20 May 2026
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Priscila Moreno, the head bartender at Máximo in Mexico City, likes to build her cocktails with surprising local ingredients. There’s avocado leaf in a sour, toasted corn husks in a martini and a variety of chiles appearing up and down the drink list.
“We are excited to explore traditional Mexican ingredients and reinterpret them through our own vision, adding a distinctive touch to each creation,” she says.
At one of the capital city’s most beloved restaurants, her experimentation has paid off: Moreno is the winner of this year’s MICHELIN Guide Mexico Exceptional Cocktails Award.
Moreno had a knack for hospitality from a young age.
“I'm passionate about that ability to anticipate and fulfill needs,” she says, “listening to people and offering them what they're looking for, even through ingredients they haven't yet encountered.”
Her entrée into the restaurant world came as a bar assistant, and she later took a job as an assistant at Máximo, back before the bistro had moved to its current soaring warehouse space.
After working her way up in the kitchen, Chef Eduardo García, known as Lalo, and his partner, Gabriela López, invited her to join the bar team, where she has served, since 2020, as the chief.
Moreno designs two menus each year to coincide with the winter — “intense and enveloping,” “more structured and complex” — and the summer, when Mexico City temperatures reach into the high 70s and daily rains turn the streetscapes especially green.
“This menu is inspired by the abundance of Mexican culinary herbs, as well as the complexity of chilies, exploring intense flavor profiles deeply connected to the country's identity,” she says.
The Tres Chiles Spicy, a piquant riff on an old fashioned, reflects her interest in discovering and synthesizing multi-note Mexican flavors into cohesive, understandable drinks.
The drink starts by fusing three chiles (morita, ancho and guajillo) into a cordial over the course of two hours. Then traditional bourbon, sugar and Angostura bitters are stirred in along with some blanco tequila, for an extra Mexican touch.
“This cocktail aligns perfectly with Chef Lalo's philosophy: starting with a great product and maximizing its potential with minimal intervention,” Moreno says.
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Hero image: MICHELIN Guide Mexico 2026 Exceptional Cocktails Award winner Priscila Moreno. © Jose Miguel/Máximo
