Beatriz Gonzalez: the new voice of Mexican cuisine

Born in Mexico City and brought up around her parents’ two restaurants, on the island of Cozumel in Mexico, Chef Beatriz Gonzalez has always nurtured a great passion for food which, under the guidance of her father, led her to move to Lyon to learn all the techniques of haute cuisine. At the age of 18, she joined the prestigious Institut Paul Bocuse and fell in love with French gastronomy. After two years of study and experience in the Michelin-starred Carlton restaurant in Cannes, she decided to move to Florence for a brief period of six months to learn Italian.

At the young age of 21, her career rapidly took off when, upon returning to France, she was taken on at Lucas Carton Paris (three Michelin stars), a renowned Parisian restaurant that has been making French nouvelle cuisine history since 1839. Here, the young chef dedicated her body and soul to the stoves for five years. Following this experience, at 26 she became sous-chef of La Grande Cascade, a restaurant where the business clientele come to savour a taste of Paris from the past and the fresh “country” air of the Bois de Boulogne combined with the modern cuisine of Chef Frédéric Robert and his team. Here, she met the pastry chef Yannick Tranchant, with whom she left the prestigious Parisian restaurant so they could embark on a new gastronomic adventure together. In 2011, Beatriz Gonzalez opened her first restaurant, Neva Cuisine, along with her husband, Matthieu Marcant, and the pastry chef Yannick Tranchant.

The Parisian bistro is transformed with Neva Cuisine and Coretta

Neva Cuisine is a modern and convivial Parisian bistro where you can enjoy light, delicate dishes. In Beatriz’s cuisine, pleasures and flavours are the order of the day, and every detail, down to the smallest, is treated with the utmost care and attention. Making it stand out against the classic bistro, however, is the element of the sea that brings flavour to fresh seafood yet focuses on acidity without being afraid of sweetness.

Encouraged by the success of her colourful, modern cuisine, three years after opening Neva Cuisine, Chef Gonzalez decided to repeat the experience, opening her second restaurant, the neo-bistro Coretta.

You are welcomed to the restaurant immediately in a warm and hospitable manner, making you feel like a guest of honour. The interior, adorned with elegant, light-wood decorations, is designed to be a sophisticated space that maintains a convivial vibe. It’s the perfect place for a delightful Sunday lunch in good company. The atmosphere at Coretta is particularly enchanting, with sunlight filtering through the broad windows looking out onto a picturesque view of Parc Martin Luther King in the 17th arrondissement of Paris.

At the end of the meal, both at Coretta and Neva Cuisine, you can savour an excellent cup of Lavazza Espresso Maestro with its aromatic notes of flowers, cocoa and wood.

Taco Mesa, the Mexican restaurant in Paris

In 2023, once again in Paris, Chef Gonzalez opened Taco Mesa, a round-trip voyage to Mexico without ever leaving the French capital. In this beautiful space full of warm colours, the chef reconnects to the flavours of her childhood in Mexico, transforming great Mexican street food classics into dishes to enjoy a mesa (at the table).

Beatriz Gonzalez had long dreamed of opening a Mexican restaurant in France. In 2021, the health crisis drove her to take the first step, opening Taco Mesa for takeaway. Two years later, the chef’s extraordinary tacos finally had a place where they could be enjoyed: at 40 Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière, Paris. On the menu is a real guacamole with avocado, onion, and lime, served with tortilla chips; the unmissable cochinita tacos, a typical Mexican dish made with pork shoulder and a mix of spices, including achiote, served with black beans, epazote, and pickled onions; or the “Gringa al Pastor”, a quesadilla with marinated pork on the spit, cow’s milk Toma cheese, pineapple, onion, and coriander.

At Taco Mesa, Chef Gonzalez also offers vegetarian options and “especiales”, more elaborate recipes served only in the evening. For incomparably fresh tortillas, the chef wanted the nixtamalization of the corn, an ancestral Meso-American maize preparation technique, to be done on site just like in Mexico. The terms “nixtamal” or “hominy” mean corn kernels are boiled and left to sit in a highly alkaline solution of calcium hydroxide, a principal ingredient in Central-American cuisine, before being used in many dishes such as Mexican tortillas and tamales.

Beatriz Gonzalez between France and Mexico

Chef Beatriz Gonzalez's cuisine can be, without any doubt, considered the perfect combination between French flavours and delicious and poetic creations with international fragrances and aromas. Different worlds intersecting to influence her creations, which certainly include Mexico but also incorporate local tastes, elements that fully express her special haute cuisine touch.