Em (restaurant)

Not to be confused with Eem (restaurant).

Em
Graphic logo with the text "Em"
Photograph of the exterior of a building
The restaurant's exterior, 2024
Map
Restaurant information
Established2018
Owner(s)Luis "Lucho" Martínez
Head chefLuis "Lucho" Martínez
Food type
Rating1 Michelin star (Michelin Guide, 2024)
Street addressTonalá 133, Roma, Cuauhtémoc
CityMexico City
Postal/ZIP Code06700
CountryMexico
Coordinates19°24′55″N 99°09′43.3″W / 19.41528°N 99.162028°W / 19.41528; -99.162028
Seating capacity52[1]
ReservationsYes[2]
Websiteitsemilia.rest

Em is a fine dining restaurant in Colonia Roma, Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City, Mexico, that serves contemporary Mexican cuisine with Japanese influences. It has daily à la carte options and an eight-to nine-full-course tasting menu. It is owned by chef Luis "Lucho" Martínez, who opened it in 2018 as Emilia in Mexico City's Colonia Cuauhtémoc district. The business was later renamed and relocated to Colonia Roma due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food industry. Critics have given Em favorable reviews, and in 2024, the restaurant received one Michelin star in the first Michelin Guide covering restaurants in Mexico.

Description

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Em is open in the evening; it has space for 52 seats and reservations are required.[1][3] The eatery offers both à la carte and an eight-to nine-course omakase tasting menu selections; the customer allows the cooks to choose the plates to serve.[3][4] The card menu is updated weekly, and daily options alongside it are replaced every three months.[1] Customers who choose the tasting menu are seated in the main bar while those who order à la carte sit at surrounding tables.[3]

Em serves Mexican food with Japanese influences.[4] Martínez states the menu constantly changes because it "keeps the mystery alive" and allows the use of in-season ingredients.[5]

According to Regina Barberena, the menu includes baby corns topped with caviar and queso bola [es] sourced from Ocosingo, Chiapas; a mushroom enoki dashi risotto, shimeji with caramelized onion and chili garlic; sea bass topped with parsley stem cream and white garlic sauce; lemon balm ice cream; and sea-salt-and-caramel-filled dark chocolate with konbu ice cream on top.[3] On his trip, Guillaume Guevara noted dishes such as mole with beef tongue, spicy chicken, wagyu beef, and Petrossian caviar.[2]

History

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Em is owned by chef Luis "Lucho" Martínez, who worked at the restaurants Quintonil, Máximo Bistrot, and Mia Domenicca. According to him, he did not want to create a Mexican food restaurant that could be associated with Pujol or Quintonil.[6] Martínez opened Emilia in 2018 on Río Pánuco Street, Colonia Cuauhtémoc,[7][8] and named the restaurant after his daughter.[9][10] Martínez and his associate Ebo Kobayashi planned the restaurant's interior design with Japanese designer Kanako Ishida, using materials including copper, quarry, and marble.[3] Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food industry, the restaurant was renamed Em and relocated to Tonalá Street, Colonia Roma, in a space that previously housed Máximo Bistrot.[1][4] Above the restaurant, Martínez opened a bar named 686 Bar.[11]

Reception

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On its selection of the top twenty-three restaurants in Mexico City, Time Out ranked Em at number fifteen.[9] In her review for the same magazine, Barberena rated Em with five stars out of five, adding: "Emília [sic] is profiled in world cuisine with surprising techniques, tasteful finishing touches that are not necessarily bound to delight every palate", showing her appreciation for experiencing a variety of flavors on a plate.[3] Guevara described the plates as "high-end" and saw Em as a more-approachable restaurant than Pujol.[2]

Marco Beteta recommended the omakase options.[12] Juan Carlos Gamboa, writer of Caras, said the chef's dishes "surprise with their elegance and simplicity".[5] A writer for El Universal found the experience enjoyable and the flavors intense.[7] When the Michelin Guide debuted in 2024 in Mexico, it awarded 18 restaurants with Michelin stars.[13] Em received one star, meaning "high-quality cooking, worth a stop". The guide added: "[b]oth the à la carte and the tasting menus overlap well enough ... Refined, bold flavors come through clearly in both".[14]

Em, along with six other Michelin-starred restaurants in Mexico City, was honored by Martí Batres, the head of the Mexico City government. He presented the chefs with an onyx statuette as a token of appreciation for their role in promoting tourism in the city. The statuette's design is inspired by the pre-Hispanic sculpture The Young Woman of Amajac, in recognition of the significant contributions of indigenous women to national and international gastronomy.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Fernández de Angulo, Javier (27 October 2023). "Lucho Martínez: 24 horas con el chef del año" [Lucho Martínez: 24 hours with the chef of the year]. Gentleman (in Spanish). Excélsior. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Guevara, Guillaume (21 June 2022). "Em". The Infatuation. Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barberena, Regina. "Emília". Time Out (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "Em". Restaurant. Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  5. ^ a b Gamboa, Juan Carlos (15 May 2024). "Em, otro de los restaurantes reconocidos por la Guía Michelin" [Em, another of the recognized restaurants by the Michelin Guide]. Caras (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 May 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  6. ^ Oviedo, Anabel (15 March 2024). "Conoce al chef Lucho Martínez" [Meet Chef Lucho Martínez]. Food & Wine En Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Conoce Emilia, el nuevo restaurante de Lucho Martínez" [Introducing Emilia, the new restaurant by Lucho Martínez]. El Universal. 9 June 2019. Archived from the original on 27 May 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  8. ^ Toledano, Mariana (5 June 2023). "Dónde come y bebe Lucho Martínez, chef de EM y Martínez" [Where Lucho Martínez, EM and Martínez chef, eats and drinks]. Quién (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 31 May 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  9. ^ a b Barberena, Regina (30 October 2019). "The 23 best restaurants in Mexico City". Time Out. Archived from the original on 21 February 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  10. ^ Barrientos, María del Mar (29 May 2024). "Lucho Martínez, el gusto por la cocina y por crear experiencias únicas" [Lucho Martínez, the love for cooking and creating unique experiences]. Caras (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  11. ^ "686 Bar". Restaurant. Archived from the original on 10 December 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Em". Marco Beteta (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  13. ^ Beaven, Katherine Alex (7 June 2024). "Mexico's First Michelin Guide Debuts With 18 Starred Restaurants—Including a Taco Stand". Afar. Archived from the original on 3 July 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  14. ^ "Em". Michelin Guide. Archived from the original on 18 May 2024. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  15. ^ Rangel, Azucena (15 August 2024). "Batres entrega reconocimiento a restaurantes de Cdmx con Estrella Michelin" [Batres rewards Michelin-starred restaurants in Mexico City]. Milenio (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 August 2024.
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