Quintonil

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Coordinates: 19°26′12.4″N 99°11′04″W / 19.436778°N 99.18444°W / 19.436778; -99.18444
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Quintonil
The restaurant's wordmark mixing a letter Q with a leaf
Refer to the caption
The restaurant's entrance
Map
Restaurant information
Established9 March 2012 (2012-03-09)
Owner(s)
  • Alejandra Flores
  • Jorge Vallejo
Manager(s)Alejandra Flores[1]: 19:10–19:25 
Head chefJorge Vallejo[1]: 19:10–19:25 
Food typeMexican cuisine
Dress codeNone (business casual preferred)[2]
Rating2 Michelin stars (Michelin Guide, 2024)
Street addressNewton 55, Polanco, Miguel Hidalgo
CityMexico City
Postal/ZIP Code11550
CountryMexico
Coordinates19°26′12.4″N 99°11′04″W / 19.436778°N 99.18444°W / 19.436778; -99.18444
Seating capacity42[3]
ReservationsYes[4]
Websitehttps://quintonil.com/en

Quintonil is a contemporary Mexican cuisine restaurant in Polanco, Miguel Hidalgo, Mexico City. It is owned by the couple Jorge Vallejo and Alejandra Flores. Quintonil started as a daily menu restaurant and progressed to fine dining. The restaurant focuses on herbs and vegetables that are uncommon to taste in dishes. It has an à la carte option and a nine-course tasting menu.

The British magazine Restaurant has continuously ranked Quintonil on its list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants since 2016. Quintonil was awarded two Michelin stars in 2024 in the first Michelin Guide covering restaurants in Mexico, becoming the highest rating in the country, tying with Pujol, also in Polanco.[5]

History[edit]

Jorge Vallejo dropped high school and studied gastronomy at the Centro Culinario Ambrosía.[3] He trained in the restaurant Noma, in Copenhagen, Denmark.[1]: 2:00–2:15  He met manager Alejandra Flores while they worked at Pujol in 2009, a restaurant in Polanco, Miguel Hidalgo, Mexico City, and became a couple.[3] They left Pujol in 2011 and they decided to create an eatery under a "family concept", as they describe it, where customers are like friends invited to their home—they even lived on the second floor of that restaurant for five years.[3][6]

They named it Quintonil, a type of amaranth,[7] and it opened in Polanco on 9 March 2012 with a limited budget after obtaining a loan.[3][8][9] It has volcanic stone floors and wood and mirrored walls.[10] Initially, it was a restaurant with cheaper menú del día options but gradually transformed into a fine dining business.[1]: 19:30–22:00 

For Quintonil's tenth anniversary in 2022, Vallejo and Flores invited international chefs, like Dominique Crenn and Julien Royer, to contribute to the menus with their reimaginings of Quintonil's recipes.[8][11]

Menu and dining[edit]

Quintonil offers both à la carte and a nine-course tasting menu selections;[12] diners can pay an additional fee for wine pairing.[13][2] Fruits and vegetables are brought from Milpa Alta and Xochimilco, in Mexico City, and the neighboring states of Hidalgo and the State of Mexico. Pork meat is imported from Michoacán and Yucatán;[3] beef from Durango, and fish from Baja California.[10]

Dishes include common ingredients like beans, squash, various chiles, and mushrooms, as well as unconventional components like quintonil or "heirloom vegetable and herbal varieties", as described by Afar;[14] there are a few dishes with beef.[15] Menus change seasonally.[14] Plates like huauzontles and chilacayote mole have been served since its inauguration.[4] A variation of the Mole Madre sold at Pujol is also found in the menu.[13] The wine menu is mainly European, with Mexican variants, as well as Mexican beverages such as mezcal.[15] The restaurant also featured an Entomophagy Festival, where insects were the main dish.[16]

The restaurant has space for 42 people;[3] there is no mandatory dress code but business casual is commonly seen, and reservations are required.[2][4]

  • Refer to the caption
    Lightly toasted Mexican herb salad with Cotija cheese and grilled tomatoes
  • Refer to the caption
    Shrimp cocktail with coconut and guava
  • Refer to the caption
    Oaxacan string cheese soup, fried pork belly, and plantain
  • Refer to the caption
    Catch of the data with burned chipotle chili, pumpkin, and pineapple purée, with coriander
  • Refer to the caption
    Braised brisket wagyu beef and pulque, corn and dried chili demi-glace
  • Refer to the caption
    Chilacayote mole with charred tortilla and basil sprouts
  • Refer to the caption
    Vanilla rice pudding, seasonal plums, orange and thyme sorbet
  • Refer to the caption
    Flan
  • Refer to the caption
    Guava ponche with cinnamon, bread with hibiscus sugar and crystallized orange, with a sugarcane
  • Refer to the caption
    Coconut beverage

Reception and recognition[edit]

