A World’s Best Chef’s Next Act
Daniela Soto-Innes discusses accolades, tequila, spreading joy, and opening her new restaurant, Rubra.
I started Something Glorious because I love the joy food, drinks, and travel offer to so many people. Gathering with friends and family over a meal with a nice bottle of wine, in a special — or even not so special — setting can result in memorable stories, laughs, and sometimes even tears (often times from laughing). And when I think about chef Daniela Soto-Innes, who I had the pleasure of spending time with twice last fall, I think of someone who infuses the world with joy. She has a magnetic smile that can light up a space and she lives by an ethos of happiness that comes through her food.
Our first encounter took place amidst the sprawling agave fields in Tequila, Mexico. I was down there on a trip with Jose Cuervo’s premium brand, Reserva de la Familia. We were part of a select group to first taste and take part in the launch of the newest offering, Añejo Cristalino Orgánico. Cuervo tapped Soto-Innes as a brand ambassador and she and her incredible team prepared a celebratory feast.
The dinner had originally been scheduled to be out under the stars in the agave field, but a forecasted storm brought us under a wood structure open on all sides. While we had protection from above, it was no match for the powerful storm that rained sideways with strong winds. That, in turn, was no match for Soto-Innes’ joy as she brushed off what many others would have seen as an obstacle. She dialed up her high-wattage smile and distributed pots full of smoky-spicy Mayan sikil pak and trays holding sweet potato tamal, lamb barbacoa, and steamed white fish. Placing them on the table, she declared we’d be eating family style. The party continued.
Soto-Innes rose to prominence after working with renowned chef Enrique Olvera at this flagship two Michelin-starred Mexico City restaurant, Pujol. The two then opened Cosme in New York, where Soto-Innes led the kitchen as head chef and eventually partner. They then opened Atla, which they then brought to Los Angeles. During this time, Soto-Innes won the James Beard Foundation Award for rising star chef in 2016. That was followed by her being named the best female chef in the world — at just 28 — by the 50 Best organization, which is behind the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list (Pujol, by the way, currently sits at No. 12).
Many people have questioned why the organization needs to have an award that calls out a female chef instead of simply creating more space for women to rise and succeed in this industry. And then recognizing more restaurants led by women for this list. Still, it’s an award that spotlights someone at the top of their game. Soto-Innes said winning this allowed her to show others who have been marginalized in this industry — women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people of color — that if she can do it, why not anyone?
That attitude eventually led her to forge her own path as a restaurateur and decided she wanted to do it in Mexico. She landed on opening her first restaurant, Rubra, on the rooftop of the W Hotel in Punta Mita, Mexico, about 45 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta on an exclusive peninsula that juts out into Banderas Bay. Rubra was originally slated to open in November 2023, but was set back after a powerful hurricane hit that area a month earlier. According to someone at the hotel, it will open this year, but they did not have a specific date.
The weekend after our adventure in Tequila, I met up with Soto-Innes at Kohler Food & Wine (you know, where Martha Stewart made me eat blue cheese). We sat down following her cooking demo to discuss what motivates her, being named a world’s best chef, the concept behind Rubra, and of course, spreading more joy.
In conversation with chef Daniela Soto-Innes
You have a new partnership with Jose Cuervo and Reserva de la Familia. Tell me a little bit about that. How did that come about?
I've been a huge fan of them and what they mean for Mexico and the whole culture behind their brand. And one day I get a call, but they wanted me to be the ambassador of the new product, the Cristalino. And I love cristalino. I was extremely excited and honored to be part of it. And then I got to meet the Cuervo family and Alex [Coronado], who is a maestro tequilero, and I just fell in love. It was just such an easy interaction and they're lovely people and I'm so, so happy for that.
So what does that entail? Is your role as ambassador to go around, speak about it, and just drink a lot of the cristalino?
First of all, I have to taste a lot of the cristalino. So it's a natural relationship where we do different events. I talk about the product because I genuinely love it.
While we were down in Tequila, Mexico, we did the tasting out in an agave field. Then they moved us under this really beautiful structure that was open on all sides for the dinner that you were preparing at one long gorgeous natural wood table. Then, in the middle of it, this massive — massive! — storm comes in. Your team is cooking with the rain pouring on them. And you, with a big smile on your face, turn it around and make it all work. Where does that energy come from that you're able to just flip it on a dime and keep the cool going?
