Nixtamalization is an ancient Mesoamerican technique for transforming corn into a dough called masa, which serves as the base for recipes such as tortillas, gorditas, and tamales, and is at the heart of Mexican cooking. The main ingredients for making masa are corn, time, and intention.

In this article, Chef Roberto Alcocer discusses how traditional techniques like nixtamalization have the power to transform your cooking.

Chef Roberto has lived and worked in the culinary centers of Mexico. He learned to cook in Oaxaca and Mexico City, before heading to Europe to further refine his craft. Today, he combines his knowledge of traditional Mexican cooking with contemporary flavors to craft eye-opening dishes in his own Michelin-star kitchen, located in Oceanside, CA.

Valle’s Chef Roberto on Nixtamalization

In cooking, there are ingredients you work with, and then there are ingredients that reshape the way you think about your craft. Corn is one of those ingredients.

It’s easy to treat corn as something familiar, something expected. A tortilla on the table, masa in a dish, something that feels almost automatic in Mexican cuisine. But the more time you spend with it, the more you realize that corn isn’t so simple. It’s precise. It’s sensitive. It demands your attention in a way that doesn’t allow shortcuts.

Recently, I was asked if there’s a traditional Mexican cooking technique that I wish more chefs would explore in fine dining. Without question, my answer is nixtamalization. It’s one of the most important techniques in Mexican cuisine, yet few chefs outside of Mexico make proper use of it.

Once you start making your own nixtamal—grinding your masa and feeling it transform from corn to dough—it changes the way you cook. It’s not just a process, but a shift in perspective. It carries history, culture, and an entirely unique way of understanding flavor. And it demands time.

You take something raw, something that hasn’t yet expressed its full potential, and you commit to it. You mix water, cal, and heat. Then you wait. Waiting is an essential part of the process—not something that you can work around. You can’t rush masa without losing something. That’s what I find most interesting. Nixtamalization forces you to slow down in a kitchen that moves fast.

When we started making our own masa, we weren’t trying to be traditional just for tradition’s sake. It was about gaining a deeper understanding of what we were serving. Where it came from. What it could be if we paid attention to it.

Once you taste the difference, it’s hard to ignore. Fresh masa has a depth that’s difficult to explain until you experience it firsthand. Its texture and aroma possess a liveliness that simply doesn’t exist in something processed or rushed. It holds flavor differently. It carries the dish instead of just supporting it.

But working this way also comes with its own challenges. Consistency becomes harder. Every batch of corn behaves differently—the weather affects it, the cooking time changes, the grind changes. It requires constant adjustments. It demands your presence. You can’t just follow a recipe and expect the same result every time.

In a kitchen where time and labor are already stretched to its limits, choosing to do this is a commitment. There are easier options, but easier doesn’t make you a better chef.

Working with local corn also adds another layer of complexity. At Valle, we work hand in hand with producers like Somos Maiz, who are helping bring attention back to the quality and diversity of corn being grown close to us. It’s not just about sourcing an ingredient, it’s about understanding it through the people cultivating it. That connection changes how you approach even the simplest preparation. It also means accepting limitations. You don’t always get exactly what you want. You adapt, adjusting dishes to what’s available, not the other way around. That can feel restrictive, but it also creates clarity. It forces decisions grounded in practical considerations.

A tortilla made from corn you understand, processed with intention, carries more than just flavor. It reflects the choices made long before service starts. That’s something guests may not always be able to articulate, but they feel it.

At least, that’s the goal. Because in the end, working with corn at this level isn’t about making it more complicated. It’s about taking something essential and treating it with the same level of care as anything else in the kitchen. Not because it’s expected, but because it deserves it.

— Chef Roberto Alcocer

To learn about another essential element of Mexican cooking—smokiness—and for pro tips on plating, check out our article on how to cook Chef Roberto’s legendary pescado.

It reminded us that coffee is so much more than what’s in a cup. It’s also artistry and design. It’s the look of the package, the layout of the cafe, even the uniform of the barista. There are few industries that channel as much passion and raw creative energy as coffee experts. (And that’s not just because they’re tweaking out after their third shot of espresso.) The spaces themselves—the lounges and cafes—radiate a powerful, almost intoxicating aura. If you’ve ever been struck by inspiration as your foot begins tapping to the beat of an old jazz number, or felt a sudden rush of creativity as the roasted smell of fresh espresso wafts across the room, then you know exactly what we’re talking about.

