Cooking the Borderlands: Spice and Smoke Between Mexico and the States

Claudette Zepeda is an award-winning, San Diego-based chef and culinary entrepreneur known for her fearless style and bold approach to regional Mexican cuisine. She has more than 20 years of experience working in restaurant kitchens and has garnered many accolades over the years: inclusion on Esquire's 2018 Best New Restaurants, recognition from Michelin on their 2019 Bib Gourmand list, named Eater San Diego and San Diego Union Tribune's Chef of the Year in 2018, and was a James Beard Best Chef West semifinalist in 2019. In 2022, she founded Taqueria Zepeda in Sydney, Australia. She is the culinary director of VAGA restaurant in San Diego, and has a new restaurant (Gentle Burger in CDMX) in the works.