Mexico. A century-old house nestled in the heart of the Roma neighborhood in Mexico City is the place where, for more than nine years, the Mexican chef Elena Reygadas presents a creative gastronomic proposal that daily captures the senses of the diners who enjoy their dishes in the Rosetta restaurant. Elena Reygadas shared her ideas about the role that music plays as a fundamental ingredient to finish off the experience it transmits to its diners.
A pleasant musical selection, coming from the Sonos speakers installed both in this room, and in the rest of the Rosetta spaces, accompanies the words of the chef. Elena explains that the gastronomic experience she shares in Rosetta must transcend the limits of the dish, so she uses music as a tool so that the effects of her cuisine are multi-sensory and reach beyond the palate.
"Music on an instrument that helps me create a comprehensive dining experience. It influences the way we feel and I am aware of its power to make certain things happen, modify behaviors or influence the mood of diners, "says Chef Reygadas. "The taste of an ingredient changes according to the music, a dish tastes different if you eat it accompanied by one song or another."
Elena Reygadas is clear that the rhythm, cadence and even volume of the music, create specific environments that change according to the day and even the hours of operation. "We don't use the same musical selection for noon on a Tuesday, that we use it on a Thursday night," says Rosetta's chef.
Demanding and meticulous, Elena is involved in all the details of her integral gastronomic proposal. She reveals that it is she who decides the musical concept of Rosetta, defines the style and sets the course. For this, as for the rest of the restaurant's processes, it has a collaborator with whom it has close communication and shares a work philosophy.
"I work with Rulo David, who is in charge of curating Rosetta's music. We meet regularly and talk about the musical route to follow. We look for the order of the playlist to go from less to more in terms of rhythm and intensity, we take into account the schedules and review the songs about which I have comments or doubts, "explains the chef.
Elena Reygadas, considers that Rulo, radio host and journalist expert in music, is as important as any of his suppliers of raw materials to whom he asks for very specific products. "With Rulo I have followed the same path in developing a supplier that helps me create the experience we are looking for at Rosetta," he says.
As for the audio equipment that sounds the rooms of the restaurant, the chef explains that a few months ago it was decided to renew the entire system and the choice was to install Sonos speakers. A Sonos user at home, I have no hesitation when the brand, through a specialist in the integration of sound solutions, showed her the plan to use the Sonos One model, in its white version, to fill the rosetta spaces with music.
"Thanks to the use of Sonos we can regulate the volume of the music in each speaker individually, so that it allows us to meet a particular request from a diner who asks us to reduce the volume of the horn near his table," explains Elena Reygadas. "I like Sonos because we can play music with the quality that goes according to our idea of service," he adds.
