Zombra
Neighborhood: El Poblado
Price range: $$ – $$$
Must-order: Fresh catch served with sweet peppers and topped with a marijuana leaf
Chef Pablo Naranjo’s Zombra is a fine dining experience with none of the pretension, showcasing a sustainability-focused menu that feels deeply personal. After years of cooking in France and India, Naranjo can’t help but let familiar flavors peek into dishes like palak paneer with white fish and feijoa, or chicken thighs in mustard with chorizo. The restaurant’s eco-friendly philosophy carries into its bar program, too, with coffee liqueur and limoncello made in-house from what would otherwise be wasted. With both a shady patio space and a sleek, light-filled dining room, there’s usually space to drop in, but Zombra’s popularity is compounding as it rounds the corner towards its second year. I’d increasingly recommend making a reservation.
Plaza Minorista José María Villa
Neighborhood: El Centro
Price range: $
Must-order: Little-known native fruits like borojó, corozo, and chontaduro
To narrow down Medellín’s premier fresh marketplace to just a few favorite stalls feels impossible. The best way to visit “La Minorista” is alongside chef Melissa Ospina, who has been building relationships with market vendors here for years and guiding in-depth tours into the best that the market has to offer. Fill up on samples as you explore, or pop into eateries for treats like arepas made from heirloom corn varietals, fruit smoothies, or dishes like sancocho de bagre, a catfish soup native to Colombia’s Pacific Coast, at La Esquina de la Ricura.
Gesto
Neighborhood: Rionegro
Price range: $$$
Must-order: San Pedreño pork charcuterie; fresh peas in smoked coconut milk
For Medellín-born chef Miguel Warren, it was never enough to source the region’s freshest ingredients for his menus; he wanted to bring diners right to the source. At Gesto, Warren welcomes them home to an intimate 20-seat restaurant with an open kitchen set on his own farmland, where he cultivates most of the ingredients for his tasting menus himself, from heritage-breed pork aged in his cellar to tender zucchini blossoms paired with homemade ricotta cheese. Reservations are a must for this immersive dining experience located about 45 minutes outside of the city; it is only open a few days a week.
Don Teo Trailer
Neighborhood: El Poblado
Price range: $-$$
Must-order: Fried chicken sandwiches with Amazonian pepper sauce and slaw; native roast potatoes
On the breezy hillsides of El Poblado, Don Teo Trailer has been a laid-back local favorite since it opened just over a year ago for a weekend parche (hangout) complete with fresh tuna served over enyucado cassava cakes, katsu sandwiches, and an ice-cold Costeñita beer or a spritz. Best Chef Awards-winning Mateo Rios calls his pared-down menu at Don Teo Trailer “fast good” rather than “fast food” to reflect his commitment to conscious sourcing and high-quality ingredients. Think hot dog-style bites in buttery brioche made from Pacific prawns one week, then lobster or homemade sausage the next.
