt. Food is eaten standing up on plastic plates, there are no tables.
The secret lies in the simplicity of the tacos: just a tortilla, red or green sauce and quality meat. "It's all about the meat and the tortilla, with no fuss or garnishes to embellish the whole thing or hide behind," barbecue chef Arturo Rivera Martínez tells dpa. The concept obviously works.
On Wednesday, Martínez therefore received a visit from representatives of the Guide Michelin, who presented him with one of the company's classic, immaculate white chef's jackets. What will happen to it is unclear. The chef is unlikely to dress her in the three-by-three-meter barbecue stall. It's far too hot in there.
The snack bar is run by Mario Hernández, whose parents founded the store in 1968. It is named after the Mexican bullfighter Rodolfo Gaona (1888-1975), who was known as "El Califa de León" (The Caliph of León). The "Gaonera" taco topped with tender slices of ribeye is also named after him.
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