PUNTO MX
448 pages, 125 creations (that include 41 bases and 20 cocktails) with 342 elaborations, 79 processes with their step-bystep pictures, and 800 photos… Those data are just a short numeric summary of MX (Montagud Editores), the first book of Roberto Ruiz, Martin Eccius and María Fernández (Punto MX, Madrid, one Michelin star). Those are frenzy numbers, and are loyal to the project they came from… The three restaurateurs, with Roberto Ruiz leading the kitchen, has gone down of the History of gastronomy in a few years. Not only because of the creation of unique and genuine concepts Mezcal Lab and Salón Cascabel belong to the fleet on which Punto MX is the flagship-, but also for winning the first Michelin star for a Mexican restaurant located in Europe. Punto MX has a meteoric career, completely supported by the critics: ‘The best Mexican restaurant out of Mexico (and comparable to any of the best restaurants of Spain); those are words from Carlos Maribona, Gastronomy responsible of ABC for more than 25 years. ‘If Roberto had his own restaurant in Mexico City, his name would appear next to the greatest professionals in the modern Mexican cuisine, such as Enrique Olvera, Jorge Vallejo and Edgar Núñez”, affirms José Carlos Capel, gastronomic critic from El País.
CASA SOLLA
Its 256 pages take you on a trip around Galicia, the region in the northwest of Spain that is home to this exceptional restaurant, which continues to push the limits of everyday cuisine. In his first book, this chef takes us on a culinary journey that begins with producers who are unique, resolute and committed to their surroundings, and ends with diners. It is they who, in his opinion, give everything in gastronomy meaning.
As both an ambassador and lover of his homeland, this chef has spent years silently transforming the culinary landscape of Galicia and, in doing so, he has managed to go not only beyond the region's borders, but also those of Spain. Every dish that he creates carries his own personal mark. Each one encompasses a personal and practical vision that always offers a sincere and profound tribute to a land to which he says he will always feel indebted.
Pepe Solla thus presents us with not just Galicia, but his Galicia. This journey takes in mountains, vegetable gardens, markets, rivers and seas. It pauses and comes together in a unique restaurant. And it ends elegantly on the palates of all those who sit at its tables. It is the way that this cook envisages converting the ancestral into something eternal. He acknowledges a special region with a unique pantry that he has repeatedly praised throughout his extensive and brilliant career. He describes all of this in detail, along with a wide-ranging and in-depth selection of some fifty recipes. Not only do they include some of the classics that helped make a name for the restaurant decades ago, but also two mainstays of Galician cuisine – octopus a feira and empanada –, both described in detail by the chef.