I like simple things. I like to taste something and understand it — clean flavors. I want my cuisine to be a reflection of that.

It really is that simple.

The goal of all of this, I guess, is to understand who I am, as well as a broader explanation of what I am trying to do.

While I was working at Sons & Daughters, I began to think about what ‘my cuisine’ would be. Most cooks talk about what kind of restaurant they would eventually like to open, and I too wondered what I would do.

Once I had decided to focus more on the answer to that question, I began to focus on self discovery and isolating things that I valued. I knew that I wanted to do something with Mexican cuisine but it took time to figure out what ‘my cuisine’ would be.

I had to figure out what I loved. What flavors and textures did I care about? What did it look like? Would people be open to it? Could I make it beautiful and interesting to myself? Why would it be special?

I talked with my wife. Days were spent discussing the concept. She, being the most supportive person in my life, always said that I could do it.

And so it began.

If I was going to do Mexican cuisine, I would have to first become an expert on it. So I started researching the cuisine in relation to the United States and also in relation to Northern California. I found and read every historic cookbook that I could. I created timelines with the books and how they related to important Mexican and American events.

I discovered so much it was shocking. The most exciting thing that I found was that in San Francisco, a lady named Encarnacion Pineda was previously pushing the bounds of Mexican cuisine in the 185o’s! She had been trained in the culinary arts and was incorporating ingredients and techniques from all over the world into her Mexican food — IN THE 1850's!

I felt set free to get back to a similar thought process! That I could create Mexican cuisine as if it had never ceased to be ‘forward thinking’ and dominant.

Then I went back to Mexico. I wanted to see what the best were doing, so I spent a few weeks at Pujol, the world’s best Mexican restaurant, and explored the flavors of Mexico city.

I was not enlightened or shocked or surprised. I was satisfied to find exactly what I expected to find — a group of incredibly talented Mexican chefs creating some of the most beautiful and delicious food I’d ever had.

They were using world class equipment and techniques, but were applying them in a way that rang true to the local cuisine and expressed it in such an elegant way. The kitchen itself, was orderly and excited but humble — the cooks seemed to sense the importance of what they were doing.

On my first night in the service kitchen, in the middle of a busy dinner rush, the cooks made me the entire menu and the wine staff paired the dishes with incredible finesse. Each cook, excited to make their dishes for me, they plated them and treated me like I was a celebrity or special in someway.

Everything was perfect, delicious, and spicy. I could taste the genuineness in the dishes and in the preparation. After every course, I couldn’t stop smiling…