Pedro Sánchez, the talented wonder kid of Mexican cuisine, is the Executive Chef at Hunab Ku

Cooking should not be a job. It is an art form, a sparkling, effervescent passion strengthened through years of dedication, training and experience, and many times it is childhood memories and the warmth of home and family that bring about a great artist’s evolution in their chosen path.

Pedro Sánchez, the Executive Chef at Hunab Ku, the avant-garde cuisine restaurant, is passionate about traditional Mexican cuisine which he learned to love at home, from his grandmother, an experienced cook who for many year owned seafood restaurants and is a veteran expert in mole, marinades and chili sauces which he still prepares in her honor and in remembrance of her. Through her, he learned the love of cooking helping her as a young apprentice and savoring the delicious dishes she lovingly prepared for those seated at her table be it clients or family.

At 17 he worked and studied learning his profession at the Centro Culinario Ambrosía, founded by banquet experts and the best school for gastronomical training at the time. He later worked at one of the best restaurants specializing in traditional cuisine in Mexico called el Bajío. Spain was his next stop where he worked for a season at Quique Dacosta a three Michelin star restaurant, number 36 in the world, known for its haute avant-garde cuisine with Mediterranean roots. He returned home to Pujol, in Mexico City. From all of them, he learned the discipline needed in order to work in the best kitchens.

Among many other things, at school he learned culinary management and banquet preparation and, from great experts in the field, contemporary and avant-garde cuisine, but childhood memories and family recipes is where he finds the inspiration for the preparation of traditional dishes like his mother’s cream soups, his grandmother’s chiles rellenos and special rice and his aunt’s pozole, created with his own twist brought about by years of study, hard work and love for what he does.

Chefs are generally generous beings who share their art for the delight of others. Chef Pedro has also generously taken the time to share anecdotes, the reason why he hates cookies as they were almost all he ate during a period of his life, his acquired taste for mole and salsas and his stints in national and international restaurants that gave him the high level skills he boasts today.

Today Hunab Ku, the restaurant at Mía Bacalar, would like to thank Chef Pedro Sánchez’s grandmother for having infused in him the love for great Mexican cuisine and for giving him the start in the world of gastronomy where he is a true shining star. Thank you Chef!