A downtown Salt Lake City restaurant has become the first in Utah to receive Mexico's Sello M distinction, a recognition given to restaurants outside Mexico that preserve traditional Mexican cooking. Monarca, run by chef Alfonso Brito and his wife Claudia Brito, earned the honor from the Mexican Consulate, which had scheduled a presentation at the restaurant for noon on Tuesday.
The Sello M Gastronomy Certification is an honor awarded by Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mexican Academy of Gastronomy, according to valleycentral.com, which reported on a similar award given to a McAllen, Texas restaurant earlier this month. The distinction is meant for restaurants that strictly preserve ancestral cooking techniques, use authentic ingredients and serve as cultural ambassadors of Mexican gastronomy, per that outlet's reporting. The ceremony at Monarca, located at 268 S State St., Suite 110, was organized by the Mexican Consulate in Salt Lake City, according to Panas en Utah, which reported that Monarca would become the first restaurant in the state to obtain the distinction.
As KSL.com reports, restaurants seeking the Sello M must demonstrate that their food is based on Mexican recipes, made with Mexican ingredients and traditional techniques, and prepared by workers trained in authentic Mexican cooking. Antonio Cruz Díaz, acting general consul of the Mexican Consulate in Utah, said the recognition requires rigorous evaluation of a restaurant's recipes, ingredients, techniques and trained staff, per the outlet.
A Family Restaurant Built From a Taco Cart
Alfonso Brito is from Veracruz, and Claudia Brito is from Mexico City, according to the same Panas en Utah report. The family opened Monarca in 2021, following the growth of Santo Taco, their first restaurant. Claudia Brito told KSL.com that the family started with a taco cart, then moved to a food truck, before eventually opening Santo Taco.
Alfonso and Claudia Brito now own two Santo Taco taquerias, located in downtown Salt Lake City and Rose Park, per KSL.com's reporting. Santo Taco was featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, hosted by Guy Fieri. The couple has four children, and Alfonso Brito has said he hopes to eventually pass the family food business on to them, while also hoping to open one or two additional restaurants, the outlet reports.
Veracruz Flavors, A Barcelona Résumé
Monarca is named for the monarch butterfly and offers what Panas en Utah describes as contemporary Mexican cuisine that combines tradition and innovation, drawing on the cuisine of Veracruz's coast. Per KSL.com, the restaurant prepares food from scratch, avoids canned ingredients, and changes its menu regularly. The kitchen uses the traditional nixtamalization process to prepare corn for tortillas, relying on corn sourced from Oaxaca, Mexico, along with other products sourced locally in Utah, according to the outlet's reporting.
Alfonso Brito's culinary background includes three months at Cocina Hermanos Torres, a three-Michelin-star restaurant in Barcelona, according to Panas en Utah. Claudia Brito told KSL.com that the family sees the restaurant as a way to bring a piece of their culture to their customers.
Part of a Growing List Beyond Mexico's Borders
Monarca joins a Sello M list that, per KSL.com, includes 38 other recognized restaurants in the United States, with 17 of those concentrated in the Los Angeles area. The distinction, according to KSL.com, functions as an initiative of the Mexican foreign ministry to promote authentic Mexican food around the world and can be granted not just to restaurants but also to food trucks, food booths, and pop-up or catering operations. Each Sello M seal is awarded for a two-year period before the restaurant is reassessed, according to windsorstar.com, which reported that Taquería Ajúa received its Sello M presentation on Sept. 18.
The recognition has been spreading well beyond Utah in recent weeks. Momole USA in McAllen, Texas received its Sello M certification from the Mexican Consulate on Sept. 2, described by valleycentral.com as the only restaurant in South Texas to receive the distinction. In Evansville, Indiana, La Campirana earned its Sello M designation in late August, with evansvilleliving.com reporting that the restaurant joins a list of more than 200 restaurants across the world and that Mexican consular authorities planned to formally present the award there on Oct. 30.
