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Mexico City chef’s ancestral food, from tamales to insect tacos, reduces diners to tears

At 2-Michelin-star Quintonil in Mexico City, Jorge Vallejo uses Mexican ingredients to connect diners with their roots. Some get emotional

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Quintonil’s chef-owner Jorge Vallejo at his restaurant in Mexico City, where the dishes tell stories of Mexico’s heritage. Photo: AP
Associated Press

Quintonil is not your typical Mexican restaurant.

Clients book tables months in advance to celebrate special occasions. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list ranked it the most acclaimed venue in Mexico in 2024 – and No. 7 worldwide. But once in a while something unexpected happens: food brings guests to tears.

“We have hosted people who have wept over a tamale,” says chef Jorge Vallejo, who founded Quintonil in Mexico City in March 2012.

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He intentionally chose traditional street food for the menu – insects and other pre-Hispanic delicacies included. Priced at 4,950 pesos (US$250) per person, it evokes the nostalgia of home and the history of the homeland.

Chefs at Quintonil test sauces for the menu. The restaurant in Mexico City has two Michelin stars and came in at No. 7 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Photo: AP
Chefs at Quintonil test sauces for the menu. The restaurant in Mexico City has two Michelin stars and came in at No. 7 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Photo: AP
The tamale – which translates from the indigenous Mexican language Nahuatl as “wrapped” – is a Mesoamerican delicacy made of steamed corn dough. It can be filled with savoury or sweet ingredients – such as pork meat and pineapple – and topped with sauce.
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Official records show that around 500 varieties of tamale can be found in Mexico. According to a publication of Samuel Villela, an ethnologist from Mexico’s National School of Anthropology and History, Nahua communities used them for ritual purposes.

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