A story of dedication, mistakes, breakthroughs and unwavering passion defines the career of chef David Suárez Estrada. At the heart of La Makha, the Mediterranean cuisine with a Colombian soul that defines the restaurant, his philosophy comes through: turning cooking into a language to tell the stories of a territory.
Who is David Suárez Estrada
His name has become synonymous with elevated Colombian cooking. But that elevation does not come from pretension. It comes from a deep understanding of global technique, a palate trained in some of the world’s best kitchens and, above all, a genuine connection to the native ingredients of his own land. David Suárez does not cook from ego, he cooks from curiosity and from origin.
Chef Suárez Estrada’s path was not a straight line, but a mosaic of experiences that shaped his judgment:
The years of training in Europe
Like many chefs of his generation, David understood that reinterpreting his own culinary culture first required mastering the universal language of technique. His time in Spain and France was decisive. In kitchens holding Michelin stars, he learned discipline, the importance of a precise mise en place and how to handle top quality product. There, he did not just learn how to cook. He learned to think of cooking as a system of processes, flavors and textures orchestrated with precision.
The search for his own voice
Even so, something was still missing. Perfect sauces and exact cooking times were tools, but they did not tell a story of their own. That professional moment of introspection is when his return to Colombia began, not a physical one but a conceptual one. He started asking himself how the great European masters would apply their techniques if they had Colombia’s overwhelming biodiversity at their disposal. That question became the obsession that would define his career.
The return to his roots
Coming back to Colombia was not just a change of location, it was an almost ethnographic immersion into the territory. David became a relentless traveler within his own country. He went through local markets, spoke with traditional cooks in remote towns, spent time with Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, and discovered fruits, tubers and herbs he had never encountered before. That stage was decisive, it was the moment the technician became a storyteller.
His philosophy and vision
“Technique in service of the ingredient, never the other way around.”
That idea sums up chef David Suárez Estrada’s philosophy. His inspiration does not start in an avant garde recipe book, it starts in the land itself.
For David, the creative process begins at dawn, in local markets. There, alongside the people who grow and harvest the produce, he finds his true muse: a chontaduro at its exact point of ripeness, a criolla potato of a deep yellow color, a specific chili from a village in the Amazon. These are the starting points of his creations. He listens to the product first, then designs the dish around it, aiming to bring out its essential flavor rather than cover it up.
Many of his dishes are a dialogue between memory and technical training, a bridge between nostalgia and technique. In that sense, he is a bridge between the countryside and the city, between Colombia and the world. He has shown that it is possible to be deeply local and openly global at the same time, honoring a tradition-rooted cuisine without giving up the tools that modernity has to offer.
That same vision goes beyond his restaurant. His true legacy lies in having put Colombian gastronomy on a new map, not as an exotic cuisine, but as a chef-driven cuisine with its own identity, technique and depth.
Signature dishes
That philosophy translates into very specific dishes, where technique always stays in service of the ingredient. A yuca puree that recalls the one from his childhood, passed through a fine sieve and finished with a chicharrón powder that heightens its flavor. A sancocho that is not served as a soup, but presented with its elements laid out separately, inviting the guest to rediscover a familiar flavor from a new angle.
That same logic runs through the restaurant’s current menu:
- Crocante de maíz: arepa made from native corn from the Montes de María, base for a fresh tuna tartare from Bahía Solano, with orellana mushroom emulsion, sorrel paste and salt flakes from La Guajira.
- Confit octopus: glazed with a rooftop herb chimichurri over a corn puree, with a white garlic sauce made from aged almojábana.
- Stracciatella de búfala: made with buffalo milk from Planeta Rica, with garlic smoked peas, a fennel and orange mousse and confit San Marzano tomatoes.
- Porkbelly: cooked in three separate stages for a crisp exterior and juicy interior, finished with a black garlic and huacatay glaze.
- Arroz y res: carries a soy cured egg yolk that brings creaminess to the dish.
- Lamb: stuffed pasta glazed with its own bone jus, finished with a goat yogurt and Paipa cheese foam.
- Desserts: the chocolate cake with pork salt and the coconut and coffee flan close out the experience with that same logic of contrast between sweet, smoky and acidic notes.
The clearest expression of this vision is the seven course tasting menu, a planned journey through Colombia’s ecosystems in which David selects the most representative ingredients from each region and applies techniques like dehydration, fermentation, sous vide cooking and foams to intensify their essence and tell a coherent, compelling story.
Reservations
The best way to understand chef David Suárez Estrada’s vision is to sit at his table and let his creations tell the story of a country, bite by bite. That experience takes place inside La Makha, the flagship restaurant of Binn Hotel in El Poblado, Medellín, where the interior design by studio INTO, under the direction of Andrés Martínez, and the open kitchen carry the same quiet confidence that defines the culinary concept.
Hours
- Breakfast: daily, from 6:00 to 11:30 a.m.
- Dinner: Monday through Thursday, from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, from 6:00 to 10:30 p.m.
- Sundays and holidays: closed. There is no lunch service.
To reserve, you can write to [email protected] or call +57 604 3220289. You can also follow the restaurant’s culinary story on Instagram, at @lamakharestaurante.
Experience Cocina de Origen at La Makha Restaurant and reserve your table in El Poblado
