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Ancestral in La Paz, Bolivia, has been named the winner of this year’s American Express One To Watch Award, ahead of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants' award ceremony on 15 November in Mérida, Yucatán.
The Bolivian fire-cooking restaurant - opened in 2019 by Mauricio López (former head chef of Gustu) and fellow chef Sebastián Giménez - has been recognised for its contribution to Bolivian cuisine and its potential to rise to Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants ranking in future years.
“It has always been a dream for us to represent Bolivia and our cuisine on an international stage, and we’re so grateful to see that come to life. Bolivia’s various landscapes, from its valleys to the jungles, have so much to offer to the culinary landscape of the country and we’re excited to be able to put this on display for the region to see,” said a statement from López and Giménez.
The chef duo, who were childhood friends, draw on a wealth of local and international culinary experience between them - including stints at Azurmendi in Spain, Fäviken in Sweden, and Noma in Copenhagen - to create a menu where most ingredients see the grill, wood-fire or the clay oven.
Diners are seated in a relaxed restaurant with views of the open-plan kitchen and herb garden. There's the choice of an a la carte menu or tasting menu, including dishes like slow-cooked pork belly with smoked chilli and chocolate sauce, and grilled artichoke hearts with an Amazonian almond romesco sauce.
The chefs will receive the award during Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022 red carpet ceremony.
Ancestral joins Fauna and other previous One to Watch winners, including Celele in Cartagena, Colombia, in 2019; Manoella Buffara's Manu in Curitiba, Brazil, in 2018; and chef Felipe Bronze’s Oro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2017.
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