The arrival of the Michelin Guide to Mexico marked a breaking point. Not only because of the impact on the award-winning restaurants, but because, for the first time, Mexican haute cuisine was documented under a global magnifying glass. That lens is amplified in Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars, the Apple TV+ series that exhibits the intimacy of the culinary trade in cities like London, Copenhagen, Los Angeles and Mexico City.
In that universe it appears EMthe restaurant chef Lucho Martínezwhose voice emerges as one of the most frank and creative on the current scene. Their participation shows the daily life without filters: the real pressure, the life behind recognition and the conviction that a Star does not define a kitchen.but confirms it.
The origin of a philosophy: cooking without asking permission
While the series portrays the obsession of some chefs to achieve maximum recognition, Lucho introduces a different perspective. He does not romanticize the fight for the Star, nor feed the narrative of permanent sacrifice. Its relationship with the prize is deeper: it is a consequence, not a goal.
EM
“I didn’t start cooking for recognition,” he emphasizes naturally, remembering his beginnings at age 14. His position reveals the matrix of his philosophy: create by internal impulse, not by external validation. Cook from what you think and observe about the country, without adapting to the international mold of haute cuisine. That authenticity is part of the chapter dedicated to EM and Máximo Bistrot (Lalo García): restaurants that only seek to express themselves.
Although He assures that his cooking did not change after receiving the StarLucho recognizes a new type of responsibility: that of the voice. It is not technical pressure; It’s narrative pressure. Every dish and every decision now has a greater scope.
“Today I can reach more people by telling the story I have always wanted to tell,” he explains, aware that his visibility allows him to open conversations that previously could not transcend the restaurant room.
Michelinhe says, marks a before and after for the Mexican industry. But it also raises the uncomfortable question: Who do you cook for when everyone is watching? For Lucho, the answer is clear: for oneselffor his team and for the city that inspires him.
The challenge of filming a chef who does not repeat himself
If something distinguishes EM in the series, it is his permanent movement. There is no fixed menu. There are no dishes that last for months. There is no version replicated in other restaurants in the group. Creativity is a choreography that is never repeated.
Chef Lucho Martínez
That became a challenge for the film crew. “Every time they returned, the restaurant was different; there were dishes that no longer existed”he remembers between laughs.
This creative vitality is the identity of the restaurant and the reason why, within the group, no project is “the light version” of another. Repetition, for Lucho, would be the quickest path to mediocrity.
The series succeeds in showing something that is rarely recognized: the Star is not given to a name, but to a complete structure. Sous-chefs, cooks, dishwashers, waiters: they all support each service. And Lucho Martínez makes it clear: “It’s not just me. It’s all we do there every day.”
For him, one of the greatest rewards of the program is the possibility of your team being seen beyond Mexico. That visibility, he says, not only encourages, but reminds each member why their work matters.
CDMX as a culinary territory in effervescence
The presence of Mexico City in Knife Edge confirms something that diners have been feeling for years: the capital is experiencing a moment of gastronomic upheaval. It is a mature, demanding plaza with a culinary identity unlike any other on the continent.
Em
For Lucho, Michelin He raised the standard, but did not change the path. CDMX, he says, was already building its own discourse on haute cuisine, creativity and craft. The series only amplifies what was already evident here: Mexico cooks from a different place, where tradition, technique and risk coexist without labels.
Although its essence is motiontoday Lucho Martínez andIt is focused on consolidating what already exists. There is interest in moving EMbut there are no final decisions. The immediate objective is take care of the teamscontinue training talent and maintain the technical and conceptual demands that distinguish their kitchens.
Regarding the possibility of a second Star or recognition of other projects of the group, his response is sincere: “It may happen, but it doesn’t keep me awake.” Your attention is elsewhere: in continuing to cook without concessions, in pushing creativity and in expressing his vision of Mexico without filters.
Which Knife Edge shows is pressure, tension and competition. What Lucho Martínez contributes is the counternarrative: that of a chef who understands that the job goes beyond the prize. That the Star is not the destination, but a chapter. That excellence arises from the ability to change, not from the need to impress.
