There are many excellent restaurants in mexico City nowadays. Biko restaurant is one of them.
Five years after opening, they are proud to be holders in record time, of another name recognition. The “Five Stars Diamond Award 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011” awarded by The American Academy of Hospitality Sciences that rewards excellence in service and to be among the 50 best restaurants in the world by the prestigious “Restaurant Magazine” of London. Place 89 in 2008, place 81 in 2009, place 46 in 2010 place 31 in 2011 and place 28 in 2012.
Renowned as a leading restaurant in which customers are priority I decide to take my chance to give super chefs Mikel Alonso , Bruno Oteiza and Gerard Bellver, (disciples of Jean Marie Arzak) pamper my palates . I contact the restaurant PR Alejandra Alvarez, also responsible for their special events and catering and ask her to book for me an apparently not-to be-missed splendid tasting menu with wine, carefully designed to achieve an explosion of flavors and perfectly balanced.
We arrive at the most acclaimed neighborhood in Mexico , Polanco and direct ourselves to a very nice building entrance whose walls are paved with a backboard. In there , one can notice several recipes sketched in white charcoal . Hoping that the elevator takes a few more seconds, I quickly take my I-phone out of my purse and start taking pictures frantically to make sure those recipes are captured almost like a thief. ( am at Biko, one of the most disputed tables in the country. As you wait for the elevator, you can notice a few receipes of most favourite specialties skeched on walled blackboards.)
The beautifully designed floor by Entasi Architetos, partly inspired in the approach of the chefs Mikel Alonso and Bruno Oteiza through the tasting of dishes and wines where the traditional flavours of the Basque cuisine and its evolution create a new concept of clear duality.
Based in this duality, the architectural concept uses the opposition of tones (light/dark) that can be appreciated in the texture and hardness of the materials; this, combined with an oblique geometry inspired in prehispanic forms, generated the base for the design. The colour is given by the dishes.
The dark tones are represented by black slate on floors form a solid base; dark steel plates on walls and ceiling envelope the wine cellars and bathrooms, generating more hidden and solemn spaces.
So , because of several nutritional restrictions, ( I don’t eat meat) the chefs created a delicious customized menu to fit my complicated requirements.
Biko’s menu is a stimulating collision of Spanish and Mexican, described by chefs Bruno Oteiza and Mikel Alonso as ‘sumptuous with surprises’. Local produce is coaxed for maximum flavour in two contrasting menus: one traditional, referencing Basque cooking from their native San Sebastián; the other using forward-thinking techniques, giving the duo the freedom “to have all the fun we want”.
All of the state-of-the-art dishes were at first instagrammed, as they looked art sculpture: the delicate mix of flavors had to be guessed and written down on my moleskin like in a social game. While several “likes” were popping on my I-phone screen , sharing as much as I could with my virtual friends, I was savoring in good company a total bliss.
We were surrounded by spanish speaking maitres D and impeccably dressed waiter and we even had the honor to visit the fantastic kitchen on a guided tour by Chef Bruno Oteiza himself!
Biko is candor, art, freedom, boldness and surprise. In short, high culinary couture.
Dear reader, I am certainly not a culinary critic, not an experienced cook, but I can certainly affirm that this was nothing less that pure creative Culinary Couture!
Joelle’es Picks
The Menu:
Esparragos con Aromas de Campo
White asparagus with a special sage, rosemary and purslane pure, green asparagus vinaigrette, almond praline covered with a chamomile jelly.
Salmon marinado con cítricos y tamal fresco de queso
Marinated citrus salmon, cheese fresh tamal, black sesame pure and fresh baby corn.
Crema de Amarantos
Soup made of different plants from the family of the amaranths.
Pescado Empapelado
Fish based in a tradicional Mexican recipe with tomatoe and tortila sauce.
Pescado con costar de Hongos
Fish with crusted fungi and almond pure, potato and quintonil sauce
Cacao, Cacahuate y Cacahuacintle
Panacota made of corn, peanut and cacahuacintle with cacao smoke.
