Led by Colombian chef Nicolas Solanilla, the winner of this year's American Express One To Watch Award, as part of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2025, is rooted in memories, curiosity and a desire to shake things up.
Ask a chef to trace the arc of their career, and more often than not, the story starts with a family member. Before the rigorous training at a culinary school or the gruelling climb from commis to head chef, it was the noisy family dinners and childhood afternoons spent helping a loved one knead, chop or stir which laid the foundations for future success. While many are keen to talk about these early influences, few go as far as Nicolas Solanilla, whose Guatemala City restaurant, Ana, is named after his maternal grandmother.
"This project started as an homage to my grandmother, who was my introduction to the world of cooking and who gathered the whole family around her table," explains the chef. "I wanted to create something that represented this: somewhere with real soul, which evoked memories and emotion. Ana is a profoundly personal place for me."
Ana started as a pop-up from chef Nicolas Solanilla more than five years ago
Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, Solanilla began his professional life in Brasilia, Brazil at 17 years old, working on private events while finishing school, but it was his return to Colombia that marked a turning point. "I came back to study gastronomy and I did some work experience in a very important restaurant. That's when I fell in love with the profession and the lifestyle that comes with working in a kitchen."
An outsider's take
At 25, Solanilla arrived in Guatemala, eager to discover a new culture and new flavours. "I explored the country with a tourist's curiosity. I tried recados [traditional Guatemalan sauces], tamales and Guatemalan tortillas, which are pretty different from those found in other countries," he clarifies.
This outsider's perspective has allowed him to differentiate his cooking at Ana from other modern Guatemalan restaurants. "I think the fact that I have no previous connection to the flavours of this country helps me to find a different angle," Solanilla explains. "For a local, an ingredient might be linked to a specific recipe or even a memory, but for me, it's a totally new thing to explore. This freer, more curious approach has allowed us to build a different kind of project, using ingredients in a less conventional way. This helps both locals and visitors to discover or rediscover the beauty of certain ingredients."
Still, those early memories of mealtimes in Colombia are hard to shake. "It's inevitable that certain memories, flavours or techniques from Colombia make their way into our cooking," he concedes. "I think this adds a personal touch."
Marrying ethics and aesthetics
Solanilla's understanding of food is almost anthropological: "As humans, I think our most profound connection to the planet comes from the food we share. It's a connection that doesn't discriminate between religions, social class or race. I think by understanding the food eaten in an area, we can understand its customs and idiosyncrasies."
A longstanding menu item, this heirloom tomato dish helped define the style of cooking at Ana
The dishes at Ana combine comfort and creativity, utilising both traditional methods and contemporary techniques. Dishes incorporate the best of the season, a challenge Solanilla relishes. "As a chef, it's fascinating to stretch your creativity by working within the limits of what's in season locally." He also takes inspiration from the past, looking at how ingredients were traditionally prepared. "The customs of our ancestors can show us how they adapted to the areas they inhabited."
The resulting dishes put local produce front and centre, with a strong eye on sustainability.
"We try to use every part of an ingredient to minimise waste and respect its origins. We believe that to cook well, you have to cook responsibly." Right now, Solanilla is experimenting with uses of loroco, a climbing vine native to Central America with edible flowers, which he intriguingly compares to a mix between black truffle and asparagus.
But it's the heirloom tomato that has continued to fascinate the chef since Ana's inception as a pop-up more than five years ago. "We found an organic heirloom tomato from a producer in Antigua Guatemala, where the tomatoes are left on the plants to mature, as they should be. We season them with black salt [found in the region of Quiché, this ingredient has been used since pre-Hispanic times; Ana's producer is the country's last remaining black salt artisan]. The dish also features raspberries, green grapes, fresh oregano from our garden and a smoked gazpacho made from scraps which would otherwise go to waste.
Solanilla's dishes combine a pared-back aesthetic with powerful flavours
"Through this dish, we are reevaluating an ingredient which is so crucial to Latin American culture, yet so undervalued. This was the dish that really helped us discover what cooking at Ana should be about."
Fine dining a lo latino
Solanilla's inquisitive approach extends beyond the plate. "We believe Latin American fine dining needs to be different: warmer, free from strict protocols and more personal. Discovering what fine dining means to us is a very personal journey. We're trying to find a new way to marry our Latin spirit with technical excellence.
"Dining at Ana is a sophisticated experience, but it's still fun," says Solanilla. There's no dress code and the music selection is carefully considered, the curation shifting to match changes in the restaurant's energy. "We want Ana to be a place where guests eat well, feel good and share something genuine."
Solanilla also has three other establishments in Guatemala City – Niquito (a more casual restaurant), Bacán (a bistro) and the recently opened Furia (a bar) – all born from his desire to offer spaces which are more accessible, both conceptually and economically. "Niquito, Bacán and Furia complement and are in dialogue with each other. It's been a challenge, but it's also been really exciting to see how our philosophy can exist in different contexts beyond fine dining."
Solanilla says the team is the heart of Ana
As Ana gains in recognition, Solanilla is redoubling his commitment to the principles which have guided him thus far. "As a team we're delighted and so grateful to have won this award. We're honoured to be recognised among so many incredible projects in Latin America, a region with such a strong and diverse gastronomic identity."
Despite the success, Solanilla won't be resting on his laurels: "We're determined to continue evolving, learning and staying true to what we believe in. After all, it's our authenticity, our respect for the area and our curiosity that have brought us this far. Those are the things that leave a lasting mark."
See the team in action:
Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 will be revealed from Antigua Guatemala on Tuesday 2 December.
