Oro by Nixta is one of the 20 Best New Restaurants of 2024. Co-owners Gustavo and Kate Romero are this year’s Sustainability Stewards for their work to spotlight heirloom corn and fight against the crop’s industrialization.
At Oro by Nixta, chefs Kate and Gustavo Romero lean into the versatility of humble corn. The restaurant, which opened in the spring of 2023 in Minneapolis, highlights corn in nearly every dish on the menu. Specifically, Mexican heirloom corn—the Romeros are on a mission to preserve Mexico’s 59 heirloom varieties from being lost. (By comparison, the US grows only four varieties of corn, despite producing a third of the world’s supply.)
“There’s a tendency in this country to think that Mexican food like corn tortillas should be cheap,” said Kate. The Romeros want to change that narrative. “The difference between commercial corn and heirloom corn products is like Wonder Bread versus a sourdough baguette.”
On Oro by Nixta’s menu: Gorditas, tamales, chochoyotes (a type of masa dumpling), and, of course, fresh tortillas—in a variety of vibrant colors reflecting the diversity of its sourcing, like blue Bolita corn from Oaxaca and pink Xocoyul from Yucatan. The Romeros are making the case for not only the power of biodiversity, but also the spiritual importance of corn to Mexican cuisine. “The first time I tried Mexican food in this country, I thought, This is not what we eat,” said Gustavo, who grew up in Hidalgo, Mexico, a central state north of Mexico City. “Corn is bigger than us [at Nixta], and the way we can protect it is by showing how versatile it is, its many uses.”
BA spoke with them about their mission, why corn is such a powerhouse, and how they’re using their restaurant to educate diners about Mexican food.
Bon Appétit: What fuels your work at Oro by Nixta?
Gustavo Romero: We realized a lot of people in the Midwest never had a good tortilla. There was a lack of understanding for what we were doing—and we’re in the middle of corn country. We were doing things that were new for folks, even the farmers we worked with. For multicolored corn, some people thought we were selling burnt tortillas, but they were just made of blue corn. We realized that we’d need to educate people about why corn is so central to what we do.
We import most of our corn from Mexico. There are 59 Mexican heirloom varieties, and we’ve used about a third of that—some varieties are just too difficult to source in large quantities. We process and cook about four different-colored varieties for tortillas and other masa-based dishes. Our favorites are blue Bolita corn and pink Xocoyul. Their texture is soft and pliable.
BA: How would you compare commercial corn to the heirloom corn you use?
Kate Romero: The difference between commercial corn and heirloom corn products is like Wonder Bread versus a sourdough baguette. We want people who would pay for the superior quality of a baguette to understand that it’s worth doing the same with heirloom corn tortillas.
GR: The price of heirloom corn tortillas is higher because it’s harder to source and harder to ship to us here in Minneapolis. But it’s a better product. It tastes more complex, and you don’t need to eat as many to feel satisfied. It’s also more nutrient-dense—calcium, potassium, and niacin are all further activated by its distinct version of nixtamalization, a process that’s been around for centuries.
BA: What's the future of heirloom corn in the US?
KR: Heirloom corn used to be so much more abundant here, but then the US started industrializing corn production, and now only 2 percent of this country’s corn is heirloom. Between poisoned soil and lack of education on corn biodiversity, it’s going to take some time for the US to increase heirloom production.
GR: We’ll use local US-grown heirloom corn when we can find it.
KR: The University of Minnesota is researching how to adapt heirloom varieties for the state—soil testing, seed testing, that kind of thing. They brought us in, along with people who work with corn across the country, to test and critique the corn they’ve produced.
BA: Mexico recently moved to ban importing genetically modified corn, saying that it hurts Mexican people and Mexican culture. How does the work you do reflect those sentiments?
GR: In the ’80s and ’90s, industrialized corn hurt Mexico’s farmer economy, and it affected diet—people started using wheat flour instead. The country is only just beginning to recover from that time. Industrial corn doesn’t just cover the corn people can get at the grocery store. It’s also corn starch, high-fructose corn syrup, animal feed, corn oil.
We’re using heirloom corn because it tastes better, but it goes beyond that. This is our way of protecting corn: Showing how versatile it can be, how diverse the crops are, and how we can transform it in our kitchen. We’re nixtamalizing our corn, which is an ancient process that helps humans digest corn and absorb all its nutrients. But it’s not only a process; it’s also our culture. Our goal is to help people experience how we experience Mexican food.
BA: What else excites you about your menu?
KR: We always ask, “Why?” Why are we using the ingredients in a certain way? Why not try a different approach? We have a mole-inspired dessert, a rehydrated pasilla chile stuffed with pan de elote (chocolate and corn brownie), served with Nutella powder, peanut brittle, and caramelized bananas. There are limitations on the products we have access to. In this part of the country, the farther away you are from the border, the harder it is to be traditional. But that’s our strength. We don’t have a single dish elevating corn more than any other because we try to use corn in everything on the menu—90 percent of our dishes feature corn in some way.
BA: It all started with tortillas for Oro by Nixta. But you’re pushing boundaries on Mexican food as a whole now. What does that feel like?
GR: Our cooking isn’t traditional Mexican food but Mexican the way we see it, informed by techniques combined with our memories and experiences. We’re lucky we can go back home to Hidalgo every year, and also visit Mexico City, to see how Mexican cuisine has evolved. That’s what drives us at Nixta: finding cultural connections and interpreting them our way.