I come from a family of people that were either really incredible cooks or really incredible sports people. My dad played basketball when I was growing up. And we were in different competitions, and I failed so many times. And every time I got up, every time I was like, okay, just know what to learn from. That's my ethos. Always. If you can turn something around and make someone happy and have a smile and learn from it, why not? And in that situation [with the storm], anybody would've been canceling because we had everything plated. We had sauces and everything on the plates and the storm. I've never seen a storm like that! Never. The drops were like a gallon of water. And I looked at my team and they were so sad. They were like, “We worked so hard for this.”
That's my ethos. Always. If you can turn something around and make someone happy and have a smile and learn from it, why not? — Daniela Soto-Innes
My first reaction was, “Get out of the rain, stop cooking. I got this.” And I looked at everyone on the table. There were 30 people that were extremely smart, knowledgeable, and well traveled. And I knew people won't understand that there's nothing else we can do other than be a happy family and serve from the pots. And for me, I was a little jealous I wasn't at the table because that would've been so much fun watching. It really was watching the chef bringing you their pots and pans and participating being part of the kitchen. That dinner was an entire kitchen. It was incredible. The guests were the chef and it was really nice how it turned out.
One of the components of that dinner was the sweet potato tamal, which was probably my favorite thing we ate that night. Which kind of brings us to where we are now — in Kohler at the Food and Wine Festival. How did you end up in Wisconsin? Why did you want to be here for this food festival?
This year they invited really awesome chefs and Gavin [Kaysen], who's a really good friend of mine, and Martha [Stewart], who's a queen. And when they invited me, I was like, of course. And I love cheese. I was like, I need to go get some cheese. And I love that we were here exactly on my favorite time of the year. It’s so beautiful in the United States. The leaves are so beautiful and the colors, which I love. [Being in] Punta Mita, we don't get to see that anymore. Different colors and everything falling. So it was a perfect time to be here.
Speaking of Punta Mita, you’re opening your first restaurant on your own, Rubra. Tell me about that.
We're hoping that the hurricane you saw rains from that made a huge delay on the restaurant because nobody will believe there is a rooftop restaurant. It seems like you're not on a rooftop until you look down.
So it's on top of the W Hotel?
On top, yes. But it's my own brand, which they've been so generous of building whatever I want. That's incredible, because normally it doesn't happen that way. They've been so awesome that we brought our own designers, our own crew, our own artists — everything. And the hurricane gave us a delay of one to two months because a lot of things were destroyed sadly. So we're looking at late December or January. [ed. note: Rubra is not yet open.]
So, why there, of all the places you could have opened, whether in the United States or Mexico, why did you decide that location?
There was a seed in me after the pandemic, when everybody started realizing what they wanted in their lives, if they're going to die. My first thought was I want to be in Mexico. I want to go back to my roots. For me every year on my birthday, I like to be a little bit alone because it's a new opportunity for growth. And I think about the things that I could change. And that birthday on the pandemic, I went to meditate and I said it was Mexico. I have to be there.
What's the concept and what are some of the local ingredients you're going to use?
The core of my cooking is always a milpa and I use everything that I have around me.
Milpa means you essentially take what's around you from the environment, right?
Milpa is the agricultural system where corn is the main ingredient. You have the squash that protects anything going into the corn. And the huge leaves give shade. You have the beans that bring nitrogen to the soil and chilies that help any type of predators from going into the corn. So I took these four ingredients and this is the core of my cooking. Then I see what I have around me. And being in tropical weather where you're going to see a lot of Mexican tropical food, which makes me so happy because having mangoes is just so much fun. So we're going to focus on just having this tropical vibe to where we are.
I assume that includes a lot of seafood, no?
Lots of seafood, lots of veggies, not that heavy on meat. But why not if it's a really incredible piece of lamb that we make a nice barbacoa?
What does Rubra mean?
Rubra means flor de mayo. It's this flower that you see in Hawaii with the lei and it's all over Mexico and it only grows in May. But the word also means to start again. So the sunrise, the rubra, the sunset, the rubra of the sun. And it's just a reminder that we're always students.
That's really beautiful. And literally you are starting again from being in New York at Cosme and other projects and now you're there. So you were named the world's best female chef, the youngest ever in 2019. What was that like for you? I mean you're so humble, so how did you take that news?
