Mixe: A History and Genealogy Behind It
“The name—which is pronounced ‘mije’—refers to one of the most important indigenous groups in Oaxaca, the Mixe. It’s a community that’s well known for the fact that everyone is involved in music. “The Mixe Philharmonic is one of the most famous in the world,” explains chef Sebastián Tinoco, the restaurant’s founder.”
The restaurant’s origins can be traced back to its “big bang”—when Tinoco himself, a native of Guerrero, set out to create a space that would revive indigenous recipes while offering traditional comfort. “I spent a little over a year traveling through southeastern Mexico. It was a very enriching journey. As a chef, the cultural richness of this country is impressive,” he acknowledges.
Art and Cuisine
The venue, located in a large mansion in the heart of Querétaro’s Historic Center, is divided into two sections: the restaurant and the aforementioned gallery, curated by the chef’s father, Javier Tinoco, who is also a founding member of the Jardines del Arte de Sullivan in Mexico City.
“We change the menus every month. It’s a very creative, dynamic, and completely unpretentious style of cooking,” he says. “What we’re trying to do is create a project featuring local ingredients for local people. Our dishes and menus are inspired by southeastern Mexico. We’re opposed to places that gentrify the area or heavily copy foreign styles. We’ve formed a great partnership because we seek out purely Mexican ingredients. My dad, on the gallery side, only invites Mexican artists,” he notes. Interestingly, a large portion of their diners are foreigners, given the proximity to the expat community settled in San Miguel de Allende, which is an hour away.
Pink Mole and a Kitchen on the Move
The goal is to create a local market and a cuisine that is ever-evolving and constantly improving, while also striving for a balance between artisanal methods and the time-honored craft of organic cooking: “We don’t buy any pre-made products or ingredients—things from the supermarket and all that. We make our moles from scratch, our sauces from scratch. We source our dairy, vegetables, and meats from local suppliers.”
Despite its spirit of innovation—which leads to a new menu every month—Mixe has a couple of signature dishes. First, the aforementioned pink mole. What makes it special? A lot, starting with the fact that it’s a ceremonial dish. The recipe includes pine nuts, beets, and rose petals.
“A lot of people assume that Guerrero is all about the coast, but Iguala is actually closer to Mexico City than to Acapulco. What few people know about Guerrero is that it has a very humid and very cold mountainous region, and Taxco de Alarcón is one of those areas,” he explains to me.
In Taxco, pink mole is one of the most iconic dishes, and in Mixe, it takes on a new life—a bit more sophisticated and Instagram-worthy, yet true to its heritage. “I’ve been refining it with my own personal touch. It’s one of our specialty dishes because, even though it’s a traditional dish from Guerrero, for people who aren’t familiar with it, it’s quite a surprise. When you think of mole, you think of two things: hot and spicy. Mole rosa is the exact opposite. It has a very silky and delicate texture, with a smoky flavor and notes of two types of chili peppers and chocolate,” he explains. At Mixe, one of its versions is served as blue corn enmoladas, accompanied by Chiapas cheese and a beet crisp.
From Blue Corn to Tascalate
Other must-try dishes during a visit include tlacoyos ahogados—also made with blue corn—stuffed with brisket-birria and smothered in consommé; or Chiapas-style molotes, made with corn and plantains and served over the house-made black mole. The menu changes depending on the time of day and the season: in the morning, there are dishes that blend American breakfast with Mexican ingredients, such as guava hot cakes —with guava compote and cardamom—corn waffles, or an esquites omelet; while in the afternoon, the kitchen experiments with combinations such as short ribs with green mole, pistachio pipián, and hoja santa, or poblano and corn crepes with smoked cheese cream.
Familiar flavors and less predictable combinations
Even the drinks follow the same concept: there’s a Chiapas-style tascalate made with cacao, cinnamon, toasted corn, and achiote; marzipan horchata; hibiscus cold brew with jamaica and Eureka lemons; and a golden milk made with turmeric, cinnamon, spices, and coconut milk. To finish, the desserts continue the interplay between familiar flavors and less predictable combinations, such as roasted plantains with cajeta ice cream, toasted walnuts, and Chiapas cheese.
“One of our most important customer groups is young couples; many of them bring their pets because we’re pet-friendly,”she says (and it’s good to know so that dog owners can make a note of it in their guide).
Dining Amid Art and Museums
His connection to art, through the adjoining gallery, is no coincidence: “We really focused on that visual challenge of saying: we’ve already made the dish taste great, we’ve already achieved the balance we were looking for—now we have to make it appealing. Why? Because people are going to want to take pictures of it—because everything starts with the eyes when it’s brought to the table,” he acknowledges.
Mixe Cocina Evolutiva is located at Hidalgo 47, Centro, Santiago de Querétaro, in an area that allows you to round out your culinary visit with a short cultural tour. The Museum of the Restoration of the Republic is about a 3- or 4-minute walk away, on the corner of Guerrero and Hidalgo, while the Querétaro Art Museum (MAQRO), located at 14 Ignacio Allende Sur, is approximately a 7-minute walk away.
We reveal more culinary destinations in Mexico and Latin America in AW Magazine.
