CRUDO

"There is nothing quite like this intimate counter, certainly in Oaxaca and possibly beyond. Chef Ricardo Arellano has crafted a creative omakase that fuses Japanese flavors with local ingredients and preparations. What does that look like? It means nixtamalized papaya might come with your kampachi. Or maybe tuna will arrive seared with binchotan and set in a chicory leaf brushed in charred onion puree. An eel handroll is dressed in a smoky-sweet puree made from the pulp of agave. The menu is on the lighter side but the lasting impression and ingenuity is nonetheless impressive and at no point feels forced or generic. Locals have yet to warm to the place, so visitors shouldn’t be surprised when they’re seated with fellow travelers." - Michelin Inspector

"The son of a baker and a pastry chef, Ricardo Arellano has been cooking with staple ingredients of his home state of Oaxaca his entire life. Yet at his restaurant, Crudo, a tiny six-seat bar in Oaxaca City, he’s preparing dishes that add something new. His nightly tasting menu could feature chilacayote ramen, with translucent noodles made out of the Mexican pumpkin and served in a seaweed broth and topped with edible flowers. Or a kampachi fish-belly taco, which, resembling a nori taco but with the taste of al pastor, is marinated in an adobe extract, wrapped in Mexican pepper leaf, and accompanied by an avocado and cactus salad. Or bluefin tuna sashimi, prepared with grasshopper chile paste and a dash of black beans." - Nili Blanck

"Crudo is the first true omakase oaxaqueño with a strong Japanese influence. Chef Ricardo Arellano aims to show us that there’s another side to Oaxacan food that hasn’t yet been fully explored." - María Ítaka