For years, Andrés “Peluche” Torres He toured markets, inns and streets to tell about the food from the diner’s perspective. Today, the creator of La Garnacha que Apapacha and from the series Santas Garnachas on Netflix takes a key turn in his career: he becomes a restaurateur with the opening of Grasso, his first own gastronomic project in Mexico City. In an exclusive interview with El Economista’s Bistronomie, Torres recognizes that the movement involves taking risks that he previously observed from the outside.
Located in the Santa María la Ribera neighborhood, Grasso represents the step “on the other side”: from documenting popular cuisine and other people’s businesses, to assuming the operational, creative and economic risk of having a restaurant. In exclusive interview with Bistronomie from El EconomistaTorres recognizes that the decision responds to a long-term personal and professional concern.
“Content is still my axis and it is what I enjoy doing the most, but for a long time I wanted to diversify, get involved in other things and experience food also from entrepreneurship,” he explains.
Grasso: Italian influence, Mexican ingredients
Grasso was born as a pizza and pasta space with Italian influencebut tropicalized with Mexican ingredients and flavors. From the concept to the menu, the intention is clear: generous slices, comforting cuisine and a place designed to eat without solemnity. It is not a traditional author’s project, but a restaurant that seeks identity from the everyday.
Andrés “Peluche Torres” – La Garnacha que Apapacha
The project was developed together with a group of partners equally passionate about food. Torres details that the original idea evolved organically until it finds its final form.
“At first I thought of something closer to tacos or carne asada, but the process itself He took us towards the pizzas. The name and the concept ended up defining the path,” he points out.
From gastronomic discourse to the reality of the restaurant
The opening of Grasso also implies a change of perspective for Torres, who for years defended a clear position as a creator: not charging for visiting restaurants and not speaking badly about places. Today, from the other side of the barthat vision takes on a new meaning.
“When you have a business you understand everything behind it: families, employees, investment, daily pressure. A comment can affect much more than it seems,” he says in an interview.
This learning, he acknowledges, already influences his way of seeing gastronomy and content. Grasso does not replace Garnacha than Apapachabut it does dialogue with it: it is the materialization of years of observing, tasting and telling about food from the outside.
What to order in Grasso?
Although the menu is designed to be shared and explored, there are dishes that serve as a presentation letter for the project. Generous dough pizzasdesigned to be ordered by the slice or in the center of the table, are the axis of the place: they combine Italian technique with direct and unpretentious flavors. Added to this are the pastas, which reinforce the comforting character of the restaurant and dialogue with the concept of well-executed everyday cuisine.
Grasso Restaurant
Among the starters, the croquettes have become one of the most requested dishes, ideal for whetting your appetite and understanding the informal spirit of the place. To close, tiramisu stands out as one of the most celebrated desserts: classic, forceful and aligned with the idea of not complicating what already works. Overall, Grasso proposes a menu without artifices, designed to return more than once and order differently each visit.
Santa María la Ribera, the new setting
Grasso joins the gastronomic transformation of Santa María la Ribera, a neighborhood that In recent years it has become a point of interest for new food projects. The restaurant opens at Jaime Torres Bodet 264, within a housing complex, with hours from 3:00 in the afternoon to 11:00 at night, and active communication through social networks.
In the economic context of 2026, opening a restaurant isTorres acknowledges, a conscious bet.
Grasso – Pizza and Pasta Restaurant
“To open a restaurant today is to take a real risk: costs, staff, rent and operation. I knew that It wasn’t the easiest time.but I also wanted to experience that reality first-hand and not just tell it,” he says.
For Torres, this opening does not represent a closing of the cycle, but rather a natural expansion of his work.
“I don’t stop being a creator, but now I also have to be on the side of the fireservice and payroll. It is another responsibility and another learning,” he concludes.
