Credit: Phaidon Press Limited
10 Minute read
21 May 2025
has written books that span the full range of his culinary journey—from the high-wire artistry of Mexico from the Inside Out to the intimate, everyday warmth of Tu Casa Mi Casa. But his newest title, Sunny Days, Taco Nights, may be his most joyful yet.
At first glance, the book’s cover—sun-drenched, casual, and cartoon-colored—hints at its playful soul. But beneath the easygoing tone lies something deeper: a quiet thesis on why tacos matter. “This is not a coffee table book,” Olvera says. “It’s for cooking—outside, with people you love.” Equal parts personal memory, street food ode, and home cook’s guide, captures the spirit of a dish that, in Olvera’s words, “belongs to everyone.”
For a chef whose name is synonymous with , one of the world’s most acclaimed fine dining restaurants, writing a cookbook about tacos might seem like a pivot. But for Enrique Olvera, it’s a natural continuation of a lifelong story—one that began in the markets and and continues today in backyards and home kitchens around the world.
“Tacos are like pizza or pasta now,” Olvera says. “They’ve become universal.” But as taco culture has spread globally, Olvera saw a growing hunger to return to the roots. Not necessarily to mimic the exact experience of eating al pastor off a , but to recreate the feeling. “We asked ourselves: if you can’t make tacos exactly like you would on the street, what’s the next best thing you can do at home?”
Sunny Days, Taco Nights is his answer: a cookbook that documents Mexico’s most iconic tacos—pastor, suadero, carnitas—while offering smart, . There’s no pressure to hand-press tortillas or build a charcoal spit in the backyard. Instead, the book suggests easy swaps and techniques that honor flavor and tradition without intimidating the reader.
And for Olvera, it’s personal. “We recognize now that people want to cook Mexican food at home,” he says. “So this book is an invitation—to enjoy good weather, good company, and good tacos.”
Crunchy Al Pastor Taco. Credit: Araceli Paz
For Olvera, tacos aren’t just food—they’re a lens for understanding culture, migration, and memory. “The ,” he says, “is that it’s adaptable.” That adaptability, he believes, is what allows tacos to belong to everyone while still holding onto their deep Mexican identity.
In Sunny Days, Taco Nights, tacos become a vehicle not only for flavor but for storytelling. “How you cook is a reflection of your values,” Olvera explains. A taco can be humble or luxurious, nostalgic or boundary-pushing. It can hold French onion soup flavors in one bite, Korean bulgogi in another. It can be found on the highway between with a half-corn, half-flour tortilla—or reimagined in Spain with black garlic and vegetables in place of pineapple.
It’s this dynamic cultural layering that makes the taco, to Olvera, “the great equalizer.” Rich or poor, carnivore or vegetarian, in Mexico City or Madrid—everyone can find .
And yet, the simplicity belies complexity. “You can dig very deep into a taco and make it your life’s passion,” he says, noting that subtle differences in corn nixtamalization, acidity, and even technique can lead to dramatic differences in the final bite. In that way, tacos mirror their culinary cousins—pizza, sushi, pasta—humble foods elevated through care and intention.
While Sunny Days, Taco Nights offers broad cultural insight, it’s also deeply personal. Some of Olvera’s favorite recipes in the book connect directly to his childhood memories—none more so than the taco de ejote, or green bean taco. “My mom used to make a lot of ejotes for a simple lunch,” he recalls. “We ate it with tortillas from the tortillería next to our house and some chile ancho—nothing fancy, just delicious.” That nostalgic combination made its way into the book not out of culinary ambition, but because it represents a feeling: of family, of home, of comfort.
That same emotional core drives the book’s broader aim: to help people create meaningful food experiences at home. For Olvera, —it’s a shared moment. “Nobody cooks tacos for themselves,” he says. “This is a book you cook with your friends, in the garden, with good music and sunshine.”
Despite his global reputation and fine-dining credentials, Olvera insists this —it’s for the kitchen. It’s a book to stain with salsa, to mark with sticky notes, to pass around. A book, like the taco itself, made for gathering.
Potato Flautas. Credit: Araceli Paz
If Sunny Days, Taco Nights has a mission, it’s to remove barriers—to cooking, to sharing, to understanding on a deeper level. Olvera isn’t trying to replicate street food experiences perfectly at home—he knows you’re not roasting meat on a spit in your backyard or grinding corn with a volcanic stone. Instead, the book offers the “next best thing,” giving readers recipes that honor tradition while meeting them where they are.
