We were lucky to catch up with Sarahí Caballero recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarahí, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

People associate success with the wealth that a business generates. Our ideology is not to worry about making more money, but about having more time.

On many occasions we have been advised to exploit and expand our food place, because we have always limited ourselves with the number of people we serve and the days we work in the week, but the truth is that we prefer to have a simpler life, more respectful towards us and what surrounds us, a more personalized service. Sometimes, less is more.

Sarahí, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Horno de la Montaña was born from the need to create a small moderate economic generator, family work and enjoy this space, using the natural resources that we obtain from the hill as main ingredients. It is worth mentioning that before sharing the patio of our house with our clients, we sold from door to door since we didn’t dare to receive strangers at home but we decided to do so and in 6 years it has worked well, we continue with the same ideology of “with less . more” serving a small number of people on weekends only to be able to meet the need that caused this food place, work together with my husband at home, enjoy the space and have the time necessary to take care of ourselves and fulfill as human beings.

En horno de la montaña we cook in a clay oven exclusively with firewood that we collect from the hill just like the plants, that is why we also serve a few people, we do not want to cook in large quantities so as not to exploit the natural resources of the environment. Our cuisine is very simple and straightforward, our specialty is calzone, in Mexico we call them empanadas but we decided to give them that name since we use mozarella cheese and traditional Italian tomato sauce, made with sourdough (ferment) without additives, a dessert with sage ice cream, local craft beer and wine, and other house-made beverages. The space is very austere, it is our home, so we do not consider the mountain oven to be a restaurant, but rather a space where you can come and spend a relaxed, quiet afternoon, with a still spectacular view, stroll along the hill and we offer you foods that we have learned to make once we reach this beautiful place between giant rocks on the top of a mountain.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

We do not start with a large investment like any business, 1kg of flour for the dough, few ingredients and a great desire to do something that I like with my husband.. We sold on the street, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, and we ate the remaining calzoni since we had to buy the ingredients again for the next day. One day we decided that it was best if people would come to eat at our house and that is how “el horno de la montaña” began, with the uncertainty of knowing if people would come here to a house of some strangers who cook calzoni. Thanks to the people who understood and liked this concept, they spread the word and the reach that social networks have today has helped us to be known more and more. Now we already have tables and benches under shingles but initially we took our living room and tables out of the house so that they could be comfortable and we are happy now to be able to offer them a better stay, thanks to the persistence of not giving up on this journey that we started together with lots of love, which has been the biggest investment in this small family business.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

We do not consider having any strategy but we believe that what is done with the heart and sincerity has been what draws people’s attention, we do not have the infrastructure for a restaurant, it is the patio of our house and limiting ourselves to serving few people full the place of tranquility and everything flows as it should. There are people who are looking for a space like this, there are others who only come to eat and most of them come back no matter how limited our menu is, we serve diners like at home and that also gives them confidence to come back and to come for the first time.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hornodelamontana.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hornodelamontana_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hornodelamontana