Chef Enrique Olvera

How Enrique Olvera Built a Restaurant Group Rooted in Culture, Place, and Purpose

13 Minute read

01 May 2025

Journalist

With 14 locations across two countries, Olvera’s approach emphasizes simplicity, sourcing, and a deep respect for the communities he serves.

Enrique Olvera doesn’t talk about growth the way most chefs do. He doesn’t use words like “portfolio,” “rollout,” or “expansion strategy.” Instead, he reaches for a metaphor from agriculture—specifically, the milpa, the traditional Mexican system of growing corn alongside other complementary crops. It’s a method built on balance, biodiversity, and respect for the land.

That, in a word, is how Olvera thinks about restaurants. Not as a unified brand, but as a collection of site-specific expressions—each one rooted in place, nurtured by philosophy, and reflective of Mexico’s rich culinary heritage. “We don’t want to be a monoculture,” he says. “We want different representations of restaurants in different locations.”

The Origins and Structure

Olvera opened Pujol in Mexico City in 2000. At the time, it was a revelation—modern Mexican cooking with fine-dining precision, local ingredients, and a spirit that felt both rooted and revolutionary. That restaurant would become the foundation of Casamata, the hospitality group Olvera quietly built over the following two decades. In the years that followed, he resisted the standard path of scaling a concept or duplicating a flagship. Instead, he slowly cultivated new spaces, each one shaped by its own rhythm and purpose.

The first offshoots were casual: Eno, a Mexico City café offering tortas and seasonal salads, which grew into a multi-location neighborhood staple. Then came a second wave, with more ambitious restaurants like Cosme and Atla in New York, Manta in Los Cabos, and Criollo in Oaxaca. More recently, he’s opened Damian in Los Angeles and Carao in Nayarit.

Today, the group includes 14 restaurants—spread across Mexico and the United States—with no two exactly alike. “It was never about creating a group in the traditional sense,” Olvera says. “It just evolved that way.”

Food at Atla.

Atla.

Philosophy Over Uniformity

“We favor restraint—clear flavors, traditional techniques, and dishes that speak for themselves,” he says. Whether it’s a fine-dining tasting menu or a casual café, the focus remains on thoughtful sourcing, intentional cooking, and warm, attentive hospitality.

At the heart of it all is a deep respect for the guest experience. “The best restaurants are the ones where you feel great,” he says. “Not necessarily the ones chasing recognition.” That’s not to say the group lacks ambition—Pujol remains one of the most influential restaurants in Latin America—but Olvera’s approach is driven less by prestige than by feeling: How does a dish land? How does a room sound? How does a meal make you feel when you leave?

That ethos extends to design and ambiance as well. Across the group, you’ll find clean lines, soft lighting, and music chosen not to impress, but to make you feel good. The goal, he says, is alignment: to bring the philosophy of the kitchen into every part of the experience, from the food to the chairs to the playlist.

Site-Specific Adaptation

While Mexican culinary tradition runs through every restaurant in the group, Olvera is adamant that each location reflect its own context. That means adjusting not just the décor, but the sourcing, the cooking, and even the rhythm of the service. “Even though it’s Mexican technique, we work with the seasons and the land where we are,” he explains.

At Cosme in New York, that means East Coast seafood and local vegetables, while Damian in Los Angeles draws on the region’s vibrant produce and proximity to the Pacific. Olvera and his team emphasize working with local farmers and purveyors in each city, using regional ingredients to express Mexican technique without forcing replication. “We try to use fish from the Atlantic in New York and fish from the Pacific in California,” he says. “It’s about adapting without losing our identity.”

Post-pandemic, Olvera says the group had drifted slightly toward a safer, more replicable model. But this year, they’re doubling down on site specificity again—returning to the farms, waters, and communities that define each region. “That’s the focus of the company this year,” he says. “To come back to that idea of anchoring ourselves to place.”

Shrimp Aguachile at Cosme.

Cosme.

Mentorship and Growth

One of the most striking aspects of Olvera’s restaurant group isn’t just the caliber of its food—it’s the legacy of people who’ve come through his kitchens. Many have gone on to open acclaimed restaurants of their own, including Eduardo García of Máximo Bistrot in Mexico City, Daniela Soto-Innes, formerly of Cosme and Atla, and a long list of chefs leading projects across Mexico, the U.S., and Europe.

But Olvera is quick to deflect the idea of ownership over their success. “It’s not ours—it’s theirs,” he says. “But we feel connected.” For him, mentorship is less about creating disciples and more about creating conditions for others to grow.

That shift in mindset has extended to how the group attracts and retains talent. In earlier years, many young cooks sought out Pujol for the name and résumé boost. These days, Olvera wants people to stay for different reasons: a sense of community, opportunities for advancement, and a healthier quality of life. “We’re trying to build a company where people want to stay and grow with us,” he says. “Not just pass through.”

Sustainability and Values

Olvera’s restaurants have long emphasized sustainability—not just in sourcing, but in how they relate to producers and manage their operations. “We want to work with farmers in complicity, not in a transactional way,” he says. That means listening to their challenges, adapting to shifting seasons and supply, and building long-term relationships rooted in mutual respect.

In Mexico, the group has created a dedicated sustainability coordinator role at Pujol, responsible for purveyor relationships, waste management, and the development of circular programs with suppliers. The restaurant is also B Corp certified, and staff in the kitchen receive bonuses tied to traceability—encouraging transparency and accountability across the supply chain.

“For us, it’s not just about doing the right thing for the environment,” Olvera says. “It’s also about flavor. When you have great ingredients, most of the work is already done.”

The Future: Thoughtful Expansion

With 14 restaurants already in operation, Olvera is keenly aware of the limits of growth. “I don’t want to become a multinational empire,” he says. “That’s very clear to me.” Instead of chasing scale, he’s focused on deepening what already exists—refining each concept, strengthening teams, and anchoring more fully to place.

That said, he remains open to new opportunities—so long as they align with the group’s philosophy. New York, Los Angeles, and Mexico City are cities he feels especially connected to, and where future projects are most likely to emerge. But there’s no rush. “We try to be as selective as possible,” he says. “It has to make sense.”

For Olvera, expansion is never just about opening another location. It’s about cultivating something meaningful in a specific place—a restaurant that reflects the land, the people, and the moment. “The concepts we create,” he says, “have to be able to adapt, but stay true to who we are.”

In an industry often shaped by uniformity and scale, Enrique Olvera’s restaurant group offers a different blueprint—one that grows like a milpa: intentionally, interdependently, and in harmony with its surroundings. Each restaurant is a reflection of its place, shaped by local ingredients, regional context, and a shared philosophy rooted in care, simplicity, and cultural depth.

It’s not about conquering markets. It’s about cultivating meaning—one restaurant, one team, one table at a time.

The Chef

Enrique Olvera is a renowned Mexican chef celebrated for his innovative approach to Mexican cuisine. At his acclaimed restaurant Pujol in Mexico City, he combines ancient culinary techniques with modern gastronomy, earning him a reputation as one of the most important Mexican chefs in the world. His dedication to elevating Mexican food culture has made him a pivotal figure in the culinary world, with numerous awards and accolades, as well as a significant influence on contemporary Mexican fine dining.

01 May 2025