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48 G oogle "the most famous restaurants in Mexico City," and Pujol pops up again and again. The fine-dining destination, which has dominated the CDMX culinary scene for more than 15 years, attracts international VIPs who are known to charter planes just for a taste of the restaurant's innovative Mexican cuisine. The genius lies in the man behind Pujol's culinary prowess: chef Enrique Olvera, whom you may know from his cameo on the Emmy-nominated Netflix docu-series Chef's Table. Olvera ranks as the only chef in the world to snag two spots on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list — for Pujol and his first American restaurant, NYC-based Cosme. He traveled to Houston in May for a sold-out pop-up dinner hosted by Big Brothers Big Sisters. Amid succulent tostadas and celebratory bubbles, Olvera dished on his famed 1,000-day-old mole and the secret to Mexican sushi. REDEFINING MEXICAN CUISINE. There are still some people in Mexico who incredibly believe that Mexican food must be … I don't like the word cheap, but they think it must be for everyone in the sense that it's accessible, and I do agree with that. But I think there should be a wide range of options in Mexican food, and I personally hated that you could only eat cheap sometimes poorly executed Mexican food. THE OLVERA FOOD EFFECT A BALANCING ACT. The best way to be innovative [while s t a y i n g t r u e t o tradition] is by knowing your roots. You should get the best out of tradition then try to add things that are pertinent to today. Maybe you're making a mole recipe, and it calls for apples, but it's not apple season, so you change it. It just makes sense. MOLE MADRE. The best way to make mole taste better is by reheating and reheating and reheating. One day, we had some left over, and we just decided to keep reheating it, and then it became a thing. It's 1,269 days old. CULTURE OVER INFLUENCE. The culinary scene in Mexico City is changing all the time, but the great thing about Mexico is that it always keeps its identity. When cities get influences from outside, you can see them. In Mexico, the culture devours you. If you eat sushi in Mexico, you're getting avocado with chile in sushi. Japanese people may even be offended, but that's the beauty of Mexico City. STREET-FOOD REVOLUTION. The food scene in Mexico City is getting very diverse, not only in the width of cuisines that are available but also in the range of execution. People are starting to look at street food as an option. A lot of chefs were just focused on restaurants, and now you see really good cooks doing food stands. DJ OLVERA. I love anything and everything that has to do with restaurants. I think being a restaurateur is kind of like being a Renaissance man. You fall in love with architecture and design and people, and music is a huge part of the restaurant experience. I'm more like a curator of music than a DJ. I don't mix because I'm not good at it. I just like to select music for every occasion. B Y J A I LY N M A R C E L Mole Madre Enrique Olvera OLVERA RANKS AS THE ONLY CHEF IN THE WORLD TO SNAG TWO SPOTS ON THE WORLD'S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS LIST — FOR PUJOL AND HIS FIRST AMERICAN RESTAURANT, NYC-BASED COSME. ARACELI PAZ