With all the splashy free-agent acquisitions, the La Jolla spot that seemed to slip under the radar was Comedor Nishi from Pancho Ibáñez and his wife Daniela.
For about a decade, Ibañez was the right-hand man of chef Enrique Olvera at Pujol in Mexico City-which has been hailed by nearly every food media outlet as one of the best restaurants on the planet. Daniela, meanwhile, was pastry chef at the revered Máximo in Mexico City (another “Top 50″ spot).
Ibáñez was hired full time as the culinary director of Showa Hospitality (The Taco Stand, Convoy Music Bar), and Comedor Nishi is his and Daniela’s Mexican breakfast-brunch-lunch spot-he soaks triple-cut brioche French toast overnight and house-cures salmon with yuzu kosho-spiked guacamole, and she bakes the pan dulces and cookies and incredible Mexican candies.
