Food and travel writer Natalia de la Rosa pays a visit to Gastromotiva Mexico – a new stop on the 18 to 35s Real Mexico trip for 2025.
It’s a lovely November afternoon in Mexico City. The air is starting to change, and an end-of-the-year spirit is taking over the streets of Centro Histórico, the city’s oldest and most beautiful neighbourhood. I’m heading to Gastromotiva, a socially minded culinary school project that started 14 years ago in Brazil. I heard about the project in 2016 when it landed in Mexico City, where I live, but I have never visited, and I’m curious about what they are up to these days.
The culinary centre is a couple of blocks away from Lagunilla, an economically and socially complex area known for its homelessness and vulnerable population. This is the neighbourhood that Gastromotiva calls home.
Cooking with a purpose
Chef Ameyali González, 29, is the operational coordinator of Gastromotiva, and Chef Marat Aguilera, 36, is a culinary educator. They greet me with open arms. As I walk into Gastromotiva’s headquarters, all I can smell is the aroma of cooking. Chef Marat is busy setting things up with his kitchen brigade, and everybody follows him through the kitchen. I jump at the opportunity to peek into the bubbling chicken stew and the steamy rice that Martín Resendiz, 60, and Karla Melchor, 50, are cooking. They both belong to Gastromotiva’s crew of volunteers for the soup kitchen project, Comidas Solidarias.
‘Today we are cooking chicken a la poblana and rice with veggies,’ says Chef Ameyali as we sit down for a chat. I am here to learn about Comidas Solidarias’ efforts to feed those in need. ‘We started during the pandemic, back in 2020,’ she tells me. I remember those days – the panic shopping, the uncertainty. I remember reading a story about them in the news at the time and learning that they were feeding first responders as well as people experiencing homelessness.
Ameyali tells me Comidas Solidarias is essential to Gastromotiva’s efforts to provide food to its immediate community and transform lives. Every day, Comidas Solidarias’ culinary team prepares around 100 meals to donate to children’s homes and shelters in the area and to homeless people who struggle to survive in the streets around Lagunilla. ‘The children of Casa Hogar Renancimiento [a nearby children’s home] receive 50 meals daily,’ says Ameyali. ‘We also provide meals to nearby shelters where some former Gastromotiva alumni live.’
A recipe for success
Throughout our conversation, Ameyali keeps rocking her lovely one-year-old baby, who sleeps peacefully in the stroller. I can tell that she leads by example. Chef Ameyali is among several of Gastromotiva’s success stories. She wanted to attend culinary school but couldn’t afford it. ‘I first heard of Gastromotiva via social media, and at that time, around eight years ago, I was in a very vulnerable and precarious situation. I felt I needed a sense of direction. So I attended Gastromotiva’s three-month-long entry-level cooking course, and after that, I secured a cooking position at a restaurant. Then, I was able to put myself through culinary school.’
Like her, each of the Comidas Solidarias crew has a similar story. For all of them, cooking has been a way to escape trouble, survive, or learn to make a living. ‘Cooking transforms people’s lives. I have seen it with my own eyes,’ says Ameyali. To this day, Gastromotiva’s Comidas Solidarias program has delivered more than 90,000 meals in Mexico City.
‘Cooking transforms people’s lives. I have seen it with my own eyes.’
Observing the Comidas Solidarias crew reminds me of my days as a culinary student. The camaraderie with your fellow kitchen brigade, the back and forth from the stove to the prep station, the closeness to that beautiful feeling that is feeding other people. Like them, I have always believed cooking is a labour of love and nourishment.
I approach Chef Marat; he has set up all the ingredients to prepare guacamole, that ubiquitous Mexican side everybody loves. As he chops the chillies and smashes the avocado in a bowl, he tells me of his dreams and expectations for Comidas Solidarias. ‘What I dream of the most is feeding more people. That’s why we are here. However, we can only do what we do with the support of donors like The Intrepid Foundation.’
According to the data from the Welfare and Social Equality Secretary, there are currently over 1100 people experiencing homelessness in Mexico City, most of them concentrated in the Cuauhtemoc bureau, right where Gastromotiva is. The organisation’s location, then, is strategic – allowing them to relieve the community most in need. ‘Without the support of our donors, Comidas Solidarias wouldn’t be what it is today. It wouldn’t even exist,’ adds Ameyali.
Dishing up hope
The guacamole is ready, and everybody joins in for a snack. The chips are heavy with the green dip; someone says it needs a bit more spice, but everyone enjoys it. And that is the thing: however simple it might be, cooking also brings people together.
‘The Comidas Solidarias team likes it when we have visitors from abroad. Everybody interacts with each other, and we bond over preparing guacamole, which is basic cooking, but it’s easy to prepare and tasty. Most importantly, the team gets to meet who is behind the support we get. And, on the other hand, the visitors get to see how their donations and support truly change lives and give people a second chance,’ adds Ameyali as we wrap up.
Meanwhile, the Comidas Solidarias crew is already busy plating the day’s meals. Today, Casa Renacimiento’s children will have a delicious chicken stew and Martin and Karla’s rice, which has been cooked to perfection. I can tell each dish is plentiful, nutritious and balanced, prepared by a community that cares – and they care because they relate.
‘Solidario’ in Spanish refers to someone who shares other people’s causes and burdens. I’m happy to have shared, if only for a few hours, the sense of purpose and empathy a project like Comidas Solidarias has. I can only wish for Chef Marat’s dream to come true: more solidarity and more meals for Mexico City.
You can share a dip that does good at Gastromotiva Mexico City in 2025 on the Real Mexico trip for 18 to 35s. Find out what else is new for 2025 with The Goods.
