20 May 2026
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The team at Huniik, a fine dining pioneer in the city of Mérida, likes to think of their service as an act of theater with the prominent open kitchen as center stage.
“Everything is planned,” says Rodrigo Caltenco Núñez, the front of house chief. “There's a script ready, the ingredients are prepared and everyone knows when to enter. All that's needed is for each actor to be in their place and to start putting things where they belong.”
With a small service team of just five, Caltenco puts on a show that is at once familiar and refined, with 12 courses telling the story of Yucatecan cuisine and the most exquisite form its ingredients can take.
“In each dish, we strive to balance technique, ingredients and the chef's vision, using the local area as our primary tool to tell a story through food,” he says.
Caltenco’s ability to translate the region’s cooking to his guests has earned him this year’s MICHELIN Guide Mexico Service Award, sponsored by Mestres. The restaurant’s staging is one of his greatest assets.
Designed by Cuban artist Jorge Pardo, the restaurant flows freely inside dramatic stone walls, with a broad wooden counter in the back where guests can watch the kitchen prepare its artistic platings.
“The fact that diners can see us in action makes the experience much more intimate,” Caltenco says.
“Fine dining is often perceived as perfection, order and precision, but when you see the open kitchen, something more natural also emerges: the smoke, the movement, the chef's passion for cooking, the team's concentration and the energy of the service,” he adds.
Dinner service begins when guests walk through the door. Caltenco and his team greet each diner with fresh rose-infused water to clean their hands — an act of care, but also one meant to prepare them to eat with their hands, an essential part of Mexican culinary culture.
The tasting menu is presented in an unhurried manner, leaving guests with the feeling that they can linger and learn, Caltenco says.
But behind the scenes, Caltenco preaches efficiency to his team. “In the end, our philosophy is always the same: to be fast and friendly,” he says.
“The most important thing is attitude: that people are enthusiastic, that they enjoy what they do and that they can convey that to others.”
Caltenco began in the restaurant industry as a waiter, where he says he learned that service was his calling.
“I realized that it was very natural for me to talk about techniques, dishes and chefs' ideas, and to be able to share them with both the servers who worked with me and the customers,” he says.
He came into the world of Huniik’s Chef/owner Roberto Solis, the dean of Mérida fine dining, in 2022, to help with New Year’s service at Solis’ more casual concept, Nectar.
At the time, Huniik was struggling to draw an audience. Under Solis’ leadership and Caltenco’s service direction, they staged a second act that led to their success today.
“We made a very clear decision: our goal wasn't to work for money, but to take the restaurant as far as possible,” Caltenco says. “We want to show the world that this city has great food, great service and so much to discover.”
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Hero image: This year's MICHELIN Guide Mexico Service Award winner, Rodrigo Caltenco Núñez. © Huniik