Likewise, World of Coffee is more than a convention of jittery baristas coming together for a day of networking and product demos. It’s an opportunity for people who are head over heels in love with their craft to learn from the masters. It’s a homecoming of kindred spirits who’ve traveled halfway around the world to spend time with friends they haven’t met yet. More than anything, it’s about community and camaraderie. Here, professionals and enthusiasts alike can immerse themselves in what they love. And believe us when we say you’ll never see people who are as excited to be at a tradeshow as the attendees of the WOC!

In this article, we offer you an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the industry’s biggest event. Keep reading for top takeaways from this year’s World of Coffee, plus insider insights from one of the nation’s top roasters.

Latte Art Championship

This year’s champion is no stranger to the world stage. In his third time representing Taiwan in the World Latte Art Championship, Bala blew judges away with his stunning free pour designs—which included a raccoon, giraffe, and red panda. (And most baristas can’t even draw a regular panda in your coffee.)

Coffee Design Awards

Coffee is more than just a beverage, it’s a vibe. So in recognition of all the special extras that make this industry so vibrant—from product packaging bordering on fine art to the thoughtfully curated layout of a cozy cafe—the Coffee Design Awards celebrate artistry and imagination throughout the industry.

This year’s branding award went to Monogram Coffee for their beautiful branding and product photography, instantly recognizable for its use of warm gradients which highlight the bold taste and vibrant sensations of their products.

Best packaging was awarded to Rikka—whose clean, minimalist designs masterfully communicates the quiet luxury contained within.

Slow by Slow Coffee was given the award for best space in recognition of their freshly renovated coffee bar, located in Downtown Boise. Their cafe combines the refinement of a speakeasy with features common in industrial design to create a space that inspires curiosity and child-like wonder—and which has been self described as feeling “sort of like a treehouse or old house you snuck into.”

Best New Accessory

One of the toughest things about brewing is the mess that comes from beans, grinds, hot water, and espresso spilling and splashing all over the place—soaking your gear and working its way into every possible crack and crevice. That’s why this year’s Best New Product Award for Coffee Accessories went to Squeaky in recognition of their revolutionary Satellite Coffee Guard.

This Thailand-based company traveled roughly ten thousand miles to attend this year’s World of Coffee. But their long journey more than paid off when they were awarded both the Best New Product Award and the People’s Choice Award.

A quick glance at Squeaky’s website reveals a menagerie of zany designs reminiscent of the fictional Acme Corporation. Scrolling through their home page you’ll find rocket-shaped air blowers, aroma displays that look like 1920s perfume atomizers, and an espresso shot cooler that vaguely resembles the British Crown. Highly practical and highly imaginative, their products masterfully balance hard headed engineering with the fantastic quality of childhood daydreams.

But while much of their inventory sports vintage appeal, the Satellite Coffee Guard’s clean, minimalist design feels more like Space Age technology. (Fitting, since the team accepted their awards while wearing shiny zip ups resembling NASA’s crew jackets.) Made to sit atop your scale, the Satellite Coffee Guard protects your tech from spills and splashes by catching rogue droplets and redirecting them safely to the side.

Bold New Flavors

The real winners of this year’s WOC were the tasters themselves, who experienced firsthand the ways in which producers and roasters from around the world are elevating coffee to new heights.

Let’s be honest—most coffee has the roasted flavor of burnt chocolate, sometimes masked by heavy doses of sugar and dairy. Part of what makes World of Coffee so special is it gives attendees the chance to sample some of the best brews on Earth—sending them on a consciousness expanding journey of taste bud enlightenment.

Tastings from Cafe de Colombia, Dayglow, Bird Rock, and Makeworth offered espresso shots that tasted like they were sent fluttering down from the heavens on the backs of angel wings by the caffeine gods themselves, and drip coffees so deeply infused with terroir that they transported the mind back to the beans’ native lands—so that you could practically smell the soil where they were grown as a cascade of flavors spread slowly across your tongue.

