By Bryan Jáuregui, Alianza Cero Basura
Long before Michelin included them in its famous guide, Todos Santos restaurants Düm and Benno of Hotel San Cristobal were showing they had the right stuff. Both organizations prove that a great Baja California Sur restaurant can have a tremendously positive impact on the culinary experience while having a wonderfully low impact on our fragile desert environment. The Michelin inclusion simply reflects what Alianza Cero Basura already knew – Düm and Benno of Hotel San Cristobal are in a category apart.
Düm and Benno are leaders in Alianza Cero Basura’s drive to transform Todos Santos and El Pescadero into the first zero waste tourism destination in Mexico. Diverting waste away from the combustable landfill into circular economies is a key part of that strategy, and their achievements to date are remarkable. From March 2023 to June 2024, the two restaurants kept a total of 46,032.23 kg of waste out of the local dump and turned it into products like soil, animal feed, and agricultural materials. To date, Düm has been able to divert 78% of its waste from the landfill into productive uses and Hotel San Cristobal 56%. Their actions directly contribute to healthier soil, air, and ocean waters, and aid the global effort to mitigate climate change.
Aurélien Legeay, founder and chef at Düm, says “Sustainability is not just words. Sustainability is in every choice you make, it’s in the daily culture you build at your restaurant.”
Alex Romero, a Todos Santos native and the Food & Beverage Manager at Hotel San Cristobal agrees. “We essentially live on an island here in Baja and there are very few waste management services available. Our number one focus is therefore on waste reduction, which means rethinking all our purchasing decisions to produce as little waste as possible to start with. But for the waste we do produce, proper separation into channels for repurposing is key.” Alex is the hotel’s passionate Agent Zero who makes sure that waste separation is simply the way things are done.
Isabel Calderon is Chef de Cocina at Düm and Agent Zero who drives the restaurant’s waste separation efforts. “When we first started it was very difficult to make everyone understand why separation is important. Now it is simply our culture, and we hope to inspire others by our example. If we can do it, then literally every restaurant in Baja can do it.”
Aurélien adds, “Look at our results and just think what we could be achieving for our local environment if every restaurant in Todos Santos and Baja California Sur was doing this.”
Thelma Esquitin, General Manager of Hotel San Cristobal/Benno, agrees, “Education is my way of leading, and I hope what we’re doing here at Hotel San Cristobal will plant seeds of inspiration for everyone in the community.”
Doing the hard work and leading by example. This is what makes Düm and Benno of Hotel San Cristobal true Michelin stars.
