Gringa’s First Huapango

Ft. a review of Quintonil, the 3rd best restaurant in the world

My fellow gringos and gringas,

I’m coming at you off the tails of a really special week of music-making in Monterrey as part of the Orchestra of the Americas!

This residency marked the capstone of my Artist Diploma with OAcademy. And while I struggled immensely to balance the demands of the program with the day job and the night job, we did it, and this residency made it so worth it.

As I shared last week, it felt like a full-circle moment to be immersed in another world-expanding educational setting, almost exactly a decade post-Interlochen. I was reminded of how much I love being in a learning environment. For me, it helped reinstill a growth mindset filled with learning, accountability, and a community of young emerging musicians—a nice reprieve from the real world of gigging with crotchety toxic besties thrice my age.

One of the biggest highlights of the week was working with our incredible brass section head, José, who was a total icon that brought equal parts rigor and joy. He preached going back to the basics, starting with breathing. We spent hours working on taking full, juicy breaths (a technique I hadn’t practiced in years), energizing the air through the horn without tension, and letting good flow lead us toward intonation, balance, phrasing, color—and finally, storytelling and artistry.

He reminded us that beyond technique and tone, being an artist means staying inspired, telling stories, engaging with art, and creatively solving problems to express ourselves more fully. As someone who scolds myself for lacking structure in my day-to-day life, as no two days ever look the same, something clicked when he said that. Maybe me creatively navigating through life is a superpower? Maybe I don’t need fixing?!

All to say, José is the man, and I’ve decided to practice a bit of harmless revisionist history and choose to end my crazy Gigging Season here, on this high note, rather than a few weeks ago which was a bit of an epic crash and burn across the finish line.

Gringa’s First Huapango

Throughout the program, I tried to bring openness, support, and presence—even though I often felt like I was just surviving, often logging on camera-off to virtual sessions to conserve energy. However, this residency was so reassuring in making me feel like a valuable member of the program.

For one, the academic lead of the program approached me during a break, saying she’d noticed my contributions throughout the program. Then, I was selected to participate in a photoshoot to represent the orchestra. And then, the big one: I was assigned first trumpet on our encore, Huapango, which is a traditional Mexican folk anthem that’s an absolute banger and features a fat trumpet solo. Check out this recording led by Gustavo Dudamel at BBC Proms (solid recording, though he’s probably still salty we at NYYS beat him for el Grammy…)!

During our first rehearsal with esteemed conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto, we began to play through Huapango, and right after my solo, he cut off the orchestra. He motioned at me.

“What’s your name?”
“Yael.”
“Where are you from?”
“Nueva York!” I grinned.
He broke into a huge smile.
“That was amazing! You play like you’re from here!”

The orchestra erupted. Afterwards, local musicians and audience members came up to embrace me and say I sounded Mexican—the ultimate compliment.

After the concert, I thanked Maestro.
Him: “You did amazing. You have a beautiful sound.”
Me: “I hope we cross paths again.”
Him: “I’m sure we will.”

I came out of it feeling like such a stud, but it was also a reminder that I’m just the luckiest little duck out there. I have been showered with beautiful and formative musical experiences, and somehow it’s still happening and I continue to be blessed. The music gods must be obsessed with me because they simply will not let me quit. Every time I think I’m cooked and am ready to call it, they’re like nope and throw another life-affirming experience my way.

Like Interlochen all over again, I leave Monterrey with a bigger worldview, a bigger heart, and a big question: How do I take this feeling and use it to keep leading with goodness, long after the program ends?

Big love to Monterrey for being such a generous host, and huge shoutout to the local trumpet player in my section, Enoc, who was so freaking kind (a rarity among the trumpet breed), who was supportive of this gringa huapango-ing, and would surprise us with local treats everyday—a prince among men.

A final shoutout must go out to the life-changing barbacoa tacos I had at Tacos El Amigo Barbacoa 100% De Res. They had some of the all-time best meat, so flavorful and succulent that even Mexico City’s taco scene cannot hold a candle to them.

Speaking of life-changing…..

I ate at the #3 ranked restaurant in the world.

I’m currently vibing in Mexico City, eating like it’s my full-time job—I can’t wait to lie to my trainer next week and say this was a strategic dirty bulk!! Perhaps next week I can go into an overview of my ambitious week of eating my way through CDMX, but today I wanted to spotlight my crazy splurge meal of the trip: dinner at Quintonil, the #3 ranked restaurant in the world.

Firstly, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I was really stressed in the days leading up to the meal because I had badly burned my tongue on scalding hot chocolate a few days prior and was praying my taste buds would get their shit together in time… simply so me-coded. My taste buds mostly healed by my reservation and I was determined to at least bring my A- game to the table.

It was a gorgeous space with high ceilings, light wood panels, and green marble tables. I sat at the bar overlooking the large open kitchen where I was mesmerized watching the team of chefs make sauces in copper pots and meticulously plate elaborate dishes with tweezers to get everything just right.

As a disclaimer, I tend to not be a huge fan of expensive fancy shmancy restaurants, as I’m always considering the shekel-for-shekel value of my meal. Often, I’ve found that fancy French gastronomic meals with lobster foam and caviar aren’t worth. However, when I ball out, I tend to gravitate towards non-White non-Western cuisines. I want beloved, humble food elevated to the extreme, I want crazy bold flavs, and I want to be pushed to eat ingredients I typically never would. This meal hit all three.

