Spring is one of the most anticipated times of the year in gastronomy, as it brings an explosion of colors, flavors and aromas that invite us to enjoy the best that nature offers.
At Balcón del Zócalo, each change of season means a new tasting menu into which we pour all our creativity, innovation and passion for cooking, with courses, dishes, desserts and pairings to give our guests a unique culinary experience in Mexico City.
A new change of season has arrived, and with it, our spring tasting menu. This year we have called it “Paleta de Colores” (Color Palette) to refer not only to the diversity of ingredients and techniques that are always present in our proposal, but also to the diversity of personalities and opinions of the entire kitchen team that led us to a richer work in stories, in techniques and, in the end, in results.

Techniques and Products in our Spring 2023 Tasting Menu “Paleta de Colores”
Technique is always important when developing any dish. In our spring tasting menu, we seek to include fresher, raw and grilled processes. Also, a majority of white meat products and younger animals such as suckling pig, an increase in the volume of vegetable dishes, shallower reduction sauces, more citrus and fruit in general, more tropical flavors and a significant load of seafood.
This season we are also making use of many R&D processes. For example, we have 2-year-old preserved honeys that we had been saving for a good moment and what better occasion than to use them in spring and combine them with the use of flowers such as fennel bulbs, petals and edible flowers like colorín, which is present in a tortilla that had never been seen before.
We also prepared some fermented products, such as mead, and misos to provide flavors. In the creative process, we used concepts closely related to spring in Mexico, such as botanical gardens.

Food Sustainability
We live in an era in which sustainability must be present in all aspects of life. From our gastronomic trench, we also work on using whole products for food sustainability. For example, we take advantage of the viscera of the rabbits we receive and use them to create pâtés for one of the dishes on our menu.
Another example is the use of watermelon rind to make a cured product that helps us provide special touches, and the use of shrimp shells and waste that become an essential part of the flavor of a marine chicharrón that we have in the tasting menu.
We are in a moment where we must see how to take better advantage of the full product and not just a part of it.

Stories, Inspiration and Name of “Paleta de Colores” Dishes
Our tasting menus always tell a story. “Paleta de Colores” is full of stories and spring inspiration that led us to create dishes of flavors, aromas, textures and shapes that make us travel among gardens, flowers and happy memories. We have given each course a very particular name that helps us enjoy them even more.
We start with the avocado and poblano pepper mochi dish called “An Afternoon in the Borda Garden”, alluding to this beautiful space in Cuernavaca, Morelos. It is followed by “When the Poles Meet”, a fresh Baja oyster with mignonette, which means attraction when the sea and the sky meet in a beautiful sunset, like the ones we always have in the Baja California peninsula. Then comes the shrimp cracker and sea pickles, a dish developed by our chefs Edgar and Pepe, but with the help of a boy with a particular taste for fashion, so it is called “A Mondrian on the Malecon”, referring to this iconic dress by Yves Saint Laurent.
We also have the rabbit and orange tamale, a dish called “Fable without a moral”, followed by “With Melon or with Watermelon”, a watermelon mole that surprises all palates with its unusual mix of flavors. Then comes “Masquerades and Piglets” that alludes to the carnival season and the piglet that signifies purity, and we have the intensity of grapefruit in the “Citrus Paradis” menu’s mouth cleaner.
We close “Paleta de Colores” with sweet flavors. Then, we have “What Winter Left Us” with preserved tejocotes, and the Amalia chocolate cake with which we always end our tasting menus, and this time you will find it fresher and lighter with citric touches.

Pairing: Playing with Red Wine Tyranny
Pairing is especially important in any tasting menu, as diners experience a variety of flavors and textures in a short period of time. The right pairing can enhance the dining experience, creating harmony on the palate that highlights the unique flavors of each dish and beverage. In addition, it can help balance the intensity of flavors, preventing one drink or dish from dominating the others and allowing each to be appreciated individually.
In “Paleta de Colores”, our maître, Eduardo Figueroa, has opted to play with the tyranny of red wine that always sweeps the tasting menus and includes only white, rosé and orange wines—a completely different tasting experience.
In this way, the color palette also refers to the pairing and wines in our spring tasting menu.
If you love good food and are looking for an unforgettable gastronomic experience, you can’t miss what we’ve prepared in Balcón del Zócalo.
We look forward to sharing with you a unique experience in every bite!
Balcón del Zócalo Team
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