Em is only open in the evening; reservations are required, and it has space for 52 seats.[1][3] The eatery offers both à la carte and an eight- to nine-course omakasetasting menu selections, where the customer allows the cooks to choose the plates to serve.[3][4] The card menu is updated weekly, and daily options alongside it are replaced every three months.[1] Customers who choose the tasting menu are seated in the main bar, while those who order à la carte sit at surrounding tables.[3]
Em serves Mexican food with Japanese influences.[4] Commenting on the menu's constant changes, Martínez states it is because it "keeps the mystery alive" and so that in-season ingredients can be used.[5]
Em is owned by chef Luis "Lucho" Martínez, who worked at Quintonil, Máximo Bistrot, and Mia Domenicca restaurants. According to him, he did not want to create a Mexican food restaurant that could be associated with Pujol or Quintonil.[6] Martínez opened Emilia in 2018 on Río Pánuco Street, Colonia Cuauhtémoc,[7][8] naming the restaurant after his daughter.[9][10] He and his associate, Ebo Kobayashi, planned the restaurant's interior design with Japanese designer Kanako Ishida, implementing materials that featured copper, quarry, and marble.[3] Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food industry, it was renamed to Em and relocated to Tonalá Street, Colonia Roma, in a space previously housing Máximo Bistrot.[1][4] Above the restaurant, Martínez opened a bar named 686 Bar.[11]
Reception
On their selection of the top twenty-three restaurants in Mexico City, Time Out ranked Em at number fifteen.[9] In her review for the same magazine, Barberena rated the restaurant five out of five stars, adding that "Emília [sic] is profiled in world cuisine with surprising techniques, tasteful finishing touches that are not necessarily bound to delight every palate", showing her appreciation for experiencing a variety of flavors on a plate.[3] Guevara described the plates as "high-end" and saw Em as a more approachable restaurant than Pujol.[2]
Marco Beteta recommended the omakase options.[12] Juan Carlos Gamboa, writer of Caras, said that chef's dishes "surprise with their elegance and simplicity".[5] A writer for El Universal found the experience enjoyable and the flavors intense.[7] When the Michelin Guide debuted in 2024 in Mexico, it awarded 18 restaurants with Michelin stars.[13] Em received one star—meaning "high-quality cooking, worth a stop". The guide added that "[b]oth the à la carte and the tasting menus overlap well enough [...] Refined, bold flavors come through clearly in both".[14]
Em, along with six other Michelin-starred restaurants in Mexico City, was honored by Martí Batres, the head of the Mexico City government. He presented the chefs with an onyx statuette as a token of appreciation for their role in promoting tourism in the city. The statuette's design is inspired by the pre-Hispanic sculpture The Young Woman of Amajac, in recognition of the significant contributions of indigenous women to both national and international gastronomy.[15]