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Diacá

Guatemala City

• Flor de Caña Sustainable Restaurant Award 2022

Contemporary experience exploring the roots of Guatemala’s biodiversity

On the Pass

Debora Fadul

Pastry Chef

Sindi Lopez

In a nutshell: With its name literally meaning ‘from here’ in Spanish, chef Debora Fadul’s Diacá offers a seasonally changing eight-course tasting menu of contemporary Guatemalan fare. To honour the importance of ritual in ancestral cuisine, it hosts an altar to the country’s native ingredients, such as native maize and melipona honey. It is this kind of produce-centric attitude that earned the restaurant the Flor de Caña Sustainable Restaurant Award 2022.

What’s the space like? Located on the rooftop of an emblematic industrial-vintage building at the heart of urban community 4 Grados Norte, the space has a modern and clean vibe, but several beautiful 100-year-old coffee plants hanging from the ceiling also lend it an earthy current that transports diners to the roots of Guatemala.

About the experience: Diacá offers an emotional gastronomic journey that combines native and local ingredients with modern techniques into a plant-forward menu. Diners interact with their food through storytelling and guessing games aimed at creatively unveiling details about the country's culture and ingredients. The experience as a whole reflects on the connection between humans, nature, food and the impact that these have when mindfulness is brought to the table.

Who’s the chef? Fadul’s connection to the land runs deep. Inspired by coffee flavour profiling, she created her own ‘anatomy of ingredients’, a methodology she uses to study flavours in Guatemalan ingredients, helping her understand and communicate them. In 2020, Diacá was recognised in Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants’ El Espíritu de América Latina collection, and in 2022, Fadul was honoured among the world’s food and drink pioneers as part of 50 Next.

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