After 65 years of history, the restaurant's next steps are related to promoting new gastronomic projects and producers to consolidate sustainability at the table.
Nicos closes six decades of experience with multiple learnings and new challenges for the future. One of the first, says chef MarÃa Elena Lugo Zermeño, founder of the restaurant together with her husband in 1957, is perseverance, the ability to correct to create new things different from those that had already been done and above all to always experiment. These changes can be seen in different examples throughout the history of Nicos: from remodeling the premises to the change in recipes.
For his part, chef Gerardo Vázquez, who today is in charge of the restaurant, says: Nicos has been a journey of more than 25 years for me, of learning and changes for always doing things differently. Now, the focus is on the plans for the following months, to continue promoting Mexican dishes from home and traditional techniques, while reinventing itself through better cultivation, breeding and production practices.
In recent years, Nicos has promoted work with local producers to guarantee the quality of the ingredients and reduce the environmental impact, a task that will continue to be one of its priorities. One of these will be done with Oceana, the organization founded in 2001 whose purpose is the conservation of the oceans. In a joint effort to expose seafood traceability, Nicos has committed to this NGO's cause of diminishing unfair species substitution practices through timely tracking of marine protein. This will have a direct impact on the diner, who will be able to know the origin of what they consume at the restaurant table.
In addition, Nicos continues to expand and strengthen its relationships with local producers in various states of the country such as Michoacán, Puebla and Morelos, to name a few, with practically all the ingredients used at the table: vegetables, proteins -pork, chicken, beef- , fruits and even tea or coffee. The idea, says chef Vázquez Lugo, is the search for sustainable cuisine and local produce.
Sharing the experience, a mission of Nicos
The essence of Nicos continues to permeate other spaces through advice and mentoring for new restaurants and chefs. In 2023, chef Gerardo Vázquez will be participating in consulting for new spaces in Bogotá, Colombia; the opening of a new restaurant in CDMX in alliance with Maizajo -the research and commercialization project for Creole corn products in CDMX- and the opening of a personal project in the Historic Center of the city.
Although these projects will be led only by Vázquez Lugo, the idea is to take Nicos's teachings to other places to promote best practices from the kitchen, preserve recipes, take care of sustainability and even work on the issue of waste and social justice.
That has been the key to remain a benchmark of Mexican cuisine, persist over time and continue with the same idea that has driven them for 65 years.
