The winner of the Latin America’s Best Female Chef Award 2024 is opening her first restaurant, Arami, and talks about the importance of supporting the country’s Indigenous communities
For Marsia Taha Mohamed, protecting her country’s biodiversity is a life-defining mission. Living in Bolivia, one of the most biodiverse countries in the world, she feels a special responsibility to support and showcase the land, produce and communities.
Taha was born in Bulgaria to a Palestinian father and Bolivian mother, but grew up in Bolivia. She was named as one of the young people shaping the future of gastronomy as part of 50 Next, voted as Latin America’s Rising Star Female Chef 2021, and has now achieved the accolade of being named Latin America’s Best Female Chef 2024, as part of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna.
The food at Gustu showcases Bolivia in its entirity, whereas Arami focuses on the Amazon
Having run the kitchen as head chef, and eventually executive chef, at celebrated restaurant Gustu in La Paz since 2013, Taha recently decided it is time for a new challenge.
A little slice of heaven in La Paz
At the end of November, Taha is launching her first solo restaurant, Arami, which in Guaraní – “one of our native languages from the lowland,” Taha explains – means ‘shard of heaven’.
“This restaurant will be very focused on the Amazon. Bolivia is huge, and around 60 per cent of it is Amazon. Gustu focused on the whole ecosystem, but now I’m going to focus on one geographical area at Arami.”
Taha aims to showcase the enormous diversity of Bolivia, looking specifically at the relationship between the country’s Andes mountains and the Amazon rainforest. Over the last few years, she has been working in the lowlands with local communities, conducting a huge amount of research with ingredients, products and techniques.
Taha's restaurant, Arami in Achumani, La Paz, opens at the end of November
Set in the fashionable neighbourhood of Achumani, in the south of La Paz, Arami is located within a big house. Taha says, “We’re adapting the house to make a beautiful restaurant. The restaurant will be on the ground floor, then I want to create a wine bar on the first floor serving just Bolivian bottles. We are a huge wine-producing country – we have five different regions. Did you know Bolivia was the first country in Latin America to produce wine?”
Wine making in Bolivia dates to the 16th century, when Spanish people arrived in the country. To ensure a steady supply of wine for the monastic orders at sacrament, vineyards were established by Franciscan monks.
Back at Arami, the second floor will eventually become a lab. “It’ll be our space to create, innovate… where we can have all the fermented things, all the dried things.”
But first comes the restaurant, which will launch with “a tiny, well-done menu”. With a casualised fine-dining concept, the space will be just as welcoming for foodie travellers as it will for locals. “On Sunday, I want families to come and share a big, baked Amazonian fish with lots of garnishes. Everything will be in the middle of the table and for sharing. But on some days, there will be more of a fine-dining offering.”
Arami will eventually house a Bolivian wine bar on the first floor
It’s a project Taha has been thinking about for a long time. Her passion for showcasing Bolivia’s bountiful produce runs deep. “Inspiration never starts in a restaurant or in a kitchen, where of course I love to be. My inspiration comes from outside. Nature gives me ideas, gives me creativity. And, of course, nature gives me new products and new flavours.”
Taha wants the space to be cosy, and to evoke the sensation of being in the Amazon. “I know it’s impossible to recreate that feeling, but we want to create an environment where it’s green and where you can breathe. There will be a lot of green, a lot of wood. We’re also going to use plenty of Bolivian marble which is a beautiful sky blue.”
Keeping the conversation on biodiversity alive
Taha is also the co-founder of Sabores Silvestres, a research and educational initiative project she started in 2018, when she was still in her twenties. It promotes the conservation of biodiversity, the preservation of food heritage and seeks to showcase Bolivian gastronomic culture.
With a casual fine-dining concept, Arami will have a focus on sharing and community
“Sustainability is everything. It’s so tough right now as there are so many fires in the Amazon. Many animals and natural habitats are being destroyed, which makes me incredibly sad. But it’s also important to concentrate in this huge area, working with producers and products to help keep the Amazon alive,” she says.
According to the World Land Trust, there are more than 13,000 plant species, nearly 1,000 fungi, nearly 14,000 species of insect, 300-plus reptile species, around 250 amphibians, nearly 1,000 freshwater fish species, close to 1,500 bird species and nearly 400 types of mammals in Bolivia.
“We’re used to eating bananas and watermelon, but there are hundreds of varieties of fruit,” Taha says. “If people only eat the few they recognise, the Amazon is cleared to extend agricultural land. This is why we have to keep talking about biodiversity.”
Across the country, which is twice the size of Spain, Taha says there are 36 Indigenous peoples living and working. “If you don’t eat the fish Indigenous communities are fishing, the meat they’re hunting, the fruits they collect, they won’t have work. If you want to contribute to this country, you need to consume local, and you need to eat diversely.”
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Taha is a hugely passionate advocate and protector of Bolivian biodiversity
Despite taking on a new challenge, Taha’s work with Sabores Silvestres will continue. “For me, it’s the basis of my kitchen. I’m going to keep on doing this forever,” she says.
The future of Gustu
While Taha has now left Gustu, the restaurant is in good hands, with chefs Jairo Michel and Kenzo Hirose heading up the kitchen. Hirose joined Gustu as a student 11 years ago and grew up in the Bolivian Amazon, while Michel joined the restaurant five years ago and hails from Bolivia’s wine country.
“I am leaving behind a very solid team,” Taha said. “I’m very happy to leave the kitchen to those guys and I am very happy they are there. I spent a lot of years working at Gustu, so you don’t just make friends, you make family.”
“For me, sustainability goes further than just food. It’s also about your team and how you treat them. If I don’t have success in that area, I don’t have success in my life.”
See inside Marsia Taha Mohamed’s new restaurant, Arami:
Marsia Taha Mohamed is the winner of the Latin America’s Best Female Chef Award 2024, as part of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024. The 11th edition of the list, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna, will be announced on Tuesday 26 November 2024.