But no brew was so savory, so seductive, so salivatingly sumptuous as the shots poured by Makeworth Coffee. Showcasing a selection of bold, roasted flavors which dared to go where few beans have gone before, WOC attendees waited in a blockbusting line—some sporting newly purchased hats and jackets as they returned incognito for their fourth, fifth, and even sixth shots—that would’ve made you think that Taylor Swift herself was signing shot cups.

Meet Makeworth

For those who don’t know, Makeworth Coffee is a Washington-based cafe and roasting company that specializes in premium coffee. Named one of the world’s top ten roasters by Sprudge, Makeworth showcases the unbelievably fresh taste of carefully selected beans sourced from small farms across the world. And this year they wowed patrons with the fruity flavors of some of their most adventurous beans.

But why? Why pineapple, why bubble gum, why watermelon? Why, of the over the dozen blends sold on their website, did they choose their fruitiest flavors as samples.

Head Roaster, Tim Shenkin, can still remember the first time he tasted the flavor of blueberry in his coffee. It was a transcendent moment that offered him a glimpse of what coffee was capable of. So this year the team decided, rather than playing it safe, they’d offer attendees flavors they’d likely never before experienced in their coffee.

You’ve probably, at some point, grabbed a free paper cup coffee sample at your local supermarket. And, as you took that exploratory first sip, the sales rep probably said you should be able to detect some fruity notes. So you nodded and said, “oh yeah, sure thing, I can definitely taste that.” While the more imaginative among you might have thought—just for a moment—that you could actually taste the “subtle notes of kumquat with hints of blood orange and a smooth Baja Blast finish.”

What separates Makeworth from supermarket coffee beans—which claim on the package to have all sorts of accents and undertones with notes of this and hints of that, and oh yeah don’t you taste the lemongrass?—is that you can actually taste the fruit in their coffee. No, seriously, it tasted like pineapple.

Pina Colada

The world remains divided on whether or not pineapple belongs on a pizza, but what about in your coffee?

Complex, intense, and about as fruity as a fresh squeezed pineapple, Makeworth’s Pina Colada coffee practically stole the show at this year’s WOC. Hailing from the rain-soaked hills of Huila, Colombia, this tropical treat combines your two favorite fruits in ways previously undreamed of.

As a coffee aficionado, you probably already know that after harvesting cherries, farmers ferment them to break down the sugars and sticky fruit coating—essentially turning cherries into beans. Then surely you also know just how essential fermentation is to creating great tasting coffee. That’s because—in its cherry form—coffee beans are still biologically active and the microbes they come into contact with can transform sugars and acids in ways that influence flavor. Well, here’s where things get a little bit funky.

On the little Colombian farm of Finca Quebraditas, pineapple parts are mixed into the fermentation tank for a kick of extra flavor. Here the yeasts and bacteria from the pineapple interact with the coffee—changing the chemistry of the bean to boost fruity, tropical notes. This is what’s known as “co-fermentation.”

Pina Colada is the brain child of Edison Argote. Argote’s experimental approach to crafting innovative new styles of coffee, like Pina Colada, balances fruity notes with the terroir of beans cultivated from his native Colombia. In dreaming up new ways to enjoy the world’s most beloved beverage, Argote combines the bold vision of an artist with scientific precision. Cherries are hand picked. Beans are slow dried. And fermentation is closely monitored for the best flavors.

Watermelon

So if adding pineapple to the fermentation tanks creates a sweet citrus taste, does adding watermelon chunks then make the beans taste like watermelon?

No. Unfortunately, it’s way more complicated than that. But here’s a high-level summary:

Watermelonification boils down to a process called nitrogen-assisted anaerobic fermentation, with nitrogen being the key ingredient. Essentially, Carturra coffee cherries are fermented using food-grade nitrogen in a process carefully monitored by a team of mad scientists who make their living turning coffee cherries into caffeinated fruit juice.

1. Julio Cesar grows his prized Carturra coffee in the mountains of Risalda, Colombia. Carturra is a variety of Arabica coffee plant. Its high sugar production makes it ideal for fruity coffee. Cesar selects the ripest, highest quality cherries for fermentation. That’s because ripe cherries have more sugar, resulting in fruitier flavors. (We’re talking about the sweetest of the sweet.)

2. Cherries are placed in a fermentation tank and food-grade nitrogen is added, displacing the oxygen. Microbes react to the sudden lack of oxygen by slowing down, giving producers greater control over the fermentation process. By slowing down the microbes, flavor production becomes more predictable. In low-oxygen environments, microbes produce more esters, creating a fruity profile with less acidity.

3. Throughout this process, Cesar and his team actively monitor the temperature and pH of the cherries. Once the target profile is achieved, the coffee is fully washed to stop fermentation, then dried slowly under controlled conditions.

The end result is an expressive cup of Joe, defined by watermelon-like juiciness, bubblegum aromatics, and cotton candy sweetness. Yet despite its fruity flavors, this coffee’s profile is clean and precise.

About The Roasters

So all this begs the question: just who’s roasting all this fruity coffee?

If you imagine the owners of Makeworth are two mustachioed mad men with Seussical top hats and eccentric suits like Gene Wilder from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, then you’re only partially right. (Head Roaster Tim does, in fact, have a tremendous mustache.)

The truth is that KJ Plank and Tim Shenkin are two of the humblest, hardest working guys you’ll ever meet. They’re just two dudes who put their pants on one leg at a time and show up to work each morning in their finest chore ready to start roasting. And while they roast what is—in our humble opinion—the tastiest cup of coffee on this green Earth, they never try to steal the show.

Tim and KJ recognize that they’re only part of the equation. From its origin in tropical soils across the world all the way to your tastebuds, the journey that a single cup of coffee takes is long and arduous. And a lot of the leg work is done by proud farmers like Julio Cesar and Edison Argote.

Coffee production is a globe trotting adventure. Cherries are grown, picked, and fermented in places like Colombia, Brazil, China, and Kenya. They’re then shipped to the US by trusted importers who make a living finding and sourcing some of the best beans on Earth. When the baton finally gets passed to Makeworth, all they have to do is roast to perfection and pour. (Well that and manage the sale/ distribution of some of the hottest selling specialty beans on the market while also running a successful cafe.)

Tim and KJ consider themselves ambassadors of the coffee they’re selling and don’t shy away from telling people exactly where they get their beans. Makeworth proudly displays the farms and importers they work with directly on the packaging in a way reminiscent of a Michelin-star restaurant. Not only is this the right thing to do, but it’s also a clear indicator of quality. After all, when you work with the freshest, highest quality ingredients why wouldn’t you show off?

Makeworth is interested in coffee that is expressive and unique. But quality beans are only part of the equation. To do right by their supply chain and the communities where they source their coffee, Makeworth partners with businesses making a positive social impact, like women owned farms.

Visit Makeworth In Person

At Makeworth, coffee isn’t just a product. It’s also an engine for creating experiences. The business’s Bellingham cafe creates space for people from all walks of life to come together, take a break, and find the inspiration they need. It serves as an invitation to be present and enjoy the moment.

25-Seven

Not only did Makeworth serve some of the best coffee at WOC, they were also the best dressed. Sporting their all-new, custom branded aprons and chore coats, Makeworth embodies what it means to live life 25/7.

The 25-Seven Collection mirrors the passion of the people who wear it. For Tim and KJ, the grind never stops. Their lives are a flurry of creative energy. Because for them, their work isn’t about checking boxes. It’s about the craft.

What would you do with an extra hour in your day?

Every person on Earth is given the same amount of time in a day. But for the creative few who live for the craft, 24 hours just isn’t enough.

25Seven isn’t about adding more hours to the clock, it’s about making every one of them count! Chef Works’ all-new workwear collection combines the style and comfort of streetwear with the rugged durability of 100% cotton denim.

Our beloved 25Seven Chore Coat is fast becoming the industry favorite design of baristas and roasters. More than a coat, this garment is a companion piece—made to move with you, from the first shot of espresso to the last train home. Each stitch represents long days and early mornings spent honing your craft—moments woven together over the course of a lifetime.

Today we’ll be walking you through how to make crudo with a recipe lifted straight from the cookbook of one of San Diego’s top chefs. Aidan Owens shares his secret to preparing a rounded crudo that balances the tenderness of yellowtail top loin with a trio of toppings for a spicy sweetness that compliments rather than overwhelms. From the docks all the way to your table, we cover everything from selecting your fish to fileting it, then finally plating and garnishing.

Light, bright, and bursting with flavor—this is a recipe you don’t want to miss!

Selecting Your Fish

Quick Recap:

Crudo is called “Italian sashimi” for a reason. It’s served raw, which means not just any random supermarket-bought fish will do. You need that sucker as fresh as can be. We’re talking about fresh-caught, rigor mortis firm, smells-like-the-ocean, sashimi grade top loin. So let’s begin our crudo by selecting our fish.

In case you didn’t read our last article (which you absolutely should) we provided a quick recap of essential considerations when sourcing fish:

Just as important as size and species are considerations like how it was killed and then preserved after death. Details like the consistency of the brine and the method for dispatching the fish can mean the difference between sour smelling mush and sashimi grade fish.

Hook and line fishermen can never compete with industrial-scale fishing operations when it comes to quantity. So they instead specialize in quality. Not only are traditional techniques like ikejime and shinkejime a more humane way to kill fish, they’re also better at preserving the meat.

In ikejime, a spike is inserted directly into the brain, causing instant death. This prevents the buildup of lactic acid and stress hormones, which could spoil the meat. High quality fish should be firm to the touch for superior texture and taste—which is exactly what you get when you use ikejime combined with the right brine.

Shinkejime involves inserting a wire along the spinal cord to destroy nerve function. This prevents spasms and muscle contractions after death, reducing blood spots and preserving flavor.

How do you know if your fish was killed using ikejime and preserved with shinkejime? The easiest thing to do would be to ask your fisherman. You can also check for firmness. Sushi grade fish should be nice and firm (not soft and mushy).

Butchering Your Fish

For less mess, you can buy a select piece of top loin from your local fish market. But if you want to go the extra mile by butchering an entire yellowtail, you came to the right place.

Aidan walks us through step by step how to skin, filet, and debone an entire yellowtail in order to finally reach the finest cut—the top loin.

1. First Cuts

We’ll begin by removing the belly and loin of the yellowtail in two sections—severing it from the head, spine, and tail.

To start, find the collar bone (located behind the pectoral fin). Cut behind it up to the top of the head then down to the pelvic fin. From your initial cut at the top of the head, run your knife down the spine from head to tail. At the base of the tail, make a shallow cut across the tail and then run your knife up the belly from tail to head. Then flip your fish over and repeat the process.

After making cuts on both sides of the head and tail and along the belly and spine, you can go ahead and snap those parts off. (By this point the head and tail should be hanging by a thread).

2. The Loin

For this next part, you’ll want a flexible knife. This will allow your knife to bend around the spine, removing more meat than a stiff knife.

Press your knife against the bones of the spine as you work to sever your loin from the spinal column. Make sure your knife is sitting on top of the bones rather than cutting through them. Just like before, after coming down the spine you’re going to drag your knife back up the belly, this time cutting along the bottom spine.

Once your loin has been just about severed from the spine, switch to a breaker knife to split the midsection in half. Aidan uses a honesuki style boning knife. Use your knife to break through the front spinal column for a cleaner cut.

After your midsection has been broken in two, continue cutting along the spine as we work to remove it from the fish.

If your loin is a bit bloody, that’s a good thing. Fresh fish bleed because their blood has not yet congealed. Another indicator of freshness is the smell. Fish meat smells different depending how old it is. Fresh fish should smell like the ocean.

3. Trimming

When trimming, keep your knife to the sky as you follow your initial incision along the bones. You’ll want to remove rib bones and the fatty white chunks of meat near the belly.

Pro tip: Chef Aidan claims just the tip is all you need, when trimming yellowtail.

Next, use pliers to pull out the pin bones with care. Go with the grain, don’t rip against it. Yellowtail and seabass typically have the biggest pin bones, so expect to use some elbow grease. Also, the fresher fish is, the tighter the muscles.