Well, it's scary. Being successful is really dangerous. So when I found out, first of all, it was a huge honor for Mexican culture because it was the first Mexican chef to ever achieve something like that. And then I was the youngest and then all of these things that people might think, “Oh, that's the best thing that can happen to a person.” But that's also the most dangerous thing that can happen to something very creative. So my first thought was, “Uh oh!” That day we had so many reporters I couldn't even get out of the kitchen [at Cosme]. So I used that as a platform to attract talent, to showcase my team for people to see who they were. Most of the people that I trained have their own restaurants now. And then the ‘Chikis’ [sisters and cooks Estefania and Valentina Brito from Venezuela] have been with me for a long time.
Then we always travel the world together. Either they have their own restaurants or chefs with their own kitchen, which makes me really proud. Because when you see someone really young next to you, and sometimes you see the leader and think, “If she can do it, why can I not?” Sometimes people take that in a hard way, but I took that as, “Hell yeah, there needs to be a lot more of us.” We push each other and we need to be people who talk about the Latino culture and anything other than what you always see in kitchens.
It was really nice. And then I was like, “No, I can't be the best.” My mom thinks so. My team thinks so, but I know that I can learn so much and start again. So for me it was a huge lesson to keep going. Just keep going and don't look for awards. I never looked for them. I always thought that was so far away from what I could achieve, but it also wasn't the most important thing for me. For me, it was to be that girl that everybody sees that they can do it. For me the awards are a scary thing. It's not something that makes me really excited. It's more like, “Oh my god.”
Because everyone really does put pressure on you. You were named rising star chef at the James Beard Awards and you have to kind of live up to that. But what you're saying is if you're able to take that and accept it, then you can keep being who you are and do what you do?
Yes. And people always think when they see me, I'm actually a kind of shy person or a little bit awkward and they don't understand. It's like, “What do you mean? She's on the cover of all these magazines?” So it's been funny to see the perception of what people think of you when you get big.
And you put “big” in quotes. [laughs.]
Yeah, in quotes. But for me, I'm still the girl that gets excited when they see another chef pass by that I've never met in my life. Or going to someone's kitchen. I don't care that much about the awards. They help a lot and I'm so honored to have them, but when you seek them, you never get them. That's something that I really wish I could tell everybody.
Your team is very heavily female. Was there something that happened in your culinary past that made you make that decision that said, “I’m going to change things?”
I started cooking in kitchens when I was 12. I started working in restaurants really young. And I was always the only girl. Or they were in pastry or they were in salads. And it was really hard to find a female figure at the head of the kitchen. And I remember my first sous chef job was so scary and I could see all these big men just killing it.
Instead of thinking I'm not good enough, I would be like, “I'm going to be next to them.” And it never once occurred to me that it wasn't fair for me. It was like, “I got this opportunity to be somewhere amazing and I want to be part of this.” It's not about gender, it's about talent. And as I grow up and I mature a bit more, I realize how difficult it was being the only woman, but for me, it just came. Then I started getting all these resumes [at Cosme].
It's not about gender, it's about talent. — Daniela Soto-Innes
Different women started knocking the door and they wanted a job. And it happened to be a lot of women. And then guys started to come and it was more about unity than I would only hire women. And right now I look back and I am like, “Oh my god, where are the guys?” It's such a shift because how did this happen? A lot of women follow me and a lot of men, too. But I think there has to be a shift into where you have to give opportunities to everyone. There are smart ways to move a team that doesn’t have to be about gender.
That’s inspiring, it's empowering. Hopefully people will see that and learn from that because there is a shift that has been happening, it just needs to happen more.
When we learn and just take a positive outcome out of anything that comes back your way, you're always going to end up happy or content on understanding that you did everything possible to make every situation better.
SG List: Things I’m high fiving this week
4 Chicago chefs get James Beard Award nominations
As the third largest city in the country, which also hosts the awards, I always hope to see more Chicago represented in the final JBFA nominees. Alas, we settle for the four we got and they are worth celebrating:
Lula Cafe for outstanding hospitality
Elske’s Anna Posey for outstanding pastry chef or baker
Indienne’s Sujan Sarkar and Esme’s Jenner Tomaska for best chef: Great Lakes
Nettare's mostly Michigan wine list
Yes, you read that right. I finally made it over to dine at Nettare in West Town, which focuses heavily on all things local. That includes its wine list, which kind of forces people to have an open mind about Michigan wine. Hell yes!
Kelly Clarkson covering Katy Perry’s I’m Awake
This is probably my favorite Katy Perry song and, once again, Kelly Clarkson proves she can sing anything and make it her own.
I enjoyed this interview! "It's not about gender, it's about talent" - that quote really resonated with me.