Photo by Sergey Kolivayko
Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins
Who is she?
Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins is currently the executive chef and partner of El Jardín, an upscale Mexican restaurant focusing on the variety of regional Mexican cuisines that opened this year in Liberty Station.
Why did we pick her?
Zepeda-Wilkins—a “border girl” who grew up back-and-forth between San Diego and Tijuana and now calls Bonita home—has had a colorful career between serving as chef de cuisine of now-shuttered Bracero and competing on Top Chef and Top Chef Mexico. She joined the Rise & Shine restaurant group in 2017 and is now behind the helm of El Jardín, the first restaurant under her direction.
In her own words:
“What I do is ‘compass tuning.’ Every day is a chance to keep paving the way north for my daughter, and other girls, with dreams as big as their hearts. The more I do what I love, the further in love I become with the vision of our future.”
What’s next?
Zepeda-Wilkins wants to take over the world, literally and figuratively. Future plans include opening something small in her family’s ancestral home of Guadalajara, and opening a panadería specializing in baked pan de pulque in Barrio Logan.