59 – ENG

Gabriela studied History of Art when she opened Contramar, her first restaurant in Mexico City in 1998, and understood that her path would not be the galleries but culinary art.

Coming from a fishing family, her first encounter with the kitchen was during her childhood, with the family’s enthusiasm when deciding how to prepare each fishing payoff. Later, she set out to replicate the experience of coastal flavors in her restaurants.

Contramar has become a culinary destination for foreigners visiting our country, and in 2015 she opened Cala in San Francisco, California, a place that soon achieved great acceptance thanks to its menu offering Mexican seafood dishes. Both restaurants are the protagonists of the documentary A Tale of Two Kitchens (Netflix, 2019), part of the Rio Bravo, Rio Grande Project, which seeks to deepen relationships between Mexico and the United States through shared stories.

Gabriela’s gastronomic vision is also reflected in her book My Mexico City Kitchen, which includes the author’s 150 favorite recipes: Mexican fresh and simple dishes, that tear down the idea of unattainable Mexican cuisine for amateur cooks.