The Ultimate Fish Taco, According to Southern California’s Best Modern Mexican Chefs
Three of Southern California’s top modern Mexican chefs faced off in our first-ever In the Sunset Kitchen culinary competition
Last night, high above Los Angeles on the rooftop of the exclusive h Club in Hollywood, three of Southern California’s top modern Mexican chefs faced off in our first-ever In the Sunset Kitchen culinary competition. Their challenge: create the ultimate modern fish taco. That’s no small feat in L.A., arguably the nation’s capital of taco innovation. But the talent was of the highest caliber, the food exceptional, the competition fierce, and the ever-evolving definition of what makes an amazing California-Mexican taco was further expanded.
The competing chefs were members of the modern Mexican culinary elite: Wes Avila, James Beard award finalist, Michelin Bib Gourmand winner, and man behind DTLA’s Guerilla Tacos; Gilberto Cetina, chef-owner of perennial best-restaurant-list-topping Chichen Itza and Holbox; and Claudette Zepeda, two-time Top Chef contestant, James Beard Semifinalist Best Chef: West, and former head chef at El Jardin in San Diego. In addition to fish tacos, the chefs were challenged with creating a wildcard dish of their choosing. The chefs brought their organic handmade artisanal corn tortillas, their blazing flat-top griddles, and their A-games as an esteemed panel of judges tasted and cast their ballots.
Read on for a blow-by-blow account of the evening and the winner!
The h Club served killer appetizers, including octopus pibil on squid ink tacos, fried tamales with cilantro crema, and chicharron on rice crisps.
Wes Avila
Wes Avila carted in his custom-painted plancha and served a grilled swordfish taco topped with uni butter, roasted corn, and pico de gallo. His wildcard dish was a smoked cauliflower taco with almonds, chile, persimmons, pistachios, onion, sumac, and chives.
Taco philosophy: “In California it’s all about heritage corn, seasonality, using the best local ingredients you can find, and presenting it in a simple way. For the cauliflower taco we marinate the cauliflower like meat, smoke it for four to six hours, top it with persimmons that just came in to season. We pickle them. Top it with pistachio, raw onion and then add Middle Eastern feel with the sumac. There are no rules.”