La Makha’s may seasonal menu: seasonal ingredients and new creations

Every month, La Makha reinvents itself. May brings new ingredients and new stories on the plate.

La Makha’s menu doesn’t have a fixed publication date. It changes when the ingredient changes — when the Pacific catch brings in a different species, when the creole corn from the Montes de María hits its best point, when the seasonal oyster mushrooms arrive with a texture they won’t have in other months. May in Colombia has its own climate conditions and its own harvest peaks, and that shows up in what chef David Suárez Estrada puts on the plate.

This guide covers what Colombia produces in May, how that translates to La Makha’s menu, and what to expect if you visit the restaurant during this month.

May in the Colombian pantry

Colombia has two main climate zones that don’t share the same rainfall and harvest cycles. May marks the start of the rainy season across much of the country — which in gastronomic terms means ingredients with higher moisture content, greater sweetness in some fruits, and specific fishing activity along the coasts.

• Colombian Pacific. May is active season for white fish and prawns along the Tumaco and Bahía Solano coasts. Warm currents favor larger catches with more defined flavor.
• Montes de María. May rains support creole corn production and hibiscus flowering. Flowers dried during this period have higher concentrations of anthocyanins — the pigment that gives the Arroz Meloso its burgundy color.
• Antioquian Andes. First-semester rains favor the growth of oyster mushrooms and other local fungi. It’s also a good period for rooftop herbs in the Caribbean and pennyroyal in Antioquian gardens.
• Caldas and Boyacá. Lamb from Caldas has stable availability year-round. Boyacá’s Paipa cheese has no marked seasonality either — its artisanal production is constant.
• Amazon. May precedes the peak of wild açaí harvest, but Amazonian communities maintain availability of copoazú and camu camu throughout the first semester.
• Córdoba and Caribbean coast. The buffalo from Planeta Rica produces milk and dairy products with year-round stability. The buffalo stracciatella available in May has the same profile as other months — an advantage of that region’s cattle farming.

“The menu is a gastronomic map that updates with the seasons, ensuring freshness and respect for natural cycles.” — La Makha · BINN Hotel

The dishes on the May menu

La Makha’s May menu starts from the base menu with traceable ingredients, adjusted according to what arrives each week from producers. The dishes below are from the current menu — some have ingredients with seasonal particularities that are noted.

• Stracciatella — Peas · Fennel · Pennyroyal. Planeta Rica buffalo stracciatella with smoked peas, fennel and orange mousse, confit San Marzano tomato and pennyroyal oil. In May: pennyroyal from Antioquian gardens is at its best during the first-semester rains. The pennyroyal oil that finishes this dish has greater aromatic intensity than in dry months.
• Corn Cracker — Arepa · Oyster mushrooms · Sorrel. Creole corn arepa from the Montes de María with Bahía Solano tuna tartare, oyster mushroom emulsion and La Guajira salt. In May: May rains in the Montes de María favor creole corn. Bahía Solano tuna is in active season — May is a good month for catches of optimal size and flavor.
• Octopus — Almojábana · Rooftop herbs · Leek. Confit La Guajira octopus with rooftop herb chimichurri and aged almojábana ajo blanco. In May: Caribbean rooftop herbs — grown in containers on house rooftops — have greater vigor during the wet season. The May chimichurri has more color and more aroma.
• Ceviche — Chontaduro · Watermelon · Mandarin lime. Pacific white fish with chontaduro leche de tigre, pickled watermelon and plantain chips. In May: Pacific white fish has high activity in the first semester. Chontaduro from Pacific communities has stable availability — it’s a fruit without a narrow seasonal window.
• Oyster mushrooms — Corn · Goat · Güatila. Sweet corn cake with pickled güatila, goat yogurt foam and smoke powder. In May: oyster mushrooms are at their best in the first-semester rains. Locally grown fungi in Antioquia reach greater size and firmer texture with May’s humidity — the dish has more body.
• Catch of the day — Prawns · Mandarin lime · Purple basil Fresh. Pacific fish with house-made rigatoni, Tumaco prawn coconut sauce and fresh white cheese. In May: the most variable dish on the menu — the fish species changes based on what arrived that morning. During active Pacific season there’s greater diversity of available species.
• Arroz Meloso — Seafood · Coconut · Hibiscus Creamy black rice with Pacific prawns, Caribbean shrimp and squid, coconut foam and hibiscus powder from the Montes de María. In May: hibiscus from the Montes de María blooms with the first rains of the semester. Flowers dried in May have higher concentrations of pigment and citric acid than in dry months — the burgundy in the rice runs deeper.
• Flan — Coffee · Viche canao · Bitter orange Coconut flan with candied sunflower seeds, coffee toffee and bitter orange cream. With artisanal viche canao from the Pacific. In May: viche canao has continuous artisanal production in Afro-Colombian communities on the Pacific coast. It has no marked seasonality — it’s a distillate made year-round with methods that don’t change.

