Siéntete como si estuvieras en una casa colombiana en Quimbaya

Edwin Rodríguez and his wife and business partner, Maryluz Cabeza, overcame numerous difficulties to achieve their dream of bringing the essence of Colombian cuisine to Madrid with Quimbaya, which has held a Michelin star and a Repsol Sun since 2022. The bare white walls with which they opened their doors in January 2020 were not an aesthetic choice, but an economic one: “We ran out of money; there wasn’t any for decoration. So we took advantage of the open kitchen. We welcome diners there. The first bite is eaten in the kitchen, also as a tribute to Colombian custom. It’s a reminder of my home in Bogotá; we were all in there. I’ve always wanted Quimbaya to be a little piece of our culture.”

Making a virtue of necessity, always with the enthusiasm that guides aspirations, climbing the ladder. Today the walls display handicrafts from his country: from the Zenú culture of the municipality of Tuchín (Córdoba) made in caña fleha, the same fiber with which the vueltiao hats are woven, a Colombian identity symbol in the world, or replicas of pieces from the Quimbaya culture, among them the famous poporo, star of the collection of the Gold Museum of Bogotá.

All the staff are Colombian, as are the coffee and the music. Empanadas, pandeyucas, and buñuelos will be familiar to many in Madrid. Given the large Colombian population, they can be found in places like the Moncloa transport hub. There are also restaurants serving ajiaco or bandeja paisa. Edwin Rodríguez draws inspiration from these and other flavors from different regions of the country for Quimbaya, a fine-dining restaurant with a broad and refined menu.

Their tasting menu includes fish tacacho with tucupi sauce, chorizo, carantanta (crispy corn fritters) with peanut chili, chichiguare arepa (made with purple corn) with hogao sauce, pandebono, and tamales, to name a few. There are also creations born from Edwin's life journey, a kind of fusion between his native country and his adopted country, such as lentil and barnacle hummus. For dessert, the coconut, chontaduro, and borojó dessert is captivating, and the meal concludes with sweets from different regions. Typical drinks like arrechón and viche, made from sugarcane by Afro-Colombian communities on the Pacific coast, are available. They also have a carefully curated wine selection.

A chef who graduated from SENA in 1996, he arrived in Madrid in 2007. “I found an opportunity after years of persistence. I started in a restaurant on Serrano Street in the meat section. It was tough learning from scratch, arriving in a country where, although Spanish is spoken, the way of understanding is different. This is most noticeable in the kitchen. They would tell me: 'Bring the chistorra from the cold room, it's next to the cecina.' And I was just as clueless.” After a stint at the Hilton Hotel, he landed a job with Pepe Rodríguez at El Bohío, the opportunity he had been waiting for: to work alongside a chef with a distinctive culinary vision and a Michelin star.

Projects and learning

Those were years of projects and learning. He discovered and embraced the cuisine of La Mancha, until he felt it was time to move on. “I was comfortable. I had a position, I was her right-hand man, I traveled, but I felt I needed something different; I call it professional maturity. (…) Maryluz, a psychologist, would ask me questions. Almost everything clicked, but there was a loose piece: what I was doing didn't excite me. On the other hand, she would say 'tamale' and my mouth would water.”

It took time to bring her proposal to fruition. She worked with ProColombia and the Colombian Embassy in Spain, participated in events both within and outside the country, created a website with recipes, and began to showcase what truly inspired her. “What excites me is the cuisine of my childhood, of my memories. I'm starting to break down how I want to present my country's cuisine. We have regions, products, customs, flavors, unique ways of eating. Curiosities.”

She spent a few years in London working with a restaurant group, but she kept dreaming about her project. “And people kept fueling the idea, asking me where my restaurant was. Since I didn't have one yet, I started offering private dinners and cooking classes.” At the end of 2018, they began looking for a location, a long and arduous process. “Walking the streets, contacting real estate agencies, searching and searching. The regulations impose many limitations; there's a limit on the number of spaces allowed for restaurants. Old buildings have protected facades and interiors and can't be altered. We had to understand all of that.”

The project lasted almost all of 2019, and the official opening was in January 2020. “We started with great enthusiasm, and on March 14th we were forced to close due to Covid. From then on, it was a period of uncertainty for a project that was pure entrepreneurship. There were six of us. You prepare for everything. You prepare for the concept not to be well-received, to make adjustments, but not to be confined to your home. We didn't even have the opportunity for people to say, 'I don't like it,' and to take on the challenge of improving. The project started to falter, and the debts piled up. A significant financial shortfall.”

Return

Like staging a comeback against the clock, they returned in September. “We had to get back on our feet little by little. I remember celebrating on December 31, 2020, that we were open. We made a menu that we still have, a collection of Colombian dishes for the end of the year, as a tasting menu: tamales, lechona, ajiaco, Caribbean coconut rice, turkey…”.

They started 2021 with a still somewhat irregular clientele. In May, they received a message from the Michelin Guide; notifying them that they had dined at Quimbaya and would include it as a recommended restaurant, but in October they were invited to the gala held in Valencia. In a moment as unexpected as it was exciting, they received their first Michelin star, which they still hold. In February 2022, they received their first Repsol Sun.

Uncertainty gave way to times of satisfaction, though always striving to remain grounded. How do they manage? “By remembering that we started from scratch. We believed in a project, we made it a reality, then Covid arrived and tested us. So we wholeheartedly embraced the concept of Colombian flavors, a tribute to my late mother's cooking. Quimbaya is a tribute to signature cuisine, not to the cuisine of chefs. I speak of signature cuisine as a tribute to my mother's, to all mothers and grandmothers, to the cuisine of traditional cooks. A tribute to their ability to open the cupboard or the refrigerator and prepare something delicious with whatever is available. Because in one house, food is eaten one way, and in the house next door, it's eaten differently. How many ways are there to make beans in Antioquia? Some add panela, others pumpkin, others plantain, pig's trotters, cabbage, citron… whatever is available. That's signature cuisine, the cuisine of that home. Keeping that in mind keeps us grounded.”

It's his way of showcasing his Colombian pride and the concept of a cuisine inspired by the flavors of his country: arepas, lulo, sobrebarriga. "For a critic to appreciate these dishes, to be surprised and to recognize us, is a great honor. Yes, it's recognition for me as a chef, but also for the restaurant, its team, and Colombian cuisine."

In 2022, ProColombia named Edwin a Country Brand Ambassador, and the Colombian Embassy in Spain recognized him as a star Colombian. “But, I insist, I remain focused because I know where I started. It has been a process of effort, of believing that dreams come true, but only through hard work. What happened four years ago was wonderful, but I can't live off that. In fact, today the demands are greater. Before, people would tell me: you deserve a star. Today, they come to validate the recognition. It's no longer the guide that demands it, it's the people, the media, who come to understand, to learn, people with expectations who travel miles to taste our food, a great responsibility. Yes, I hope they remember Edwin Rodríguez, Quimbaya, but the most important thing is that they leave with the best taste of Colombian cuisine.”

In their fifth year (tenth menu), there's a certain tranquility, but the challenge remains. Gratitude also remains for his mother who, without asking, enrolled him in culinary school. Without seeking it, Edwin found first a trade, then his way of life. Today, they continue learning, adapting to the seasonality of local products, and maintaining their goal of promoting Colombian cuisine. “We've grown as entrepreneurs, and also in the culinary world. Things that didn't happen before, now they do. I travel around my country exploring, learning, supporting cooks. That's our guiding principle: to tell the world what Colombia tastes like. Everything we do, everything we participate in, everything we go, we define strategically with that purpose in mind.”