Something I notice at these truly exceptional restaurants, and that Quintonil did so beautifully, is they strike a balance of so many elements in each dish, such as: umami, sweet, salty, acidic, herbaceous, textured, spicy, funky, color, presentation, etc.. And despite the complexities and the synergies, the purity of the star ingredients still shine so bright. This was the second most I’ve ever spent on a meal, clocking in at ~$260 (not including drinks), and in my opinion, it was worth it.

Without further ado here’s the rundown of the meal (** = fav dish alert):

Amuse-bouches aka snacks:

1. Chileatole soup with corn, kohlrabi, Mexican tea herb, serrano chile, and cilantro

Notes: sweetness of corn and herbaceousness of cilantro forward, spice of Serrano lingering, giving light fresh foamy herbal

2. **Crispy taco with kampachi, lacto-fermented mushroom, and a Oaxacan grasshopper-chili paste

Notes: like a perfect fishy cannoli, love the funk of the mushroom (and the grasshopper?!) but it doesn’t overwhelm the raw fish, nice light crispy shell as a perfect vessel that adds some texture

3. Plantain boñuelo with escamoles (ant larvae that are considered Mexican caviar and indeed add a bit of salty burst like fish roe aka salty popping boba), and agave honey cream

Notes: TLDR a plantain donut with honey glaze, love the creme fraiche at the bottom balancing out the sweet-ish fritter, it’s a little spongey but very light and flavorful… kind of like a Mexican gulab jamun!!!

Apps:

1. Pickled mussel tartlet with mole made of scallop, artichoke, and guajillo chile

Notes: sauce tasted like liquid uni #umamibomb, mussel tasted like a perfect scallop, another perfect crispy tart shell vehicle to add texture

2. Melon and tomato salad with horchata, pumpkin seeds, and a brown butter infused with rice vinegar

Notes: tbh I’m not a huge melon gal but the dish was super fresh, the butter and pumpkin seeds added depth, the hint of rice vinegar came through nicely, the horchata got a bit lost which is a shame because I’m obsessed with horchata… interesting combo overall with lots of harmony

3. Pipián verde with sunflower seeds, makrut lime, Thai basil, yellow zucchini salad with miso mayo and blue corn tostadas

Notes: got too excited and forgot to take a pic until I was about to take my first bite whoops… lime forward and very fresh, zucchini texture of noodles is fun… they love a fun texture moment here!

Building momentum:

1. **Yuca gordita with Yucatan bola cheese, wagyu chicharrón with chicatana ants, fermented creme fraiche, and mojo verde

Notes: tasted like the world’s fanciest mozz stick… 10/10 I loved and the salsa cut through the richness of the fried cheese of it all perfectly

2. Barbacoa-style branzino with cocopache (stink bug) sauce, cauliflower puree with plankton sauce

Notes: such soft tender fish and crazy crispy skin, nice mild cauli sauce, slight char was really nice, this dish was less flav explosions than most of the other ones but perfectly executed

3. Lime and cactus sorbet with corn husk and salt

Notes: palette cleanser, so fresh, tastes like nopales, sharp af like almost wasabi nose burn, kind of like a cactus-y frozen marg… consider my palette ~cleansed

Mains:

1. **Pibil pork tamal wrapped in banana leaf with a bean reduction, shiso salsa, young corn foam, and onion ashes

Notes: oh yes, this is it… the corn foam is so pure, tamale so silky, pork so umami and rich but thin like the best jus of your life with a kick, this one tastes like a hug, big big umami bomb with corn and porkiness purity shining through… the sweetness of the corn foam mixed with the jus made a viscous mixture that tasted almost like a teriyaki sauce idk what’s going on this is unreal

2. **Roasted duck with coconut manchamanteles mole (featuring apples, pears, apricots, coconut milk, chile medley) with a caramelized pineapple herb salad

Notes: spoke too soon, this might be the best dish of the night… almost like a chicken tikka masala curry wtf probably the best most complex sauces I’ve ever had I’m shook, so many layers of complex yet complementary flavors, hat’s off to the star of the night: the saucier >>>>>

Desserts:

1. Crème fraiche ice cream infused with Yucatan honey, passion fruit compote, feuilletine, and caviar

Notes: these bitches love creme fraiche but I’m not mad about it… creamy and lightly tangy, honey had notes of tangerine peel, caviar on top added texture (again with the fancy popping boba) and salt and extra-ness, tartness of the passionfruit cut through the creme fraiche, crispness of the feuilletine added more texture, pretty phenomenal work here

2. Mexican cornbread with mascarpone cream, eggnog, vanilla, passion fruit, and corn ashes

Notes: super duper corn forward which is fun, a little boozy from the eggnog in case you weren’t already properly sloshed, passionfruit cuts through the richness of the nog nicely and complements the corn with a bit of acidity and sharpness, another example of complex but pure which we love

3. Ping guava pâte de fruits with chile dust, chocolate, caramel, papaya tartlet

Notes: can barely breathe at this point, everything is executed at a super high level but couldn’t finish these final nibbles, waved the white flag

Fin.

TLDR huapan-go spend all your money at Quintonil,

Yael