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Patricia Quintana (Mexico City, 1946–2018), chef, researcher, writer and businesswoman, was one of the most important promoters of Mexican cuisine in the country and abroad, who devoted her life to acknowledging and revaluing the native cuisine of different regions of Mexico.

From the kitchen of her restaurant Izote, she created a style that gave a different dimension to authentic mexican cuisine, presenting “traditional recipes and ingredients in a sophisticated way, giving them the recognition and honor they deserve”.

Her legacy includes the creation of the Escuela de Alta Cocina, where she trained chefs and taught for over forty years, and the publication of more than 25 books on gastronomy —several of them translated into English and German—, including La cocina es juego (1975); Puebla, la cocina de los ángeles (1992), and Cuisine of the Water Gods (1994).

In 1985 she was one of the founding members of the Círculo Mexicano de Arte Culinario, a group that helped value the essential role of women in national gastronomy, together with cooking advocates Martha Chapa, Margarita Carrillo, Alicia de Angeli, Guadalupe Pérez San Vicente, María Dolores Torres, María Orsini, Lula Bertrán, Karla Hentschel, Lila Lomelí, Ana María Vásquez Colmenares, Susana Palazuelos and Patricia Celis, among others. 

The awards she garnered in a career spanning half a century include being appointed Culinary Ambassador of Mexico by the Ministry of Tourism and the Association of Restaurants of Mexico, and the Gold Laurel Quality Award by the Asociación México-España.