Why the menu changes every month

• Rainy season in the first semester. May marks the start of the wet season across much of Colombia. Rains activate harvests of mushrooms, aromatic herbs and some fruits that wouldn’t be available with the same quality in the second semester.
• Fishing activity in the Pacific. The first semester is active fishing season on Colombia’s Pacific coast. Tumaco, Bahía Solano and La Guajira have higher volumes and greater variety of catches in these months, giving the chef more options for the Catch of the Day.
• Hibiscus and aromatic plant flowering. The Montes de María have their first flowering cycle in the first semester. The hibiscus dried and powdered for the Arroz Meloso, and the pennyroyal that appears in the stracciatella, both have greater aromatic intensity during this period.
• The daily menu always varies. Beyond monthly seasonality, the chef adjusts the menu based on what arrived from producers that morning. The Catch of the Day can be three different species in the same week. What appears in this guide describes the base menu and its May-specific ingredient particularities — not a guaranteed fixed menu.

What may be different compared to other months

Visiting La Makha in May has specific characteristics compared to, say, October or December.

The Catch of the Day will have a wider variety of Pacific species. During active fishing season, the chef receives more options from the morning’s catch and can choose the species at its best point that day. The dish always features house-made rigatoni and Tumaco prawn coconut sauce — what changes is the fish.

The oyster mushrooms may have more body. Locally grown fungi in Antioquia develop with more vigor during the wet season. A dish that in December has medium-sized mushrooms may arrive in May with larger, firmer ones.

The hibiscus powder in the Arroz Meloso may be more intense. Flowers dried during the first-semester flowering period concentrate more pigment and citric acid than those from dry months. The burgundy in the rice can run noticeably deeper.

The seasonal cocktails may reflect May’s ingredients. The bar works with the same philosophy as the kitchen: seasonal Colombian ingredients in signature preparations. In May, pennyroyal and Caribbean rooftop herbs are at their best — they may appear in drinks that wouldn’t be available in other months.

Frequently asked questions about La Makha’s May menu

Does La Makha’s menu change every month?

Yes. La Makha adjusts its menu continuously based on the seasonal availability of fresh origin ingredients. There’s a stable base menu with the main dishes, but the fish species in the Catch of the Day, the available herbs and some secondary ingredients vary according to what arrives from producers each week.

Which Colombian ingredients are in season in May?

May is active fishing season in the Pacific, a high-vigor period for oyster mushrooms and local fungi in Antioquia, hibiscus flowering in the Montes de María, and peak production of rooftop herbs in the Caribbean. All of these ingredients appear in La Makha’s current menu.

Can I know the exact May menu before visiting La Makha?

The base menu is available at binnhotel.com. The seasonal adjustments — which species is the Catch of the Day, which mushroom variety arrived that week — are known when you get to the restaurant. It’s part of La Makha’s origin cooking concept: the menu responds to what arrived that day, not to what was planned weeks ago.

Does the tasting menu price change in May?

No. The 7-course tasting menu keeps its price of $330,000 per person ($420,000 with pairings) regardless of the month. Seasonal ingredients are incorporated at no extra cost as part of La Makha’s seasonal cooking philosophy.

Is it worth visiting La Makha specifically in May?

Yes. May has several gastronomic advantages: active Pacific fishing, oyster mushrooms at a good moment, hibiscus and aromatic herbs at their first-semester peak. For a guest interested in seasonal ingredients, May offers a menu with greater intensity in these specific elements.

Discover the restaurant on La Makha’s page at BINN Hotel. Instagram: @lamakharestaurante