What is it like to open one of the 19 most anticipated restaurants in the country? Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins will find out next week, when the assured and admired local chef launches El Jardin in Liberty Station on Friday, June 29. Described as “the embodiment of the matriarchy”, which will highlight female-run microbusinesses, El Jardin is a partnership between Zepeda-Wilkins and Rise & Shine Group (Breakfast Republic) founder Johan Engman.
A former pastry chef, Zepeda-Wilkins gained acclaim as the steadfast chef de cuisine at Eater’s 2016 Restaurant of the Year, Little Italy’s gone-too-soon Bracero. Zepeda-Wilkins, who was raised in San Diego as well as Tijuana and Guadalajara, Mexico, went on to compete on consecutive seasons of Top Chef Mexico and Bravo’s Top Chef, and has spent the better part of two years immersed in travel throughout the seven regions of Mexico, sourcing more than 30 ingredients, from mole to cheese, for El Jardin’s menu.
She also ate a lot of home cooking on her travels, and says that recipes learned from female Mexican chefs, as well as those from her childhood, have informed the ‘grandma-chic’ menu, which the chef explains as “grandma food with better presentation”. The dishes will be prepared with a contemporary approach, utilizing local seafood and produce from the El Jardin’s own on-site garden. Ultimately, Zepeda-Wilkins says what’s on the plates will represent her own past, present, and future while always remembering the women who cooked before her.
El Jardin Menu by EaterSD on Scribd