Alam Méndez Florián

The Climb

The next step came in 2021, when he moved into the role of Executive in Washington DC, where continued to build with each change in post. he co-founded Apapacho Taqueria in Washington, D.C.'s Union Market District.

Today

The Washington, DC dining room is built to represent Mexican traditions and flavors using the best ingredients available in the area, as Méndez Florián puts it. That remit keeps the cooking specific: not a broad idea of Mexico, but a direct translation of tradition through local supply. Traditional Oaxacan cuisine remains the center of the kitchen, with the menu moving through dishes shaped by masa, fire, corn, and technique. The point is not to preserve the food as a static reference. It is made fresh, in place, using ingredients from the Mid-Atlantic as well as corn sourced from Mexico, so each plate carries the practical work of bridging distance rather than pretending it is not there. The freshness is not a slogan but a method: “We make everything fresh here ourselves. In a kitchen like this, that means the tortilla, the tamal, the griddle, and the sauce all belong to the same working system. Heat meets dough, smoke meets sauce, and technique is only counted once it has been made by hand.

Career - Chef/partner — Pasillo de Humo, Mexico City - Chef — Urbano 116, Alexandria (from 2019) - Executive Chef — Maiz 64, Washington DC (from 2021)

Signature

Alam's signature dishes include El Comal, Steamed Sweet Corn Tamal, Charred Octopus, and Yellow Mole.

In Their Words “We want to represent that and bring Mexican traditions and flavors to DC using the best ingredients we can find in the area.” “To us in Mexico, corn is the ingredient that makes us—we’re made by masa.”

Recognition

El Comal is the work most closely associated with Méndez Florián’s kitchen in Washington: a seven-course menu of antojitos made to order on a large wood-fueled griddle in the center of the dining room. The format puts the comal at the center of the service, using the griddle as both tool and working surface, with guests close enough to read the heat and timing of each course as it is assembled. The other named dishes extend the same vocabulary of masa, smoke, and sauce: Steamed Sweet Corn Tamal, Charred Octopus, and Yellow Mole. Taken together, they show the structure of the kitchen, corn as foundation, Mexican technique as method, and Oaxacan tradition as an active source rather than a display case.

FAQ What is Alam Méndez Florián's current role? Alam Méndez Florián is Executive Chef. Where did Alam Méndez Florián work before? Alam Méndez Florián's earlier career included Urbano 116 and Maiz 64. What is Alam Méndez Florián known for? Traditional Oaxacan cuisine.