Abigail Mendoza Ruiz

Abigail Mendoza Ruiz (also known as Abigail Mendoza) is a Zapotec chef and co-owner of restaurant Tlamanalli, which she runs with her sisters, in Teotitlán del Valle, Mexico, near Oaxaca.^[1] She opened Tlamanalli in February 1990 in order to serve traditional Zapotec cuisine such as mole and squash blossom soup. The restaurant was soon featured in Gourmet magazine.^[2] In 1993, her restaurant received a write-up by food critic Molly O'Neill in the New York Times.^[3]

The kitchen in Abigail Mendoza Ruiz's restaurant Tlamanalli

Mendoza Ruiz has since traveled to France to demonstrate Zapotec cooking.^[1] She was profiled in Anthony Bourdain's series Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, featured in a documentary about British food writer Diana Kennedy, and shown on a digital cover of Vogue Mexico and Latin America for the magazine's 20th anniversary.^[2][4][5][6]

Mendoza Ruiz was born in the 1960s and learned to cook by watching her mother and aunt in the kitchen.^[2]

References

1. Virbila, S. Irene (August 8, 2014). "On the prowl for the best food; and mezcal; Oaxaca, Mexico". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
2. Simón, Yara (October 26, 2016). "Abigail Mendoza Ruiz is the World's Most Famous Zapotec Chef". Remezcla. Archived from the original on 2016-10-27. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
3. O'Neill, Molly (January 17, 1993). "Top-Notch Tables; Teotitlan del Valle, Mexico". The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
4. Da Costa, Cassie (May 30, 2020). "From Diana Kennedy to Alison Roman: When White Women of Privilege Borrow From Ethnic Cuisines". Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2021-01-19. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
5. Caraballo, Ecleen Luzmila (October 1, 2019). "A Rarámuri Runner & a Zapotec Chef Are on the Covers of Vogue Mexico and Latin America". Remezcla. Archived from the original on 2019-11-14. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
6. Villegas, Paulina (October 9, 2019). "Abigail Mendoza, la cocinera oaxaqueña que pone en alto el nombre de México". vogue.mx (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2019-10-10. Retrieved August 5, 2021.

External links

• Video of Mendoza Ruiz on Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown