DANIELLA DE LA PUENTE (Culinary Director) is a chef, sommelier, visual artist, photographer, and writer. Born in Mexico City, and residing in Tijuana since 1988, Daniella studied graphic design, and with her grandmother as her greatest inspiration in the kitchen, developed a deep passion for food that inspired her culinary journey. She studied at the Culinary Art School, where she also got her sommelier degree. With her latest projects, La Cocina Secreta, and La Cocina Secreta Sensorial a clandestine kitchen in Tijuana that combines the artistry of experiential art design and haute cuisine in a secret location. This exclusive experience is tailored to the customer’s tastes and wishes, using the freshest local ingredients. In 2012 De la Puente won 1st place in the Rumbos de la Cocina de Baja California at the Baja California Culinary Fest (BCCF). In 2016 she was invited to participate in “El sabor de las mujeres de Baja (BCCF) where she was recognized for her career achievements and named one of Baja California’s top female chefs. In 2018 she received the first place People’s Choice Award in the Sabor Latino at the 25th San Diego Latino Film Festival. She is currently lending her talents as a faculty member of the Iberoamerican University, Tijuana campus, where she teaches gastronomic photography, oenology and designing with gastronomy in architecture. As a visual artist, De la Puente has participated in over 16 solo art shows and over 300 group shows in over 12 cities of Mexico, United States, Argentina, Spain and Italy. Vanguard Culture Events: Avant-Garde Costume Gala 2016, Foodie Intuition 2016, Foodie Soiree Spring 2017, Ceviche Chef Showdown 2018, SENSORIUM 2018

JOSUE CASTRO (Director of Photography) is a Mexican photographer and painter.  As a photographer he is renowned for his powerful black-and-white portraits that explore themes of identity, cultural diversity, and the human experience. His work often delves into social narratives, especially those surrounding Mexican identity, the culinary world, as well as fringe and underground cultures. Castro’s distinctive style combines sharp contrasts, dramatic lighting, and a focus on raw expression, capturing the essence of his subjects with profound intimacy.   His textural paintings focus on the abstract, and most recently explore the nexus between art and science.In addition to his portraiture, he has been involved in various international collaborative art projects and exhibitions.  His artistry not only tells personal stories but also reflects broader social contexts, making him an influential figure in the art world.  Castro is the founder of The Kitchen Project, an innovative and influential forum for creating dialogue across multiple disciplines.  He was an early adapter of social media to promote both his own work and to embrace its global reach to drive cultural conversations.Castro’s work is in numerous private, corporate, and museum collections.

FERNANDO GAXIOLA (Wine Director) – Born in Sinaloa and raised along the USA-Mexico border, Fernando Gaxiola earned an engineering degree from the prestigious Tecnológico de Monterrey and a Global MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Phoenix, Arizona. A natural born entrepreneur, Fernando launched his first business management consulting firm in 2003 at the age of 26. Soon after, he became a leading business management consultant for the Oil & Gas industry in which he focused on processes, marketing, and strategic planning – an experience which afforded him the opportunity to live in over 14 countries. He later returned to his roots to apply his knowledge toward promoting the Tijuana-San Diego mega-region. His passion for food, wine, and art led him to found Baja Wine + Food, the leading travel, event, and lifestyle management agency in the San Diego-Northern Baja region. His company specializes in providing extraordinary cross-border experiences to corporate and private clients worldwide. Additionally, he has partnered with Truly Fine Wine to import and distribute a premier portfolio of Baja wines from the most prestigious wineries in Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California, México. As part of his ongoing strategy to promote Baja culture in the US, he also partners with acclaimed regional chefs and artists to create a cross-border culinary movement. Read more about his endeavors HERE.

FLOR FRANCO (Community Partnerships) Born in the rich epicurean tradition of Veracruz, Mexico, Chef Flor Franco’s path was practically preordained. Raised amongst farmers and cooks in a region that marries the ingredients and centuries-old culinary knowledge of several Mexican states and bordered to the east by the generous Gulf of Mexico, Flor Franco’s talent for perfection and technique is as deep as her propensity toward mastering the foods and flavors of the world! Chef Flor relocated to San Diego after attending university and founded her first catering company in 2008. Always a student, Chef continued to study with traditional cooks and chefs from around the world, developing a style entirely her own; a style that both pays homage to and respects, yet modernizes traditional foodstuff, embossing her personal signature on every dish. Garnering acclaim and a reputation for excellence, Franco has served as the Executive Chef for several award winning venues and restaurants, two Sundance Film Festivals, one Conde Nast dinner, hundreds of the world’s best events, and has had the honor of designing and executing menus for Hollywood elite, dignitaries and national political figures. She continues this tradition of excellence as head of international hospitality conglomerate, Franco Group, designing, building and operating projects on both sides of the border. Chef Flor is the first female chef inducted to the prestigious Disciples of Escoffier, France 2018.

OLGA SANCHEZ DE LA VEGA (Customer Experience Director) – A highly regarded Customer Experience, Sales, Marketing and Training professional with over 20 years of experience, Olga Sanchez de la Vega has led various training courses, developed talented staff, and maintained high sales volume, with tailored processes and operations. Olga is a respected team leader, managing and supervising teams locally and Internationally with an emphasis on clients in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Olga is the founder of The O Xperience, a bespoke tourism-focused program that creates enhanced culinary and travel experiences.  Olga currently serves as Ambassador for Baja Wine + Food, a company that represents and promotes boutique, family-owned and artisan wineries from Valle de Guadalupe in northern Baja California, where 90% of Mexican wine comes from. Additionally, the agency offers travel and concierge services in the Baja Wine Country, event planning and catering, Baja Vino Club and PR services to Mexican Wineries.

CHEF WILLIAM EICK (Culinary Correspondent) was raised in San Jose, CA until the age of 15, when his family and him moved to San Diego, where he has lived, and cooked since. He began his culinary career in Japanese kitchens in the area and has worked at every level, from casual to fine dining prior to opening his modern Japanese concept, Matsu, in the fall of 2021 in Oceanside. The Bay Area native’s work has garnered him Best Chef San Diego from Thrillist in 2017 as well as commendations in San Diego Magazine including Best New Restaurant in 2022, and Best Japanese Restaurant in 2022 and 2023.

Favorite Dish: At this time, my favorite dish would be the Sunflower and Ika at Matsu. It is a complete exploration and study of the entire sunflower plant, with the addition of Ika, which could be either squid or cuttlefish depending on the season. The sunflower plant as a whole is edible, and each of its parts have different flavor profiles. The leaves have bitter, vegetal tea-like qualities. Stalks can be treated similar to celery. The hearts being similar to artichoke, seeds are wonderful roasted, and the pedals make for a good garnish, with subtle floral and grassy notes. Balancing all those different flavors of one ingredient, while adding in natural sweetness, richness and umami from the Ika, and heat from a sauce called rayu (see chili oil, sometimes called la-yu), bring everything together into a few bites, that is best experienced as a handroll. It has it all. Sweet, Spicy, Bitter, Salty, Acidic, Floral, Umami, and more. At the end of it all, is it mostly about two ingredients, coming together, and having much, much more flavor and depth than one would expect. There is no other dish like it around. A true study of wasting nothing, and an invitation to the ethos of Matsu. 

MICHAEL GARDINER (Culinary Correspondent) is a freelance writer and licensed California attorney living in San Diego, California with his wife, environmental scientist Nancy Gardiner.  A graduate of Amherst College and the University of Wisconsin School of Law, Gardiner practiced business law and litigation before retiring to be a full-time food writer. 

Gardiner writes for various publications, including the The San Diego Union-Tribune, Edible San Diego, Locale Magazine, and others. He was the regular food writer for the late, lamented San Diego CityBeat, an alternative weekly with a circulation of 50,000. Gardiner is the author of two cookbooks published by Rizzoli International: Cali-Baja Cuisine (2023) and Kosher Fusion: Global Flavors, New Traditions (2020). Gardiner is currently working on a cookbook for Oceanside’s groundbreaking Matsu restaurant.

In his spare time, Gardiner – a former National Champion Australian Rules Football player, competitive bicycle racer and professional soccer coach — enjoys hiking and riding his bike by the coast. He does not have much in the way of spare time. He likes it that way.

Favorite Dish: Aushak with Duxelles. Aushak is the national dish of Afghanistan. I first encountered the dish at the marvelous Afghani restaurants of Madison, Wisconsin restauranteur Ghafoor Zafari. His restaurants, the first of which featured an upscale Afghani cuisine, convinced me from the first taste that food of the Middle East could be more than falafels and shawarma (though there is nothing wrong with those).  

There was something very appealing — at once exotic and familiar — about the delicate raviolis of sautéed leeks, the big and comfortable flavors of the meat sauce, and the fresh feeling of the yogurt sauce. As much as each of these elements pleased, Aushak is very much a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. And it’s a whole that has as much of a place on a fine dining table as it does as street food. 

Perhaps the secret to the appeal of Aushak is geographical and historical. As a major stop on the Silk Road — the ancient trade routes between Europe and China — Afghanistan necessarily reached its arms both east and west. Its culture and its food took something from both, never fully assimilating either. Aushak, like many Afghani dishes, shows that heritage — with the dumplings feeling like one-part Italian ravioli, one-part Chinese jiaozi.
 
But, like many Middle Eastern dishes, traditional Aushak combines yogurt (for creaminess) with meat (for richness and savory character). By substituting a rich mushroom duxelles for the ground beef of the original recipe, however, a fully vegetarian (and kosher) vegetable and dairy-based dish results. While this version of Aushak is certainly different than the classic — lighter, more umami-forward — it is every bit as rich and tasty.
 
My version of the dish is, in addition to being kosher, closer in style and intent to that which Zafari might have served had he been Israeli rather than Afghani: unabashedly upscale and uncompromising.

CHEF STEVAN NOVOA (Culinary Correspondent) NV Personal Dining. As a kid I had firsthand knowledge where food came from. My grandparents had livestock in their backyard in rural Sacramento. Most of my life, I’ve had a connection to nature.  Many people in my family had worked in or owned restaurants that I often found myself in kitchens in homes or commercial. Being a first-generation Mexican-American who doesn’t fluently speak the language of my ancestors and being taller and lighter skin tone had its difficulties and strengths to where I am now. I did not grow up with food from my heritage but rather the friends I made in my neighborhood as we were all first generation Americans. What most people today know as fusion, is what i grew up with, West African, Chinese, Greek, Russian, all under one roof. Years in kitchens cooking after culinary school, 8 years in the military with 4 deployments, not being fully accepted by ones own culture allowed me to see things people on one side of a fence could not understand. My perceptions and ideas come from multiple facets through years of traveling and understanding what someone is willing to share: a well-made dish.

Favorite Dish: My favorite dish is Timpano from the Calabrian region of Italy. It is made up of all the things that are wonderful in Italian foods salami, provolone, noodles, meatballs, eggs, and put together like a pie.

Vanguard Culture Events:  Avant-Garde Costume Gala 2016, Weather on Steroids 2017, Avant-Garde Costume Gala 2017, Ceviche Chef Showdown 2018

Chef Juan Carlos Récamier – Morning,

Favorite Dish: 

Vanguard Culture Events: An Artist @ the Table with Roman de Salvo 

Chef Fermin Baños – Sabores Cocina Artesanal

Favorite Dish: My favorite dish is made up of two dishes: Ribeye pork belly burger with Taleggio cheese in a pretzel bun, with a martini garlic aioli and arugula, with a side of parmesan/cilantro ginger spiral sweet potato and potato fries. And of course… a wild mushroom and Mezcal infused duck risotto.

