Diego Sobrino is due to bring his vast experience and culinary expertise to the restaurant of The St. Regis Mexico City hotel.
Context
Diego was born and raised in Veracruz, México. During his career, he has worked in kitchens across Mexico and further afield. He worked in France for over five years, gaining experience and learning new skills in famous and highly regarded Michelin star restaurants.
He plied his trade in a series of famous kitchens, such as the Michel Rostang Restaurant, Du Coté Cuisine and Les Fables de La Fontaine in France, besides also working in Mexsi Bocú in Mexico City and the Fairmont Mayakoba hotel in Riviera Maya. Diego Sobrino spent valuable time in each of these renowned restaurants during his training, giving him the experience that helped him on his way to becoming one of Mexico’s most heralded chefs.
One of the hallmarks of J&G Grill’s new executive chef is a complete respect for the product: “I want to extend the legacy of the restaurant, which is already held dearly by the city and its inhabitants, [but by] making local tweaks and using sustainable products”.
Going back to his roots
One of Diego’s first food-related memories took place on his family’s ranch in Vera Cruz, where he would often spend his holidays: “My family would let me run free, and I would often go hunting with the children of the ranch keeper”, he said.
Back on the ranch, when not sharing adventures with his friends in the countryside, the chef was deeply affected by his friend’s mother: “These were simple people who insisted on welcoming you into their home with their finest dishes, for which they devised complex recipes”, he recalls.
However, in his own home it was also considered very important to spend time in the kitchen: “When I was only three years old, my parents gave me a stool and a knife so that I could help cut and chop the vegetables”, explains Diego.
In fact, one of his family’s traditions was to get together on Sundays to cook: as Diego made the hotcakes mixture, his father cooked bacon or ham, his sister made natural juice and his mother made coffee or cut up pieces of fruit.
Diego’s desire for cooking to remain as a family tradition is due, in large part, to the time he spent as a child on the plantations of Vera Cruz, where he learnt to appreciate agricultural work and the vast amount of work that is required before a product reaches our tables.
The culmination stage
With experience in the kitchens of Michelin star restaurants, such as the Michel Rostang Restaurant, Du Coté Cuisine and Les Fables de La Fontaine in Paris, Diego Sobrino has now been named as executive chef of the J&G Grill restaurant, located within the St. Regis Mexico City hotel.
This was the result of his excellent work as executive chef in the highly regarded Mexsi Bocu restaurant in Mexico City and the AAA-Five Diamond Fairmont Mayakoba hotel in Riviera Maya, where he was chiefly responsible for producing the concept devised by Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
J&G Grill, the flagship restaurant of the St. Regis Mexico City restaurant, is renowned for its impressive range of contemporary American cuisine. The highlights of the menu, inspired by the huge achievements of chef and entrepreneur Vongerichten, are its exquisite cuts of meat and grilled seafood.
Diego Sobrino promises to extend the legacy of the J&G Grill restaurant, while making local tweaks and introducing sustainable ingredients. And if anyone knows the importance of respecting the product from its very source, it’s this Vera Cruz-born chef.
Diego’s dishes are based on a cooking style that continues to evolve, mixing French techniques with Mexican products. Now, his expertise in handling ingredients will be implemented in the restaurant’s new recipes, in synergy with the experience of Vongerichten: crucial in the preparation of every dish at J&G Grill.
