San Miguel de Allende has become one of the epicenters of Mexican gastronomy.
With offerings ranging from bakeries to bars, terraces, and top-quality cafes, the search for restaurants with a spirit and broad concepts grows at the same time.
Martez is one of these new openings in which chef Rodrigo Carrasco’s passion for cooking invades every room of the boutique hotel where it is located, Piedras Negras, which opened at the same time on October 25.
Surrounded by comforting cuisine, in Menu we tell you more about this new place, which promises to be an indisputable stop in the San Miguel destination.
The cuisine of Martez, according to the chef, is based on the flavors of contemporary Mexico fused with the San Miguel style. He says that it is a mix of already known flavors, which coexist with the type of foreign palate that usually surrounds this region of Guanajuato.
Ultimately, it is a fun, relaxed cuisine, but not absurd, but quite the opposite. These are dishes that recall the teachings of the chef’s grandfather, who showed him how to cook. “When you enter this world and suddenly remember who taught you what you know, you want to make it present,” says Chef Carrasco.
“It is also a cuisine of coincidences. My last name is Martinez, my partner’s as well, so we think about the day: I arrived in San Miguel on a Tuesday, and I met him on this day, not to mention that here Tuesdays are days of rest, so these coincidences made sense to me.”
At Martez, most of the products are local, except for the seafood, for obvious reasons, which comes from Ensenada, Baja California. However, the chef, as well as the entire Piedras Negras complex, opts for a sustainable vision of hospitality.
One of the dishes to try is the black tempura, a kind of fried chicken that pays homage to the name of the hotel; it has pipián made from green leaves and macha.
Also worth trying is the Mole de Cenizas (Ash Mole), con ajo negro (black garlic), an ingredient that the chef discovered on his first arrival in San Miguel, which is accompanied by chayote with pineapple kombucha that goes perfectly with corn tortillas.
The chef explains that one of the dishes that has followed him in his restaurants is the smoked guacamole with avocado leaf, although two of the most representative and creative dishes from his time at Martez are the gullet stuffed with beef tartar with chili mayonnaise, which is served with wafers and a chocolate coin, recalling childhood games.
Also the tataki a la talla of bluefin tuna with a marinade and caper cream and mayonnaise with smoky notes. However, if you want to try the sea and Mexican cuisine fused, you can try the Mextlapique, a fish cooked in a corn leaf over charcoal, with pre-Hispanic origins. For dessert, Piedras Rosas, inspired by the San Miguel church, has pink pine nut ice cream, tapioca with mamey, and a cocoa meringue.
Finally, both Martez and Piedras Negras are the result of a combination of passions and dreams of the Martinez family to have a home in San Miguel de Allende, which today serves 40 diners in 9 unique rooms.
Address: Tercera Cerrada de, prolongación de Pila Seca 9, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato.
