BORO: Celele Chef Jaime Rodríguez Opens a New Restaurant in Medellín's El Poblado

The most anticipated new table in El Poblado is now open — at least for invited guests. BORO, the Medellín debut of chef Jaime David Rodríguez, began a soft-launch phase on June 22, 2026, inside the newly opened Wake Medellín hotel in Provenza, with a full public opening expected around July 1. For anyone tracking where Boro restaurant Medellín fits in the city’s dining landscape: it arrives with unusually strong credentials behind it.

Who Is Jaime Rodríguez?

Rodríguez is the co-founder and chef of Celele in Cartagena, which ranked No. 48 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025 — Colombia’s sole entry on that list. Celele also ranked No. 5 on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025 and won the 2025 Sustainable Restaurant Award from the same organization, recognizing its sourcing from Caribbean communities and wild harvests — approximately 90% of Celele’s products come from the Caribbean region, with around 70% from wild-harvested sources.

That track record is the lens through which BORO needs to be read. This is not a celebrity side project; it is a deliberate expansion by one of Colombia’s most research-driven chefs into a city that has positioned itself as the country’s next major culinary destination.

What BORO Is

According to reporting by Chefluencer and El Colombiano, BORO’s menu is grounded in the same methodology Rodríguez applied at Celele: years of fieldwork interviewing indigenous communities, cataloguing native species, and building a culinary archive of Colombian biodiversity. In Medellín, that translates into a kitchen focused on:

• Native Colombian ingredients from multiple ecosystems — Pacific coast, Amazon basin, and Andean highlands — including species such as chachafruto (mountain bean) and algarrobo (carob)
• Fermentation, maturation, and artisanal baking as primary transformation techniques, favoring the “chemistry of time” over rapid-fire cooking
• A philosophy the chef describes as “shared roots, new flavors”

The space itself reflects those intentions. The main dining room seats 92 guests in a room of exposed gres, wood, and natural stone, designed to evoke what the project calls an “architecture of calm.” A secondary room called La Cava offers 18 seats dedicated to curated pairing menus — a more intimate counter experience for those who want the full tasting progression.

The Hotel Context

BORO sits inside Wake Medellín, which opened in June 2026 as the first “Social Wellness Hub” hotel in Colombia. It is a member of Design Hotels and represents a $250 billion COP investment, comprising 58 hotel rooms across 10 typologies and 70 residential apartments. The property integrates hospitality with gastronomy, culture, wellness programming, and fashion retail — positioning BORO as the cultural anchor of the project rather than a secondary amenity.

The choice to place a restaurant of this caliber inside a wellness hotel in Provenza, rather than Bogotá or an international market, reinforces a signal that has been building in Medellín for the past two years: the city is being treated by serious operators as a primary destination, not a secondary one.

What This Means for Diners

The soft-launch phase running from June 22 is invitation-only. Public seatings — both in the main dining room and La Cava — are expected to open around July 1, 2026, based on reporting at launch. Specific menu pricing has not yet been confirmed through public channels; this article will be updated as that information becomes verifiable. Given the pairing format of La Cava, expect pricing comparable to other chef-driven tasting experiences currently operating in El Poblado.

For context on what that tier looks like right now — and how BORO fits alongside Medellín’s existing chef’s table scene — see our guide to chef’s tables and hidden kitchens in Medellín. For the broader picture of what’s opening across the city this season, the Medellín restaurant news roundup for July 2026 has the full list.

Wake Medellín is located in Provenza, El Poblado. Follow booking updates through the hotel’s official channels as the public launch date approaches.