Margarita Carrillo Arronte

Margarita Carrillo Arronte is a chef, author, TV host, restaurateur, and a global ambassador of Mexican cuisine. Born and raised in Mexico, she has dedicated the past 35 years to researching, studying, teaching, and cooking traditional Mexican food. Carrillo-Arronte was trained at the Culinary Institute of America, Cultura Culinaria/UNAM and is the former owner of Don Emiliano in Los Cabos, Baja, Turtux restaurant in Mexico City and La Colina in Tokyo, Japan. She is known as one of the most well respected chefs in Mexico. She has been a member of Slow Food International since 1996 and has participated 4 times in the Salone del Gusto in Torino, Italy. In 2010, She is a member of the Conservatory of the Gastronomic Culture of Mexico, the small group of professionals that campaigned to get Mexican cuisine recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and succeeded. She was named the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture’s Chef and organized Mexican food festivals and several gala dinners around the world - such as the G-20 Summit in 2012, a cultural leader in The World Economic forum in Davos, Executive Chef of the United Nation Climate Change Conference in Can Cun 2010 as well as countless events with top dignitaries such as Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama, George W. Bush, Her Majesty Masako Crown Princess of Japan, Angela Merkel Prime Minister of Germany, Benjamin Netanyahu Prime Minister of Israel, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar as well as countless celebrities such as Cindy Crawford, Harrison Ford, Lance Armstrong, Rick Baileys, Massimo Bottura. She is currently hosting the third season of her 13 Episode TV series for ElGourmet channel in Latin America, that has featured the traditions and cuisines of Oaxaca, Puebla and most recently “The Cuisine from the Stone: Metates y Molcajetes, Cocina tradicional Mexicana". She won the Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Society of Hospitality Sciences “San Pascual Bailon" (2013). And she is a member of Academie Culinaire de France. She has appeared on various broadcast outlets such as NPR’s “The Splendid Table” and Rick Bayless’ “Mexico One Plate at a Time.” She is the author of Mexico: The Cookbook (Phaidon) as well as Tamales y Atoles Mexicanos (Larousse). She has given countless keynote speeches around traditional Mexican cuisine in places like Brazil, Peru, Japan, China, France, England, Ireland, Italy, USA, Canada, Spain, Colombia and many other countries. She is fluent in Spanish and English. She lives in Mexico City.