Vanguard Culture Events: Avant-Garde Costume Gala 2016

Chef Francesco Bonsi – Cucina Migrante

Favorite Dish:  

Vanguard Culture Events: Extra-Ordinary Collusion Foodie Mashup 2017

Chef Eduardo Escalante  – Oh Bon Bon! Restaurant

Favorite Dish: My favorite dish (and ingredient) is chocolate and anything related to it. It was my first introduction to the confectionary world but it was my first taste of a coffee vanilla truffle that became the inspiration for my career.  It was such a simple yet classic recipe that included fresh vanilla, Columbian coffee, creme, chocolate, and butter – something technically simple yet unforgettable. 

Vanguard Culture Events: Avant-Garde Costume Gala 2016, An Artist @ the Table with Jennifer Luce 

Chef Danna Flores – Flores Tintas Boutique Gastronomica Mexicana

Favorite Dish: I have two favorite dishes and they can both be found in my mother’s kitchen: 1. Lengua en salsa verde (Tongue in tomatillo sauce) with cilantro infused rice; 2. Mole Almendrado (Almond seasoned mole) with Mexican rice; and of course fresh, homemade tortillas. There are no other dishes that make me happier than those my mother makes for me. She is the inspiration for my entire career and the reason I am passionate about the gastronomical diversity that can be discovered every day. 

Vanguard Culture Events: Foodie Intuition 2016, Foodie Soiree Spring 2017 

Chef Jorge Fuentes – Mariscos German Beyer

Favorite Dish:  

Vanguard Culture Events: Ceviche Chef Showdown 2018, SENSORIUM 2018

Chef Jason Fullilove – Barbara Jean LA

Favorite Dish:

Vanguard Culture Events: An Artist @ the Table with Shinpei Takeda 

Chef Manuel Julia – KARBO’,  Manuel Julia Catering & Host for “Al Gusto TV”

Favorite Dish: My favorite dish is tacos because they represent comfort food and they take me back to moments from every stage of my life. I don’t believe there is a Mexican person that doesn’t have a good memory accompanied by tacos. It is our culture and even better, there is no finite recipe for tacos, you simply add to them what your soul dictates.

Vanguard Culture Events: Foodie Soiree Spring 2017, Ceviche Chef Showdown 2018

Chef Felipe Raul Lopez-Torres  – Viñedos Malagón Valle de Guadalupe

Favorite Dish: There are two things that I love to eat and cook. I love to prepare and eat Lechón (roasted pork) and I make it at least once a year. Most of my friends and family know that I adore plantains. I think it’s one of the most versatile fruits and love experimenting and playing with its textures.

Vanguard Culture Events: Foodie Intuition 2016, Foodie Soiree Spring 2017, SENSORIUM 2018

Chef Mario Medina  – The Main Course; Former Vanguard Culture Culinary Director

Favorite Dish:

Vanguard Culture Events: Avant-Garde Costume Gala 2016, Avant-Garde Costume Gala 2017, An Artist @ the Table with Jennifer Luce,  Foodie Intuition 2016, Foodie Soiree Spring 2017, SENSORIUM 2018

Chef Luis Moreno Gil  – Andares De La Baja Cocina & Jardín De Cerveza Oficial

Favorite Dish:  

Vanguard Culture Events: Ceviche Chef Showdown 2018

Chef Melissa Nakouzi – Allure Restaurant

Favorite Dish: My favorite dish would have to be my grandma’s tamales. Every year for Christmas she would spend 3 days straight making her own spicy beef broth, slow cooking the beef in it, preparing her masa, spreading it on each and every corn husk, generously stuffing each one with beef, green olive, potato, and jalapeño, carefully wrapping each individual tamale, and waking up early Christmas morning to have enough time to steam them all. If that isn’t putting love into food, I don’t know what is!

