i. Biography
Farm-to-table modern cuisine depends on decisions made before service: what to buy, when to use it, and how far technique should intervene. The cooking asks for restraint, precision, and enough warmth to keep the plate within the logic of eating rather than display. Modernity functions as method: closer attention to season, product, and the craft decisions that carry both.
Coming Up
The role of owner and Executive Chef at Áperi Restaurant has, since 2014, required both authorship and daily control. In Matteo Salas’s case, that has meant setting the creative direction of the menu while managing the cadence of the kitchen and the identity of a restaurant built around clarity, produce, and technique. Farm-to-table practice here is less a claim than a discipline: respecting texture, timing, fragility, and the point at which an ingredient is ready to be used. Modern cooking in this idiom holds only when fundamentals do the work. Since 2014, Salas’s position as owner and Executive Chef has kept heat, seasoning, balance, and patience central to the restaurant’s voice. Within Mexico’s contemporary culinary movement, the craft reads as exacting rather than decorative: technique is used to sharpen an ingredient, not cover it.
Where They Are Now
Kitchen leadership at Áperi Restaurant combines creative direction, management, and the practical work of service. As chef, owner, and Executive Chef, Matteo Salas remains tied to the everyday mechanics of cooking while also maintaining the restaurant’s larger direction. His description of staff meal shows the operating culture: every cook rotates through its preparation, giving each person a chance to interpret something simple and necessary. Simplicity is often where the craft tightens. A clean sauce, a correctly cooked piece of meat, or an ingredient used at the right moment can demand more control than a busy plate. In this form of farm-to-table modern cuisine, the work is in focus rather than excess.
Signature
Signature dishes include Roasted duck breast with wine geleé. The plate works through a clear set of pressures: richness held in check, technique applied to structure, and a familiar protein set against a precise wine element. Its success depends on control of temperature, texture, and proportion, while still leaving the dish in the realm of pleasure.
In Their Words “I think that mini vegetables—sprouts and all the baby ingredients are overrated, but most of all, it’s really the ingredients themselves that are misused.”
Honors
Recognition includes Best Chef.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Matteo
What is Matteo Salas's current role?
Matteo Salas is Chef at Áperi.
What is Matteo Salas known for?
Farm-to-table modern cuisine.
