Outstanding In The Field

Friday, April 10, 2026

Returning for his second year, chef Michael Beckman is a Southern California native whose career spans kitchens across Geneva, Lyon, Burgundy, and Berlin after training at the Paul Bocuse Institute. Back home, he co-founded Workshop Kitchen & Bar in Palm Springs in 2012, helping shape the city’s modern dining scene and earning a James Beard Award for design. Beckman later opened cocktail bar Truss & Twine and Noble Yeast, a mobile sourdough pizza concept rooted in seasonal ingredients and desert community.

Saturday, April 11, 2026

Executive Chef Alan Sanz leads the kitchen at Mírate in Los Feliz and Daisy Margarita Bar in Sherman Oaks. With formal training in Buenos Aires and stages at Pujol, Boragó, Mugaritz, and Epicure, Sanz brings a globally informed perspective to contemporary Mexican cuisine. His cooking blends heritage ingredients, European technique, and personal storytelling shaped by Oaxaca roots and leadership roles across Mexico and California before joining the group in 2025.

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Sunday, April 12, 2026

A lifelong immersion in hospitality began for chef Jonathan Harris in his father’s restaurant, Cornbread & Caviar, where a sports injury ultimately redirected him toward cooking. A Johnson & Wales graduate, Harris has developed a genre-spanning culinary voice shaped by his Costa Rican and African American heritage and a commitment to challenging industry expectations. Guided by his “Hook or Crook” philosophy, his work celebrates bold flavors, creativity, and representation across a wide range of cuisines.

Friday, April 17, 2026

Chef Charles Namba’s career bridges Japanese heritage and classical French technique, shaped by time in New York at EN Japanese Brasserie, Chanterelle, and Macao Trading Company before returning to Los Angeles to help open Thomas Keller’s Bouchon. With partner Courtney Kaplan, he operates three acclaimed concepts: Echo Park izakaya Tsubaki, James Beard Award–winning sake bar OTOTO, and French-Japanese bistro Camélia in the Arts District. Namba’s work continues to explore cross-cultural cooking through seasonality and precision.

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Saturday, April 18, 2026

Donnie Masterton began cooking at 15, apprenticing under David Bouley at Montrachet. Mentored by Patrick Clark, he rose to Chef de Cuisine at Bice Beverly Hills, The Hay-Adams in D.C., and Tavern on the Green. He later opened Azie in the Bay Area, launched Patina at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and led the Hollywood Bowl. In 2005, he moved to San Miguel de Allende to open The Restaurant, devoted to local sourcing and refined, world-class comfort food.

Saturday, April 18, 2026

Chef Christian Herrera’s cooking is deeply tied to Baja California, where childhood memories of cooking with his mother and time alongside Valle de Guadalupe chefs shaped his ingredient-driven approach. After launching food truck Irene and leading a rural kitchen at Casa Frida Valle de Guadalupe, he developed El Puerco del Mar, a concept honoring seafood, sustainability, and local sourcing. Travel with fishermen and oyster farmers continues to inform his evolving style, including new Tijuana project INNATO exploring contemporary Baja cuisine.

Sunday, April 19, 2026

Nico de Leon is a Los Angeles–based chef known for his inventive Filipino-American cuisine. Raised in the San Fernando Valley and shaped by time in San Francisco, his cooking reflects heritage, place, and community. He first gained acclaim as chef de cuisine at LASA, a key force in L.A.’s modern Filipino food movement. He later co-founded Lasita, a celebrated Filipino rotisserie and natural wine spot in Chinatown, where he blends tradition with a distinctly contemporary Los Angeles perspective.

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