Miguel Ravago

1945 - 2017

January 5, 1945 - June 24, 2017
Miguel Ravago was born on January 5, 1945 in Phoenix, Arizona to his mother Amelia Velasquez Galbraith. He had one sibling, his sister Elizabeth (Betty) Saenz.

From an early age, he was interested in cooking and spent many happy hours in his grandmother's kitchen. Guadalupe Velasquez was a tireless cook, often preparing three meals a day for as many as twenty people. By the time he was six, Miguel was helping her, becoming familiar with the robust flavors of the state of Veracruz and his grandmother's native state of Sonora.

He and his sister Betty were very close. Miguel loved to dance and in the 1960's the teens would go and dance regularly, being featured on the televised Arizona Bandstand many times.

By the time he moved to Austin, in 1968, Miguel was a skilled intuitive cook. Miguel met another person who was equally intrigued by Mexican cuisine and culture, Tom Gilliland, a young man from the Midwest. Both worked in the mid 1960's at the Texas Capitol House of Representatives. The two became fast friends, and in four years, they combined their talents and resources to open a Mexican restaurant in Houston in 1972. Named San Angel Inn, the restaurant did so well that it outgrew its fifty seats, prompting them to seek new quarters.

Serendipity led them to the site of a recently closed restaurant in a neighborhood in Austin. They opened Fonda San Miguel in 1975, and it became an immediate hit. It was the first restaurant in Texas to focus exclusively on true regional Mexican cuisine. Miguel and Tom went to incredible lengths to obtain ingredients like dried chiles and black beans and spices from Mexico. Local restaurant critics and customers were dazzled. Soon it was impossible to get a Friday or Saturday table without reserving weeks in advance. With his chiseled features, impeccable manners, and spotless monogrammed white chef's jacket, Miguel was a striking presence in the dining room, making everyone feel welcome. He was genuinely interested in people, and had a way of making everyone feel that they were his special friend.

To Miguel, everything was cause for celebration. Over the years, his home was open to all his friends. He loved cooking on special and not so special occasions, making everyone feel loved and at home.

Over the next few years, the reputation of Fonda San Miguel grew. Among the regular customers were members of the families of United States presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush.

Miguel accompanied acclaimed chef Patricia Quintana when she presented her book at the American Booksellers Conference in Washington, D.C. in the 1980's. It was held at the Mexican Embassy in D.C. and over 700 people attended. The Washington Post noted Miguel's food as "the best food" of all the events, attended by nearly 20,000.

Fonda's reputation was such that in 1993 and 1995 Miguel was invited to cook at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City. In that same decade, he also began work on his first cookbook, a collaboration with culinary writer Marilyn Tausend. They collected recipes from across Mexico and the United States and published them as Cocina de la Familia, in 1997.

Momentous events were also occurring in Miguel's personal life. In the mid 90's, on a trip to France, by chance he met his lifetime partner and spouse of 25 years, Phillipe Mercier.

In 2001 the restaurant underwent a renaissance. Miguel introduced new dishes and began collecting recipes for a second cookbook, Fonda San Miguel: Thirty Years of Food and Art, which was published in 2005 on the restaurant's thirtieth anniversary. (Updated in 2015, it still stands as Miguel's most tangible legacy.)

Miguel and Philippe had since moved to Madrid, Spain. Miguel maintained his role at Fonda San Miguel with regular visits back to Austin, and daily interaction with the Fonda kitchen and his Fonda family. They lived in Spain for five years and played the role of indulgent uncles to Phillipe's two nieces Paloma and Carlota, taking them on weekly outings for ice cream, visits to the museums and many walks in the park with Miguel and Phillipe's chow chow, Dita.

In 2012 they relocated to Brighton, England. These were some of the happiest years of Miguel's life. He and Phillipe traveled around Europe, entertained their many friends that visited and took the train into London weekly, dining at their favorite restaurants and attending the theatre. All the while still traveling to and from Austin every few months.

In 2017, Miguel was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died June 24, 2017. Miguel Ravago will be terribly missed by those who knew him. At the same time, he will be remembered by the thousands of customers who have dined on the marvelous dishes he created for one of the most significant restaurants in Texas.

He was preceded in death by his mother Amelia, two uncles and two aunts. He is survived by his spouse Phillipe Mercier, his and Phillipe's beloved chow chows' Dita and Digby, his wonderful sister Betty, lots of cousins, his sister-in-law Stephanie Medina, brother-in-law Enrique Medina, two nieces Paloma and Carlota, longtime friend and business partner Tom Gilliland and the staff and families of Fonda San Miguel.

A celebration of Miguel Ravago's life will be held at Fonda San Miguel July 2nd at 530pm, following Fonda's Hacienda Sunday Buffet service.