Executive Chef & Co-Owner
Jair Téllez
Executive Chef & Co-Owner, MeroToro
- Discipline
- Executive Chef & Co-Owner
Portrait of Jair Téllez
i. Biography
Baja California cuisine gains its force from edge conditions: coastline, border traffic, and a working tolerance for appetite without overstatement. In Jair Téllez’s cooking, that register has moved from Ensenada to Mexico City without losing its northern coastal line. As executive chef at MeroToro in Mexico City, he carries Baja California cuisine into the capital through coastal precision, northern Spanish influence, and a clear argument for the range of Mexican cooking.
Career Arc
Border cooking rewards speed, directness, and contact with immediate hunger. Early work as cook at Tijuana racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico, gave Jair Téllez that setting before he went on to found and cook at Laja (since 2001), where Baja California ingredients and temperament became the base language rather than a regional accent. A northern coastal cuisine changes when it enters the capital, but it does not need to become generalized. As chef of MeroToro (since 2009), Téllez kept the Baja line intact in Mexico City: seafood, restraint, Spanish-influenced structure, and a broader contemporary Mexican frame held in the same room.
The Work Today
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.”
Career - founder / chef, Laja, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico (2001–present) - chef, MeroToro, La Condesa, Mexico City, Mexico (2009–present) - cook, Tijuana racetrack, Tijuana, Mexico
Signature
Signature dishes include Scallop Salad from MeroToro and Sierra ceviche with avocado.
Standing
Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list recognition for Laja and MeroToro places Jair’s work inside a regional peer conversation: Baja California cuisine, carried through Ensenada and Mexico City, measured by restaurants rather than rhetoric.
FAQ What is Jair Téllez's current role? Jair Téllez is chef at MeroToro. Where did Jair Téllez work before? Earlier in his career, Jair Téllez worked at Tijuana racetrack. What recognition has Jair Téllez received? Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list recognition for Laja and MeroToro.
