Our Purpose

República is the best Mexico-Forward restaurant in the country.
What does that mean, really?

It means that when our young Chef Jose “Lalo” Camarena dreams up a plate, he does it understanding the intentionality of the restaurant. There are a number of rules in place to assure that our offerings pay respect to the food from the country that is now Mexico.
 

We ask ourselves...
Is there a meaningful historical connection between this dish and the culture?
Are the components of the dish currently in season? Can we source them locally?
Is it beautiful when plated?
Does the taste match the beautiful aesthetics of the plating?

Essentially what we aim to do is create original dishes and present them with historical roots in an etymology which oftentimes has very little to do with what we now call Mexico. That is a lot to ask of a Chef.

It means that, in order for us to hold our culture and our cuisine in high regard, we first have to acknowledge that much of it did not belong to us in the first place. Everything from the foundational dishes with maiz – first created by the Olmecs, Toltecs, Mayas, Aztecs – to the mole recipes that feature ingredients originally from Asia and Africa, were another culture's to begin with. 

It is with these acknowledgements, this level of intentionality in mind, we call our cuisine,

“Mexico-Forward."