Michelin-Starred Restaurants in Mexico / Levadura de Olla, Authentic Cuisine from Oaxaca’s Southern Highlands
Young chef Thalía Barrios offers dishes whose ingredients and techniques stem from deep research.
By Alejandro Pohlenz
This is an extraordinary story. A dream—perhaps even a telenovela plot. There’s a very small town, in fact, an entire municipality (one of more than 500 in Oaxaca) called Sola de Vega, home to about 3,000 people. This community used to be known as Zapotitlán del Río, but in 2012, it was renamed San Mateo Yucutindoó. It was there, in 1996 (she’s just 29 years old!), that Thalía Barrios was born. She helped her grandmothers make tamales to sell at the local market. She was six. By age twelve, she already had her own small pastry business. Her motto is clear: “A cook is everything she’s ever eaten in her life.” She studied at the Universidad Tecnológica de los Valles Centrales de Oaxaca, and last year, her restaurant Levadura de Olla earned a Michelin Star! (She was only 28, which I find not just surprising—but marvelous.)
Oaxacan Cuisine of Origin and Tradition
Thalía, besides being a chef, is a researcher. She has explored the traditions of the southern mountain villages of Oaxaca to prepare dishes that honor the ingredients and techniques of those communities. The ingredients are organic (as we say these days). “No pesticides are used in the crops; everything is chemical-free. The raw materials come from many small towns with local markets that take place once a week, where nearby communities trade their harvests, farm animals, and other handmade goods.”
Flavors of Oaxaca: The Menu at Levadura de Olla
The menu is divided into four main sections:
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Traditional Oaxacan dishes, like guacamole with chapulines (grasshoppers).
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Heritage dishes, those that exist only in their regions of origin, like pozole seco with beef in roasted red sauce.
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Ceremonial dishes, such as mole de fiesta.
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And Levadura de Olla’s creative proposals, like confit pork ribs.
For dessert, there’s something called nicuatole—a pudding made of curdled corn with burnt milk.
Heartfelt congratulations to Thalía!
(Levadura de olla, or “pot yeast,” is a traditional homemade ferment used in the southern mountains of Oaxaca, prepared in clay pots. It’s similar to a sourdough starter.)
- What we love and recommend: Fried quesadilla with grilled Mexican-style fish.
- What we don’t love so much: Oaxaca is too far away!
- Address: C. de Manuel García Vigil 304, Ruta Independencia, Centro, Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca.
- Hours: Closed Sunday and Monday. Friday and Saturday: 1:00 p.m.–9:30 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday: 1:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.
- Ideal for: Lunch and dinner.
- Payment: Cash and cards accepted.
- Accessibility: Yes.
- Reservations: Yes (book here).
- Pet friendly: No.
- Good for kids: Yes.
- Vegan options: Yes.
