Edwin Rodríguez, the Colombian chef who gave the chime in the Michelin stars

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Edwin Rodríguez (Bogotá, 1977) landed in Madrid 15 years ago with the idea of ​​getting to know all that gastronomic movement that was beginning to have an echo in the world.

"In principle, my idea was to go to France, but Ferran Adrià threw me more," he recalls with a laugh.

In those days, he slept in hostel rooms and 'One Hundred Years of Solitude', the famous novel by Gabriel García Márquez, was his only company.

"He had read it before, but this time I began to notice how many times he talked about products and ingredients...".

That was recorded in his head, without further ado.

His career in Madrid began at Loft 39, a restaurant on Calle Velázquez.

From there, and thanks to a colleague, he learned that

(El Bohío, one Michelin star) was with a new project and was looking for people.

"He interviewed me and he liked my career."

He was with him for 9 years.

.

He was the first with whom he spoke when last December they gave him the Michelin star at the gala that was held in Valencia.

Quimbaya, his restaurant on Zurbano Street, became the first Colombian in Europe to sneak into the gastronomic Olympus.

"My head almost exploded when they said Quimbaya," he remembers.

Her mother, with whom he kneaded the arepas as a child, passed through her at that moment, his wife Mari Luz Cabeza, partner and accomplice in all this, his team and his country.

"In recent years, already with a certain professional maturity, a concern arose in me to

and make my country's cuisine known."

In that reflection, still under Pepe's orders, "I dared to introduce a wink in the dishes with yucca or plantain."

He even set up a web page, where he posted dishes, recipes and texts, "I've always really liked writing."

He did it more than anything to satisfy his curiosity and give voice to a "very unknown" cuisine.

What he did not expect was to become

thanks to this showcase.

"Procolombia called me to attend Seoul and show contemporary Colombian cuisine."

She went for a week and stayed a month.

Back in Madrid, the embassy also contacted him.

"It was an opportunity to test and see the acceptance among the people of what he was doing. They were gastronomic pop-ups," he says.

The roasted scallop from the 'Hojarasca' menu.

After this came the London experience.

"I had to learn English."

He then closed the stage with Pepe Rodríguez.

"It was an incredible three years in that city."

Until Brexit came to turn everything upside down.

"I wanted to open my premises and I returned to Madrid, where I had always felt at home."

.

"We are two entrepreneurs. The uncertainty was terrible."

They endured as best they could and reopened with him in the kitchen and his wife in the living room.

"My chef could only be paid by the hour."

One day they had three tables and the next, one.

They created a cheaper menu, incorporated breakfasts with arepas as stars...

It's Wednesday.

Quimbaya's small and charming room is full.

The tables, barely eight, look at the kitchen seen where Edwin, with his cap -he collects them and for each menu, and there are already five, he has one- prepares, plates and observes everything that happens in front of him.

"

".

Boronia, fried red snapper and lemongrass.

Edwin's proposal tastes like yucca, panela, exotic fruits - he finds them in the Mercado de Maravillas, where he usually does his shopping - and coffee.

"The first menu I created was called 'Origin' and it was a way to have a first approach to Colombian cuisine."

Then came 'Herencia', where it reflected Spanish, Arab, African and indigenous influences.

In third place came 'Mestizaje' and the fourth menu was dedicated to 'Folklore' from the different regions of his land.

His latest proposal was born together with Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez, the one who accompanied him when he arrived in Madrid.

It's called 'Hojarasca', like the Colombian's first novel, and is made up of 12 plates that travel through Gabo's life and his magical realism.

From the Caribbean -the braised scallop marinated in achiote oil with tamarind and mango and the rice with coconut and lobster confit in coconut oil you take us to it- to the Pacific, passing through the Andes, Orinoquía and the Amazon, the bites where sweet and savory are constantly intertwined, inviting you on a journey full of memories that Edwin has been able to update without losing its essence.

There

as

(his version of his bread),

(with eggplant and ripe plantain) or

(Colombian stir fry).

"Each menu has its script," he explains.

Edwin Rodríguez, in the Quimbaya kitchen a few days ago.

rella Michelin, he says, was not high on his agenda.

In March 2021, the guide included them in the recommended restaurants.

"Achieving that seemed incredible to us. When they called us to go to the gala, we thought it was to experience that reunion with the sector."

And it was to name them and the reservation system collapsed.

He was not in any pool and perhaps that is why the recognition tasted like glory.

"You must not stop dreaming."

Quimbaya

.

Zurbano, 63. From Wednesday to Saturday.

Tasting menu price: 85 euros.

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