Mexican Eduardo Garcia has been appointed as executive chef at Peyote, which launched in 2013 in London. He was highly involved in the creation of the menu, which is a refined interpretation of Mexican cuisine.
Garcia was born in Guanajuato in north Mexico. He didn’t receive any formal education and started working at an early age, picking fruit and vegetables, to support his family. At the age of 14 he joined the hospitality business as a pot washer at the Georgia Grille in Atlanta. Soon he became Commis Chef and started to develop a passion for cooking.
He was introduced to Eric Ripert, a renowned French chef, who invited him to work in his renowned restaurant Le Bernardin in New York City. Garcia took up on the offer and started working at the three Michelin starred restaurant and stayed for seven years. Ripert greatly influenced Garcia’s cooking.
After seven years at Le Bernardin Garcia moved to Atlanta to work as Executive Chef at Van Gogh for eight years, which later re-branded and launched as Bistro VG. 2007 Garcia returned to Mexico, to be closer to his family. He there became Chef de Partie under Enrique Olvera at Pujol, which is known to be Mexico’s best restaurant.
After three years he took a one year break, spent in the jungles of Jalisco to find inspiration, a region in Western Mexico. After returning to Mexico City he opened his own restaurant Maximo Bistrot Local in November 2011.
His cuisine at Maximo Bistrot Local is described as contemporary Mexican and depends on the availability of local ingredients and produce, which leads to the menu to change daily. Garcia visited his suppliers in Mexico City every morning to get the best quality food possible to create the very best of Mexican cuisine.
The restaurant became widely known and popular and led to Garcia being head-hunted by Tarun Mahrotri, the owner of Peyote in London. Peyote is the name of a small cactus, which can be found in the Northern Mexican desert and therefore sets the tone for the restaurant’s theme.
Garcia developed the menu for the restaurant that launched in 2013 and has now been appointed as Executive Chef. Garcia thrives towards delivering the most authentic Mexican flavours to the menu, which will change every season, according to supplies from Mexico, he brings back from his regular visits throughout the year. He created new supply chains for ingredients between Mexico and the UK, such as chillis and corn.
Although Garcia was highly influenced by the chefs he worked with, he describes his mother as being “the most inspirational cook” he knows. She was the one to encourage him to open his own restaurant and follow his instincts. He is married to Gabriella, who operates the business at Maximo Bistrot Local. Garcia grows his own produce in his garden and enjoys traveling and being in nature. He combines the two on going on foraging trips, with his finds often appearing on his menu.
By Vera Kleinken
