There are encounters that happen not by agenda, but by affinity—when a shared sensibility brings people together before anything else. That is how the collaboration between Samos and Propio came to be: not as an exercise in visibility, but as a natural conversation between three chefs who share a way of understanding Mexico through the kitchen. Chef Nayeli Caballero visited Propio; Alex Chávez and Shary Romo arrived at Samos. What emerged was not a menu of additions, but a dialogue—each dish carrying the distinct voice of the chef who interprets it.
The collaboration unfolds at Samos, the restaurant on the 38th floor of The Ritz-Carlton, Mexico City, where sweeping views of Chapultepec Park and Reforma’s skyline set the tone. A setting that does not intimidate, but rather invites a certain level of depth—cooking with character, with intention, with roots.
What connects these two kitchens is not a singular style, but a shared philosophy: the belief that contemporary Mexican cuisine evolves when it is respected without becoming static, when it is reinterpreted without losing its essence. That is both the promise and the achievement of this encounter.
The Minds Behind the Collaboration
SAMOS · THE RITZ-CARLTON
Nayeli Caballero
Executive Chef · Samos
Originally from the State of Mexico, with roots in Santa Martha Ocuilan and Xalatlaco, Nayeli built her culinary identity through intimate memories: the smoke rising from clay pots, the intensity of chiles, the texture of seeds ground in a molcajete. With over 20 years of experience, she has worked in ultra-luxury kitchens such as Zadún Ritz-Carlton Reserve in Los Cabos, Grand Velas, and JW Marriott Cancún before taking the lead at Samos, where she reinterprets Mexican cuisine with sophistication, sensorial depth, and profound respect for ingredients.
PROPIO · COLONIA ROMA
Alex Chávez
Co-Chef & Founder · Propio
Originally from Chihuahua and trained at Universidad de Durango, Alex found his true culinary education at Quintonil, under Jorge Vallejo, and later at Ixi’im / Chablé in Yucatán. Recognized as Emerging Chef of the Year 2024 by the MB100 guide and nominated for the 2025 MexBest Awards, his cuisine at Propio is direct, honest, and deeply flavorful. At Samos, he brings a contemporary northern perspective that has already shaped Roma’s dining scene.
PROPIO · COLONIA ROMA
Shary Romo
Co-Chef & Founder · Propio
A pastry chef by instinct and a cook by calling, Shary is originally from Monterrey and trained at the Instituto Culinario de México. Her time at Quintonil and Eleven Madison Park in New York shaped both her technical rigor and international perspective. At Propio—recognized in the Michelin Guide and a sister restaurant to Botánico—she translates northern family cuisine into a contemporary language. Her desserts are, as many describe them, small masterpieces of memory.
“More than an exchange of dishes, this collaboration is a meeting of perspectives: an invitation to rediscover familiar flavors through a new lens, where each kitchen reinterprets the essence of the other through its own identity and sensibility.”
— Chef Nayeli Caballero, Samos
The Collaborative Menu
A sequence of dishes that moves through different expressions of Mexican cuisine with depth and subtlety. Each preparation becomes a mutual reinterpretation—one chef’s hand over another’s recipe.
Starters
Brûléed Sweet Potatoes
Piloncillo caramel · fresh cheese
Cured Kampachi
Recado negro · ash aguachile
Fried Green Tomatoes
Soy marinade · parmesan crust
Garden Salad
Celery shoots · snow peas · orange dressing
Main Courses
Octopus
Chapulín sauce
Arrachera
Tlayuda with asiento · chile mole · red salsa
Dessert
Corn Monkey Bread
Brioche · corn cake · caramel · pecans · burnt vanilla ice cream
Propio: A Kitchen That Defines Itself
Located at Álvaro Obregón 182 in Roma, Propio opened in 2024 with a clear intention: to serve what its chefs truly love to cook and eat. Its name is not incidental—it is a statement of purpose. After several projects that did not materialize, Alex and Shary found in their partners the trust to build something genuinely their own.
Both trained in the kitchens of Quintonil—where Jorge Vallejo instilled discipline, rigor, and vision—and with experience at Eleven Madison Park in New York, the duo brings to Roma a proposal that balances northern roots with international technique, without excess. Nominated for the 2025 Gastrolab Awards as Best New Restaurant and recognized as Emerging Chefs of the Year by MB100, in just two years they have become a defining presence in Mexico City’s dining scene.
Its open kitchen, plant-filled terrace, and seasonal menu—shaped by available ingredients—create an intimate atmosphere where dinner feels like visiting friends who happen to cook extraordinarily well.
The Setting
Samos
The Ritz-Carlton, Mexico City · 38th Floor
Thirty-eight floors above Paseo de la Reforma, with Chapultepec Park stretching into the horizon and the castle nearby, Samos is the contemporary Mexican dining concept of The Ritz-Carlton, Mexico City. Under the direction of Nayeli Caballero, it has become a meeting point where Mexican tradition is reinterpreted through a contemporary, sophisticated, and deeply sensorial lens.
Recognized for its elegant atmosphere, impeccable service, and dishes that highlight seasonal ingredients, Samos has built a tradition of collaborations with guest chefs. Paco Ruano, of Alcalde, was one of them. Now, it is Propio’s turn.
Address: Paseo de la Reforma 509, Col. Cuauhtémoc, 38th Floor
A New Way of Understanding Luxury
What this collaboration reveals—beyond the menu, beyond the names—is that the most compelling Mexican gastronomy today does not compete: it recognizes itself, invites others in, and grows through exchange.
Samos and Propio embody this idea, showing that contemporary luxury is not defined by distance, but by proximity—by food that moves you, that carries history, that tastes unmistakably real.