That philosophy extends to tortillas too. “If you can’t make nixtamalized masa at home,” he says, “there are great options now—masa harina from brands like Masienda, or tortillas from your local taquería.” This balance of accessibility and reverence underpins the entire book. It’s not about chasing authenticity in a rigid way—it’s about recognizing the soul of the dish and making it work in your life.
For Olvera, tacos are endlessly adaptable—but always meaningful. “Even the ,” he notes, “is a representation of things that don’t belong together—kebab techniques, pork, pineapple—and yet, it works beautifully.” The taco becomes a metaphor for cultural exchange, a testament to openness and evolution. In a world of division, the taco—humble, inclusive, delicious—brings people together.
As Olvera puts it simply: “Food belongs to everybody.”
Growing up in Mexico city, Olvera found a passion for cooking early, leading him to pursue an education at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York. In 2000, he returned to his home in Mexico City and opened Pujol. The restaurant quickly gained international recognition for Olvera’s innovative approach to traditional Mexican cuisine, combining ancient techniques with modern gastronomy. Pujol’s expression of modern Mexican fine-dining tasting menus and Olvera's meticulous attention to detail have earned Pujol a place among the world's best restaurants, ranking high consistently on the The World's 50 Best Restaurants list. Pujol holds two Michelin stars and is considered an institution that both inspires and exists within a new and innovative era for Mexican restaurants and cuisine.
Olvera’s influence can be felt far from the plate also: with his homeland undergoing hardships and societal struggles over recent decades, Mexican food has been brought out of the shadows to lead a cultural revival. What started with a re-evaluation of food, away from stereotype and cliché, spread to other areas of culture, like film, theatre, art, and music. For Olvera, food and gastronomy has become a form of resistance against violence and crime, to forge connections between people and become a positive force in society.
Opened in 2000 after Olvera graduated from culinary school, Pujol has since gained legendary status as a standard bearer for modern Mexican gastronomy. An ever present on The Word’s 50 Best Restaurants list, the restaurant holds two Michelin stars. The menu is constantly changing according to the seasons. Olvera makes a point of working with and championing local Mexican producers. One of his famed innovations is Pujol’s omakase taco counter, where guests can observe chefs dedicated to the beloved Mexican tradition and see it elevated to new gastronomic heights.
Olvera's influence extends beyond Mexico City and Pujol. He is the creative force behind several other successful ventures, including Cosme in New York City, which showcases his flair for combining Mexican flavors with contemporary techniques in a new and exciting ways. One of the most sought-after reservations in New York City, the restaurant’s sleek, modern atmosphere provides a perfect backdrop for a new, innovative yet respectful Mexican cuisine. The kitchen team at Cosme features a constant stream of young talent that Olvera mentors to be the next generation to represent Mexican cuisine globally.
His restaurants Molino el Pujol, a tortilleria dedicated to the important Mexican tradition, and Eno, both in Mexico City, bring Olvera’s gastronomic excellence to casual mini franchises that are more affordable and accessible in an urban setting.
Tradition is the main ingredient in all of Olvera’s cooking, but the chef is no slave to dogma and always innovates, looking for a higher expression of his native culture though food. At Pujol's taco omakase, guests ae invited to engage deeply with the important Mexican tradition, something Olvera also endeavors to preserve at Molino el Pujol. But the real creativity of the chef is seen in Pujol's ever-changing seasonal tasting menu where guests are invited to try traditional dishes elevated to fine-dining status, like scallop ceviche with egg salad or grilled Baja coast rockfish with butternut squash puree and sherry foam.
One of Olvera's best known expressions is his Mole Madre, Mole Nuevo dish, a traditional mole full of spices, peppers, fruit, and nuts, simultaneously simple and delicious yet incredibly complex. The dish is plated with a central ring of mole, surrounded by a darker circle of mole, aged for over a thousand days, served with fresh tortillas, perfectly encapsulating Olvera's passion for combining the ancient with the fresh and new.
In addition to his restaurants, Olvera has authored several cookbooks such as the hugely popular Tu Casa Mi Casa: Mexican Recipes for the Home Cook and appeared on various television shows including Chef’s Table and MasterChef. His dedication to celebrating and elevating Mexican cuisine continues to inspire chefs and food enthusiasts around the world. Through his innovative spirit, active mentoring, and respect for tradition, Olvera has made a huge contribution to shaping the landscape of modern Mexican gastronomy.
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