Tiffany Yannetta recommended the tasting menu for The Infatuation, labeling it as entertaining and highlighting the Entomophagy Festival, and suggested trying the restaurant's experiments like the bluefin tuna with frozen wasabi powder.[13] Adrián Duchateau wrote for Afar that Quintonil takes infrequent vegetables and herbs "as part of the progressive and sustainable eating program it so elegantly advocates".[14] Scarlett Lindeman said it represented a new wave Mexican cuisine movement and it is a "place to impress that's not Pujol".[15] A writer for Bon Appétit suggested sampling as many dishes as possible because Quintonil presents them in unique ways even if the diner is already familiar with them.[17]

Awards[edit]

Restaurant has ranked Quintonil on its World's 50 Best Restaurants lists multiple times: At number 12 (2016),[18] 22 (2017),[19] 11 (2018),[20] 24 (2019),[21] 27 (2021),[22] and 9 (2022 and 2023),[23][24] There was no list in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food industry.[25] For the 2023 edition, Restaurant added, "Quintonil is the setting for chef Jorge Vallejo's boundary-pushing Mexican cuisine and his wife Alejandra Flores' remarkable hospitality. Focused on fresh, local produce and traditional Mexican [flavors] and techniques weaved into modern preparations, it is fast becoming a classic".[26]

Michelin Guide debuted in 2024 in Mexico. It rewarded 18 restaurants with Michelin stars. Quintonil and Pujol received two stars each—meaning "excellent cooking, worth a detour"—and tied for the highest number of stars received in the country. The guide added that "[t]he elegant cuisine is an enticing melding of excellent local product, impressive execution, and great creativity to produce refined compositions".[27]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Franco, Alejandro (28 July 2021). "La historia de Quintonil y de Jorge Vallejo". W Radio (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Quintonil". Bloomberg Línea. Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "México como epicentro gastronómico" [Mexico as a gastronomic epicenter]. Líderes (in Spanish). 4 October 2022. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Sorondo, Xavier (2 May 2017). "Quintonil". Viajero Ejecutivo (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  5. ^ Latham, Tori (15 May 2024). "Mexico Finally Has a Michelin Guide—Here Are the First 18 Restaurants to Earn Stars". Yahoo!. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  6. ^ Orsini, Mariana (16 April 2019). "Quintonil: siete años de cocina mexicana" [Quintonil: seven years of Mexican food]. Revista Maria Orsini (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  7. ^ "10 años de Quintonil se festejan con chefs de todo el mundo" [10 years of Quintonil are celebrated with chefs from around the world]. Travesías (in Spanish). 11 March 2022. Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  8. ^ a b Carrasco, Carlos (12 January 2022). "El restaurante Quintonil cumple 10 años" [Quintonil restaurant celebrates 10 years]. Gentleman (in Spanish). Excélsior. Archived from the original on 24 January 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  9. ^ Ochoa Huerta, Claudio (18 May 2024). "El hombre Michelin" [The Michelin Man]. El Universal (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 19 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  10. ^ a b Marcial Pérez, David (7 September 2016). "El cocinero de las buenas hierbas" [The cook of good herbs]. El País (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  11. ^ Flores Zequera, Kimberly (28 June 2022). "Quintonil Diez: una cena con el chef Julien Royer" [Quintonil X: a dinner with chef Julien Royer]. El Universal. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Quintonil, un restaurante joven con mucha tradición" [Quintonil, a young restaurant with plenty tradition]. Tour Magazine (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 24 February 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  13. ^ a b c Yannetta, Tiffany (2 May 2024). "Quintonil". The Infatuation. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  14. ^ a b c Duchateau, Adrián. "Quintonil". Afar. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  15. ^ a b c Lindeman, Scarlett. "Quintonil". Condé Nast Traveler. Archived from the original on 22 January 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  16. ^ Sajovic, Kaja (30 March 2024). "Quintonil, il gourmet che ha fatto scoprire al mondo l'alta cucina messicana" [Quintonil, the gourmet who introduced the world to Mexican haute cuisine]. Reporter Gourmet (in Italian). Archived from the original on 20 May 2024. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Quintonil". Bon Appétit. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  18. ^ Sutton, Ryan (13 June 2016). "The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2016: The Full List of Winners". Eater. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  19. ^ Sutton, Ryan; Canavan, Hillary Dixler (5 April 2017). "The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2017: The Full List of Winners". Eater. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  20. ^ Sutton, Ryan; Canavan, Hillary Dixler (19 June 2018). "The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2018: The Full List of Winners". Eater. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  21. ^ Canavan, Hillary Dixler; Sutton, Ryan (25 June 2019). "The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2019: The Full List of Winners". Eater. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  22. ^ Canavan, Hillary Dixler; Sutton, Ryan (5 October 2021). "The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2021: The Full List of Winners". Eater. Archived from the original on 21 June 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  23. ^ O'Hare, Maureen (19 July 2022). "World's best restaurants for 2022 revealed". CNN. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  24. ^ Canavan, Hillary Dixler (20 June 2023). "The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023: The Full List of Winners". Eater. Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  25. ^ Burton, Monica. "World's 50 Best Restaurants 2020: News, winners, and updates". Eater. Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  26. ^ Paredes, Ingrid (20 June 2023). "The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2023: the list in pictures". Restaurant. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  27. ^ "Quintonil". Michelin Guide. Archived from the original on 17 May 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2024.

External links[edit]

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