Cresta Colorada, Mexican ember

The day Juan Carlos Ruelas told Cayetano Zertuche that rotisseries were constantly opening in San Francisco, both agreed: they had to try the format in Barcelona, but Mexican style. It was 2019, and the two partners decided to open Cresta Colorada in a city where chicken a l'ast is a religion, and guacamole is consumed by the shovel.

COME, Oaxaca, Tlaxcal, Costa Pacífico, La Curandera or La Güerita Mexicana are just a few examples of the variety of registers we have in Barcelona. In recent years, we have witnessed a constant trickle of openings with a common denominator of authenticity made in Mexico. Among them, this restaurant has poked its crest.

Located on the corner of Córcega and Enrique Granados, the newly opened Cresta Colorada survived the pandemic thanks to the support of the neighbors, who continued to visit the new Mexican place in the neighborhood to pick up their dose of chicken para taquear during the closure of hospitality businesses. The local's terrace – with barely three tables – was another lifeline during times of indoor restrictions.

Today, Cresta Colorada has a team of 11 people. Juan Carlos Ruelas, in addition to being a founding partner, is one of the head chefs along with Mariano Cusatis. In the dining room, Chiara Quarta ensures that everything flows smoothly.

The restaurant's hallmark is the grill, where practically all its ingredients are cooked. In addition to the famous chicken, marinated with herbs and spices, and served with chipotle sauce, Cresta Colorada also offers other meats, such as porchetta (al pastor); arrachera (grilled skirt steak strips, served with cheese and guacamole) or cochinita, which sleeps every night among the charcoal ashes. Even the vegetables, used for the sauces, pass through the smoke toll here.

In a taco, the filling is as important as the tortilla that embraces it. And in this place, they like to complicate things, hand-rolling the nixtamalized corn dough every day, which is provided by La Reina de las Tortillas, a guarantee of quality in these matters.

For those of us who, with more willingness than knowledge, started in Mexican cuisine with industrial wheat tortillas from Old El Paso, Doritos Dippas, and all kinds of radioactive sauces; sinking our teeth into a freshly made, golden, and still steaming corn tortilla is a small miracle that redeems us from our sins of youth and supermarket.

Behind the bar, mezcal bottles are interspersed with natural wine bottles. About these wines, Cayetano Zertuche tells us that "we decided to incorporate them into the menu because they are less formal than conventional wines and go very well with Mexican food. Furthermore, their philosophy goes hand in hand with that of mezcals, due to the artisanal work behind them." Generally, Cayetano explains that customers let themselves be guided, although occasionally someone also appears asking for "the wine with the most sulfites you have."

Mezcal, let's admit it, is not exactly the easiest drink in history either.

Visually, it looks like water, but this agave distillate is a song of smoke and fire, which should be drunk little by little, "with little kisses."

A good start can be the mezcal margarita, vertical and deep like the tall glass in which it is served. When we ask Cayetano to describe mezcal in a few words, he speaks of "depth, craftsmanship, and a lot of character."

The interior design of Cresta Colorada, with a chromaticism that radiates throughout the entire chamfer, bears the signature of Lorena Zertuche, Cayetano's sister. Lorena, through the use of everyday objects transformed into pop icons, seeks to turn around the folkloric imaginary of her country: suddenly, agaves are tiles, scales transformed into lamps hang from the ceiling, and on the wall, the red bristles of brooms play at being crests.

That is "jiribilla," giving things a twist.

Cresta Colorada

Córcega, 244

Open from Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner

Sundays only at midday

Closed Mondays

Average price: €25-€35 per person