Billy Maldonado
Oh, how we can wax poetics about CDMX aka one of our favorite cities in the world - Mexico City. The endless food and bev options, the museums, the vintage shopping to even just the genius urban planning that allows its residents and visitors to just frolic and walk around in what feels like a city in the jungle, it’s a little piece of heaven.
We recently caught up with Billy Maldonado, the Executive Chef at Fonico Restaurant in Mexico City, a restaurant that is offering an innovative take on Mexico’s Sonora and Baja California regions. Think sustainably-caught seafood + local produce. The perfect combo IMO. He walked us through a day in the life and what it takes to run one of the coolest restaurants in CDMX.
Breaking Down With Billy Maldonado
“At Fonico, we start getting into the restaurant at around 8:00 am. The team sets up the line by checking out all the mise en place (positioning of utensils, equipment and food before serving up) that needs to be done throughout the day.”
“This is when all of the produce for the restaurant is delivered from our wonderful suppliers. Our fish, for example, comes from our fishmonger U&A Gourmet. They catch and deliver all our seafood daily, directly from Baja California. We might see Dover sole, yellowtail, bluefin tuna, oysters, clams, red lobster, sea urchin and bass.
We then fabricate all the meat and fish, breaking them down into smaller portion sizes. We make our stocks and sauces nice and early, too. We mainly work with our mother stock, which is a golden chicken stock used as the base for our moles and sauces. We also like to ferment chilies such as jalapeños and habaneros to create deep flavored hot-sauces or vinaigrettes.
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“All cooks need to have mise en place and lines set up and ready by 1pm so I can do a taste check. The restaurant opens at 1:30 pm, and service starts.
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“The entire kitchen staff gets to enjoy family meal from 3pm to 5pm. This means we’re able to take care of each other, while also having a cook on the line.”
“Dinner service starts at 5:30 pm and finishes at 11:00 pm. It’s usually the busiest service at the restaurant.”
“By the end of the night all line cooks break down every station and make a list of production for the next day. On the weekends after service, I like to sit down at the bar at Rayo to finish the night with a cocktail. Personally I like the classics, and my favorite is a Negroni.
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