When Cosme first entered The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2017, Daniela Soto-Innes was best known as a protégée of Enrique Olvera, the chef with whom she opened the modern Mexican restaurant in New York in 2014. In 2016, at age 25, she had won a Rising Star Award from the prestigious James Beard Foundation. Three years on, she has been shortlisted in the same foundation’s Best Chef category. At just 28, she is the youngest winner of The World’s Best Female Chef Award, and it is fair to say her star has risen. Soto-Innes follows her own rules. In her kitchen, staff don’t necessarily have formal training, but they learn all the skills they need under her careful tuition. There’s no rule of silence – hers is a vibrant kitchen where music plays and staff warm up with exercises pre service. And the menu itself is fuss-free à la carte, with sharing plates that put an emphasis on flavour.
While Soto-Innes still runs the kitchen at Cosme, in 2017 she and Olvera opened Atla, an all-day casual eatery serving elegant Mexican classics like ranchero eggs and quesadillas in New York’s NoHo district. Later this year, the duo will make their first foray onto the West Coast, opening adjoined restaurants Damian (serving Japanese-influenced Mexican) and Ditroit (a taquería) in Los Angeles.
By winning The World’s Best Female Chef Award, Soto-Innes says she hopes to use the platform to help inspire and support people of all ages, races and nationalities in becoming cooks. With her fresh, inclusive approach and her seemingly effortless success, she is sure to inspire many.
Comments