Arely Chavez has worked for years in some of San Diego’s top kitchens—Born & Raised, Ironside, The Fishery. She knows everyone in the biz, has seen every kitchen, and if you’ve eaten somewhere in San Diego in the past 10 years, you’ve probably enjoyed at least one of her sweet creations.
She’s spent the past two years as the executive pastry chef at baking collective Michi Michi in Bankers Hill, where she created the in-house specials alongside the weekly rotating lineup of guest bakers. (Michi Michi has since shifted the in-house role to a residency program for visiting bakers, which Chavez says is a fantastic opportunity for aspiring pastry chefs to take advantage of.)
But all that time, she’s also been working on her own project on the side. In 2025, it finally came to life—Amor, a small-batch ice cream brand with flavors inspired by her cross-border upbringing.
Six years ago, Chavez went through the renowned ice cream making program offered by the University of Wisconsin-Madison to learn the art and science. Some of her recipes like guava lime and horchata spark nostalgia for classic Mexican flavors, while others introduce lesser known flavors to wider audiences—like mamey, an orange-fleshed tropical fruit found in Mexico and parts of Central America with a mango-like texture and sweet, pumpkin-y flavor.
Right now, Amor is only available during pop-ups (Chavez posts schedules on her Instagram) at places like Home Ec in Kensington and Morning Dew in Barrio Logan. She hopes to create a line of Amor-branded mini freezers filled with her pints for sale at coffee shops, wine shops, boutiques, etc.
Chavez also plans to start offering consulting services to beginner pastry chefs on both sides of the border, because the field of professional opportunities is not as wide as it once was.
“During the pandemic, after the pandemic, a lot of pastry shops [and] a lot of restaurants couldn’t afford pastry chefs,” she explains. The demand is there, but the operating resources aren’t (pastry chefs are widely considered a “luxury” for a restaurant to employ).
Pride and championing of Mexican culture is part of the project, too—from street murals of Mexico City on the packaging, training young chefs from across the border, and using her emerging social platform to support her culture. “We often talk about food [carrying] many topics of social justice, labor rights, sustainability, and all of these things,” she says. “I wanted to carry those thoughts into this ice cream.”
San Diego Restaurant News & Events
Master Chef Patrick Ponsaty Lands at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe
The designation of Master French Chef is a big deal, and rare. There are only two in San Diego—Bernard Guillas, former executive chef of the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club and The Marine Room, and Patrick Ponsaty. And now Ponsaty has been tapped to add his magic touch to a new iconic property as exec chef of The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. It’s big news for the Inn, which underwent a massive renovation and relaunch a few years back. Ponsaty is a fifth-generation French chef with almost 30 years of experience in kitchens across the world—working in Michelin-star restaurants across Europe (including Alain Ducasse’s Le Louis XV in Monaco), earning three stars form the New York Times while he helmed Park Bistro, being included in James Beard’s “Best Hotel Chefs in America” series, and for his latest stint, transforming the Hotel del Coronado’s culinary chops since 2017. Expect an uptick at the Inn’s culinary spots like Lillian’s, Bing’s Bar, and The Café.
Beth’s Bites
- Now that Tahini is up and running in Mission Valley, its companion coffee company Finjan is ready to open its doors in the same space this Saturday, January 10. From 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., stop by for some Turkish coffee, a chicken shawarma, and perhaps a slice of baklawa to cap it all off.
- Bottlecraft in North Park is taking some time this January to revamp its interior and concept, adding more taps (from 12 to 22), more seats (16 to 25), and in-store cheese retailer Venissimo says it’s also planning to expand its dine-in service with a few more options to munch on onsite. More beer and cheese? Sounds like an upgrade to me.
- Whether or not you’ve decided to participate in Dry January this year, everybody’s gotta hydrate. Why not make it interesting? As of January 5, hop heads who want to get their NA drink on can quench their thirst with a new collaboration between Stone Brewing and HOPWTR. The double-hopped non-alcoholic canned sparkling water contains a blend of Mosaic, Centennial, and El Dorado hops for that same massive hop punch Stone prides itself on, but without the dizzying next-day results. NA options have come a long way over the past few years, so I’m interested to check this one out. (Have you tried it yet? Let me know your thoughts at [email protected].)
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