There are restaurants built around what the market demands. And there are restaurants built around what the founder believes — even if it takes time to convince everyone else they’re right.

Local 777 belongs, without any doubt, to the second category.

Mariana Zesati, its founder, says it with a clarity that leaves no room for ambiguity: building this project meant making difficult decisions, resisting external pressure, and betting on a concept that people are still learning to understand. And doing it from the very beginning — from the construction of the space, from the selection of suppliers, from the first dish that left the kitchen — with a coherence that isn’t marketing. It’s conviction.

Back to Basics — The Philosophy Behind the Fire

The physical heart of Local 777 is the grill. It sits at the center of the restaurant, visible from every point in the room, and it is not a decorative element. It is a statement of principles.

“Fire in its natural state is something very basic, something very primitive,” says Zesati. “We wanted to make a proposal with the most primitive elements, with very basic ingredients, but giving them a different meaning through the grill.”

What Zesati calls the “green grill” is the axis around which the entire menu revolves. Vegetables, fruits, seasonal products — mangoes, peaches, leeks, scallions — pass through the fire and arrive at the table with the least possible intervention. No sauces to disguise. No techniques to complicate. No ingredients that don’t belong to the moment.

“What we want is back to basics — where things are real through fire and through being authentic.”

It is a proposal that challenges expectations. Anyone who walks into a restaurant with a grill at its center expects beef cuts. Expects what has always been there. And Zesati knows this — and has deliberately chosen to ignore it.

“What am I going to create? Am I going to create dishes so people like them because they already know them, or do I want people to experience new flavors they haven’t tried?” For her, the answer was always the second. “We have to tell the whole concept so that people buy into it — in the sense of accepting it.”

The Making of a Space — Building From What Already Exists

The philosophy of Local 777 doesn’t begin in the kitchen. It begins in the construction of the space.

“The first thing we did was use recycled equipment, dual-use equipment,” Zesati explains. “Everything we found, we built from things that already existed. To avoid impacting consumption as much as possible, we recycled most of what we currently have.”

The light fixtures that illuminate the restaurant are not industrial design pieces. They are the work of Mr. Rojas, a Michoacán artisan, who builds each piece with water hyacinth — the chuspata, as it is locally known — extracted from Lake Pátzcuaro. A plant that grows in the lake, that in other hands would be waste, transformed into objects that give light and tell a story.

“When you enter the space, you might not perceive it,” Zesati acknowledges. “Someone tells you the story and that’s where you fall in love with this project.”

Every supplier was chosen with the same criterion: that they have a social purpose, a real impact on their community. Not as a certification requirement — but as a condition of entry.

The System Behind the Plate — Zero Waste as Operating Model

Local 777 doesn’t talk about zero waste as an aspiration. It operates it as a system.

The organic waste generated by customers is delivered to a company that converts it into compost. That compost is then given as a gift to restaurant visitors. “We want to close the circle,” says Zesati. “Small actions that have an impact on someone, that catch someone’s attention.”

The bathroom system runs on rainwater harvesting. The grill filters have multiple layers to prevent exterior emissions. The spring onion — an ingredient that in any other kitchen would generate significant waste — is used entirely: the bulb for one dish, the green tops for tacos.

“We barely generate any vegetable waste because we repurpose everything.”

The restaurant’s charcuterie operation follows the same model. Pablo López, the charcutier who operates within the same space, receives Local 777’s residuals and converts them into part of his production. A closed cycle within a single building.

Chef Eric is an ambassador for Come Pesca — an organization that promotes responsible seafood consumption. His presence in the restaurant isn’t coincidental: it means the menu respects fishing seasons, that what is served is what should be served at that time of year, and that the same dishes can’t always be available.

“We Mexicans love having the same dish at the same restaurant. But we believe we can do it differently and generate the expectation that not everything is possible at every moment.”

Seasonality as Discipline — Respecting the Field

Seasonality is not an editorial trend at Local 777. It is an operational discipline.

“We respect seasonality — we make changes each season to identify which fruits and vegetables are at the right moment to use. This way we don’t put pressure on the land.”

Small farmers from the Ajusco area — chosen for their geographic proximity and shared values — are priority suppliers. Not 100% of the time, Zesati acknowledges honestly, because not everything can be found in the same area. But the criterion is there, guiding every purchasing decision.

The connection to Slow Food — the international organization dedicated to defending food biodiversity and local food systems — reinforces that framework. “Being conscious of what we’re eating at the moment and in the right season,” is how Zesati describes it. Not as restriction — as awareness.

The Long Game — Building Something That Lasts

Zesati is currently completing a master’s degree in sustainability. Not to obtain a credential that validates what she already does — but so that what she does is reflected with greater rigor and depth.

“I can say many things, but I want them to be seen reflected.”

It is that same integrity that defines her vision for Local 777’s future: a restaurant that endures, that people truly understand, that builds a real connection with whoever visits.

“I would love for what we’re proposing to last a long time. For people to really understand — not just eat well, but understand the product, understand the concept, understand the processes and the moment.”

And in that sentence is everything Local 777 is: a place that doesn’t want you to come and eat. It wants you to come and understand.

A Wealthy Note

At The Wealth we follow closely those who build from conviction — not from trend. Mariana Zesati and Local 777 are exactly that: a project that decided to be difficult to understand because it decided to be honest.

The fire at the center of the restaurant is not a design decision. It is a declaration of what this place believes cooking should be: primitive, direct, without pretense. And in that quiet radicalism lies its strength.

Creativity as process. Always. discover more here: https://thewealthdigital.com/en/the-atelier/

Discover more about Local777: https://www.local777.mx/

Watch the full interview here: YOUTUBE