Vanguard Culture Events: Avant-Garde Costume Gala 2016

Chef Dan Nattrass – Fishbone Kitchen

Favorite Dish:  

Vanguard Culture Events: Ceviche Chef Showdown 2018

Chef Karla Navarro – Salicornia

Favorite Dish:  

Vanguard Culture Events: Avant-Garde Costume Gala 2016 & 2017, Ceviche Chef Showdown 2018

Chef Aaron Obregon – Coronado Island Marriott Resort & Spa

Favorite Dish:

Vanguard Culture Events: Ceviche Chef Showdown 2018, An Artist @ the Table with Dame Zandra Rhodes 2018

Chef Michael Poompan – Coronado Island Marriott Resort & Spa

Favorite Dish: 

Vanguard Culture Events:  An Artist @ the Table with John Mireles 

Chef Ryan Steyn – The Cook Book

Favorite Dish: It’s hard to describe my favorite dish because there are so many to choose from. However one does come to mind from a recent trip to Barcelona where I tasted cooked artichoke hearts in a rich buttery veloute served with seared foie gras and sea salt.

Vanguard Culture Events: Avant Garde Costume Gala 2015 & 2016 

Chef Dulce Nabil – Sucrée

Favorite Dish: My favorite dessert is one people order from me the most, CHEESECAKE! The smell of the whole room, when you are baking cheesecake, is indescribable. The creamy texture of Philadelphia’s cream cheese combined with the sweetness of the graham cracker can make anyone happy. A traditional cheesecake is what I live for.

Vanguard Culture Events: Avant-Garde Costume Gala 2015, 2016 & 2017; SENSORIUM 2018

Chef Javier Rubio – Mission Bay Yacht Club

Favorite Dish: My favorite dish is Chilean Sea Bass infused with lemongrass and ginger, served with dragonfruit compote and citrus zest.

Vanguard Culture Events: Avant Garde Costume Gala  2016, Foodie Soiree Spring 2017 

Chef Jordana Salas – Oh Bon Bon! Restaurant

Favorite Dish: My favorite food or ingredient is cheese. I am fascinated by the variety of flavors and textures that can be found in them. I also highly respect Indian and Lebanese food. The spices and aromas they produce can be intoxicating.

Vanguard Culture Events: Avant Garde Costume Gala 2016, Foodie Intuition 2016

Chef Claudia Sandoval – Claudia’s Cocina, Winner of MasterChef Season 6

Favorite Dish:  

Vanguard Culture Events: An Artist @ the Table with Roxana Velasquez 2018

Chef Martin San Roman – La Terrasse San Roman

Favorite Dish: My favorite dessert is the Famous Pastel de Crepas Tijuana! Layers of soft crepes & Belgian White Chocolate Mousse. You can find it at La Terrasse San Roman / Guadalupe Valley!

Vanguard Culture Events: Avant Garde Costume Gala 2016 

Chef Danilo (DJ) Tangalin Jr. – Bivouac Ciderworks

Favorite Dish:  One of my favorite dishes is called Pinakbet. It’s a vegetable Filipino dish. It is our version of a ratatouille. It has long beans, okra, kabocha squash, eggplant, and bitter melon. Sometimes it is cooked with pork belly and shrimp. It is also finished with fermented shrimp also known as “bagoong.”

Vanguard Culture Events: INSPIRE 2017

Chef Sandra Vazquez Fernandez  – La Mestiza Restaurante

Favorite Dish: One dish that I’ve loved since I was a child was a classic dish from the Mexican state of Michoacán (where I am from). It is a “Chile Relleno de Uchepo.” This is a Poblano pepper stuffed with uchepo (like a corn tamale but less sweet), Cotija cheese, Chihuahua cheese and crema de rancho. 

Vanguard Culture Events: Avant Garde Costume Gala 2016, Foodie Intuition 2016, Avant-Garde Costume Gala 2017