Jair Téllez

Spanish-influenced northern coastal cuisine at MeroToro works through contrast without showmanship. As executive chef, Téllez builds menus that include ceviches, seasonal salads, whole roasted fish, lamb, and pork, moving among brine, smoke, fat, and acid without reducing Mexican cooking to familiar signals. The technique often starts from clarity: fish cut cleanly, vinegar used for lift, char for bitterness, and meat or egg handled for balance rather than excess.

Range is part of the discipline. Braised meats with poached eggs sit beside delicate seafood dishes that challenge stereotypes of Mexican cooking, letting the table move from depth and comfort to saline lightness. The Scallop Salad at MeroToro was an ultrasimple recipe of seared scallops, fingerling potatoes, charred spring onions, sherry vinegar, and mixed greens and herbs. The construction depends on confidence in few parts: heat, acidity, greens, herbs, and enough restraint to keep each element legible.

Sierra ceviche with avocado, poblano, and onion, served with salt crackers, shows the same economy. A reviewer praised its outstanding flavor and presentation. The set is spare, fish, chile, onion, fat, crunch, but the point is concentration, not absence. In Téllez’s work, simplicity functions as compression. Hospitality here is treated as a medium, not a slogan. “My language is food, but people are the medium—connecting with others is what it’s all about for me.”

Signature dishes include Scallop Salad from MeroToro and Sierra ceviche with avocado.