Micaela Mar & Leña was selected as the Best of the Year among the 250 restaurants included in the Mexico Gastronomic Guide 2024.
(01 – 24 – ’24 TYT) – For the fist time a restaurant from Yucatán has been included in this editorial project’s category, which recognizes and praises national gastronomic diversity. Micaela Mar & Leña of Mérida, Yucatán was selected as the Best Restaurant of the Year among the 250 that make up the Mexico Gastronomic Guide 2024, which recognizes and praises the diversity of the country’s cuisine from peninsula to peninsula.
On the tenth anniversary of this editorial project promoted by Culinaria Mexicana, S. Pellegrino, and Nespresso, and published by Larousse Cocina, in addition to presenting this year’s exponents, awards were given to the most outstanding of the national restaurant industry.
The Guide was presented at the Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana in Mexico City. Alberto Nacif and Vidal Elías, founders of the restaurant Micaela Mar & Leña, received the award in front of 900 colleagues from all over the country.
“More than an award, it is an important and serious commitment that we assume to continue giving the best of ourselves for the state, for our diners, collaborators and all those who make our work possible. It is an honor to receive it because it is a distinction made by the industry, for the industry,” said Alberto Nacif, director of the restaurant located in Mérida’s Gastronomic and Tourist Corridor.
Nacif added that this recognition marks a milestone in its history and also in Yucatán. It is the first time in ten years of the Guide’s editions that a restaurant in the state has been selected as the Best of the Year. “We are grateful and also aware that this celebration is not a product of chance but the result of the passion, dedication, and devotion that we put into it every day, and thanks to the trust of the society that allows us to serve them.”
As part of the award, Micaela’s owners also received the Larousse Cocina y Culinaria de México Sustainability Grant, which includes the services and support of experts from the integral solutions organization SIPRA to strengthen their processes and contribute to the reduction of the environmental impact generated by the restaurant industry.
He added that as part of the projects of Grupo Parentela, to which Micaela Mar & Leña belongs, the restaurant Maura Mesa de Sal opened in San Miguel de Allende at the Hotel Numu, which also offers warmth, quality, and a narrative in the dishes that connect with the story of nana Micaela that inspired the founding of today’s Best Restaurant of the Year.
During the presentation event of the Mexico Gastronomic Guide 2024, with the 250 most influential restaurants of the year, special awards were also presented. Among them was the Chef of the Year Award, which went to Lula Martín del Campo of the Cascabel and Marea restaurants. Eduardo García of Máximo received the Chef of the Decade distinction. At the same time, Restaurant of the Decade went to Pangea, in San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, and renowned Chef Mónica Patiño of La Taberna del León and Casa Virginia won the Tribute to the Career of a Woman Restaurateur award.
About the Guide:
Guía México Gastronómico 2024 is an annual work that selects and distinguishes the 250 best restaurants in the Mexican Republic. An expert jury of the 60 most influential personalities in Mexican gastronomy selects the restaurants that will appear in the Guide and awards the distinctions to the best of the year. Ordered from A to Z, the 250 best restaurants, whether traditional Mexican cuisine, avant-garde, or international cuisine, are listed.
About Micaela Mar & Leña:
The name Micaela comes to honor the nanny who inspired the restaurant, it is a warm and friendly space that tells a story that always feels personal because it is justly a tribute to the hospitality and warmth of Mexican cuisine. Located in the Gastronomic and Tourist Corridor of Mérida, it was founded in 2018 with a proposal that goes hand in hand with wood-fired cooking and the defense of endemic ingredients of the region acquired from local producers.
Macaela Mar & Leña – Other awards and recognitions:
- Winner of the José Inés Loredo National Restaurant Merit Award for Mexican Cuisine 2022.
- Winner Best Restaurant in Yucatán by México Desconocido Magazine 2023
- Nominated Best New Restaurant 2019 Bestmex By Travel & Leisure.
- Nominated for Gourmet Reader’s Choice Award 2019, 2022, 2023 MexBest By Travel & Leisure.
- Reader’s Choice Award Gourmet 2019 Winner MexBest By Travel & Leisure.
- Listed in Mexico’s 250 Restaurants Guide 2022, 2023, and 2024 by Culinaria Mexicana.
- Listed in Star Wine List 2022 in Best Wine Selections of the Peninsula.
- Marco Beteta & Tripadvisor “Best of the best”.
- Food & Travel’s 100 Must-reads
