Port Moody restaurant earns Mexico’s top culinary honour

On the porch of a converted heritage house on Clarke Street, Original’s Mexicano head chef Esteban Cuevas received one of the highest honours Mexico bestows outside its own borders: the Sello M, a seal of culinary authenticity, presented at a ceremony attended by Mexico’s consul general in Vancouver.

The award, issued by the Academia Mexicana de Gastronomía with backing from Mexico’s foreign ministry, made Original’s one of only six restaurants across B.C., Yukon and the Northwest Territories to receive it in the program’s first international intake — out of 22 applicants and 11 finalists.

Cuevas opened the restaurant in 2013 at just 21, originally planning a coffee shop before turning it into a full Mexican kitchen, teaching himself to cook largely through trial, error and long days at the stove. “It’s one of those things, where if you spend a lot of time and a lot of hours doing one thing, you become good,” he said.

What to watch next: whether the recognition brings new visibility to the small restaurant beyond Port Moody, and whether more Tri-Cities businesses pursue the designation next intake.