A night he always dreamed of but did not believe was possible, even while it was happening. This was what the Yucatecan Gilberto Cetina Cachón experienced, the first chef of the entity to receive a Michelin star.
Gilberto says that after receiving the Michelin star and celebrating with chefs whom he has admired for a long time, the best celebration was with his work team. He received the recognition last August.
The winner commented that the nomination is made through anonymous diners who visit the restaurants to evaluate the flavor of the dishes.
Gilberto lives in Los Angeles, California, where he has two restaurants: “Chichén Itzá”, specializing in traditional Yucatecan food, and “Holbox”, specializing in seafood.
The latter was inaugurated as a ceviche bar but soon evolved into a more complete concept of dishes from the coast of Mexico.
Cetina Cachón pointed out that they take great care of the details of all their dishes and quality, which is why they focus on using local ingredients.
In addition, he confessed that initially, it was difficult for them to get clients, but an article published in the Los Angeles Times opened the doors for them. The success was increasing until the Covid-19 pandemic arrived.
During the pandemic, they looked for different strategies to survive. In the end, they began to have better movement, and starting in 2022 the situation improved significantly. 2023 was an extraordinary year since very positive things began to happen. In addition to the fact that activity was resuming as usual.
Last year Gilberto was nominated by the James Beard Foundation as the best chef, which greatly excited the Yucatecan and gave him a great boost. Shortly after, his restaurant was awarded “Restaurant of the Year” by the Los Angeles Times, a recognition that left him surprised and grateful.
The delivery of the Michelin star was a total surprise for him, since, although he suspected it, he did not want to give anything in advance. He commented that, as a Michelin follower, he always saw the winning restaurants as something unattainable, without imagining that sometime later he would be part of the group.
He added that the Holbox restaurant has a casual concept, so he never thought they would qualify for recognition. Hope flooded their minds when they learned that the “El Califa” taqueria, located in Mexico City, had received its first Michelin star.
It was last August when he received the star. He attended the ceremony with his wife and commented that they arrived without expectations.
Upon arriving at the event, he recognized several chefs with great experience, which made him think about the reason why they were invited.
He said that the chefs present gave him a lot of love at that moment and that when he received the recognition he couldn’t believe it. He was so excited that he didn’t remember much about the moment, but his colleagues recorded the event and shared the video with him.
Cetina commented that she feels very happy to preserve the flavor of Yucatan in distant lands, so much so that, to prepare her octopus dishes, he orders them directly from Sisal.
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