El Cardenal’s M.B.G.
In the Historic Center of Mexico City sits a culinary museum of sorts. No, it’s not an actual museum, but a restaurant dedicated to the preservation of traditional Mexican food. Welcome to El Cardenal. While the restaurant is known for its delicious food and fantastic service, let’s take a moment to get to know the people behind it.
This is Marcela. Marcela grew up, alongside her five siblings, in Mexico City. Their mother and father were Olivia Garizurieta and Jesús Briz. Garizurieta was from Veracruz and Briz was from Michoacán, two very different provinces. When the two married, they moved to Mexico City and opened El Cardenal. Thus, beginning the first chapter of their family heritage.
Olivia and Jesus came from two very different provinces, and in Mexico each state has its own unique food culture and gastronomy. So, when the couple opened El Cardenal, they both brought their cultural foods to the table.
It was a tiny little restaurant, that sat next to the National Palace in Mexico City. Drawn to the cultural foods of Briz and Garizurieta, people flocked towards the small eatery.
The couple began showcasing different ways of eating that were previously forgotten in the city. Marcela remembers her mother’s cooking- the succulent smell of fideo seco and the nuttiness of escamoles, a Mexican delicacy.
She can recall them serving hot chocolate made with a molinillo and fresh baked bread warm from the oven and served with nata, a cream made from boiling and skimming fresh milk.
Despite their popularity, the restaurant still faced its fair share of problems. New to the restaurant business, the couple had to learn how to run things from the ground up. Through out the years they encountered a variety of problems from government regulations to economic crisis. After one problem, they moved the restaurant to its current location in the Historic Center of Mexico City.
Marcela and her siblings grew up helping in the restaurant, eating their mother’s cooking, and attending school. Some stepped away from the restaurant, having families and lives of their own. Some stayed. Marcela herself went on to work in government and earn a masters and a PhD in political sociology. But she was always in touch with the restaurant and her family’s heritage.
It was only when El Cardenal received a proposal to open more locations that Marcela fully returned to the restaurant. It’s been twenty years since then. As the PR manager for the restaurant, she’s worked alongside her siblings to open an additional 4 locations.
By the opening of their most recent location, Marcela and her siblings had inherited the family restaurant. While the times have changed, the siblings have faced problems both similar and different to that of their parents. Now there is more competition from other restaurants. Additionally, the growth and expansion of the family business has brought more customers, but it has also brought more employees. In 2020, the world going on rapid lockdown, the siblings quickly realized the weight of their situation. They had 800 employees on staff, but the restaurant had to close for everyone’s safety, and it remained closed for three months.
El Cardenal was the main source of income for many of its employees. And so, despite the additional financial strain, all 800 employees remained on retainer for the duration of the restaurant’s closing. Thankfully, El Cardenal is back up and running and Marcela and her siblings have their eye on the future.
So next time you’re in Mexico City, make sure to say hi to the El Cardenal family and check out what they’re doing next!