4. Removing the Bloodline

Cut lengthwise down the middle of your meat, separating the top loin from the bottom loin and removing the blood line. Yellowtails tend to have a bit more blood and sinew along the bloodline when compared to other fish.

5. Skinning

To skin your fish, make a small cut near the tail end of your loin to get down to the skin. Then turn your knife toward the head and position it so the blade sits between the skin and meat. Press your knife against cutting board and pull across

6. Perfecting Your Top Loin

Finally, we get to the good stuff. The top loin is the cut we’ll be using to make our crudo.

Top loin is tender with a nice cross section that not only looks good, but also tastes better raw when compared to other cuts.

Trim any remaining bits of bloodline from the bottom of the cut. Look for color differences. If you still have any bloodline remaining, you should see your loin transition from dark red to light red. The dark red pieces are the blood line and have an iron rich taste. The lighter pieces are more tender with a cleaner, more delicate taste.

For crudo or sashimi, we want the best possible piece.

Crudo

1. Cut Your Crudo

Take the top loin and cut your crudo into thin cross sections. Each intersecting fiber is like a different bite with a different texture.

2. Dress It & Plate It

Feeling saucy? Time to dress your yellowtail.

When it comes time for plating, we’ll be drizzling our fish with three sauces for added flavor. These are our apple shoyu (made from Julian apples that are juiced and reduced then mixed with white shoyu and salt), a ginger vinaigrette (also made using apple juice, plus ginger, olive oil, shallots, and garlic all blended together then left to sit for a day so the astringency from the garlic dissipates), and finally burnt Fresno oil. Lastly we’ll add some greens by delicately placing a couple leaves of mustard frill on top. This adds a bit of bitterness to round the dish back out.

Bon appetit!

The best fish you’ve ever tasted won’t come from a grocery store or a food supplier. It will be caught a couple miles from your table, then prepped and plated in just a few hours.

This is exactly the experience you can expect from Herb & Sea. Together, Chef Aidan Owens and Shane Volberding are making a splash in the San Diego culinary scene by serving some of the freshest seafood in town.

In this article, we share fresh insights from our deep dive with seafood savants Aidan and Shane. Below they answer essential questions, like where to find the freshest fish, the best way to preserve seafood, and adapting menus for sudden shortages. And—as an added bonus—we’ve included a step-by-step guide on how to make Chef Aidan’s legendary Fried Rockfish.

Fruits of the Sea

In French, seafood is fruits de mer—literally meaning “fruits of the sea.” The French term conjures up the image of an endless assortment of fish, shrimp, crab, and oysters all laid out in an elegant spread deserving of King Neptune himself. Which is why, in our humble opinion, fruits de mer better captures the romance of seafood and the ethos of Herb & Sea.

Less than thirty years old and the culinary director of two award-winning restaurants, Chef Aidan Owens is a rising star in San Diego’s food scene. Aidan’s recipes reflect a culinary philosophy grounded in community, sustainability, and seasonality. His dishes offer more than sustenance. They tell a story—the story of California cuisine. But with a local twist.

Freshness is the hallmark of California cuisine. Just look at the French Laundry. What began as a mom and pop restaurant has become an international culinary sensation, thanks in part to their uncompromising commitment to freshness. They maintain a three and a half acre culinary garden across the street from their restaurant—which grows over 150 varieties of produce and includes a chicken coop and bee hives.

In San Diego, locally sourced ingredients means fresh fish (in addition to meats and produce). Herb & Sea’s menu showcases the immense bounty of SoCal’s fisheries, allowing guests to sample the flavors of local fish caught less than a few dozen miles away by people who know the waters, grew up fishing them, and are invested in maintaining the health of San Diego’s fisheries for generations to come.

Enter Shane.

Shane Volberding is the captain of F/V Meat Wads and the proud owner of Shane’s Seafood. A traditional hook and line fisherman, Shane is the king of fresh-caught mackerel. He also specializes in yellowtail, sardines, and bottom fish. Shane sells his fish to high end restaurants across the county, and is a regular at the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market in Downtown San Diego.

Together, Shane and Aidan serve some of the freshest seafood in the county—reconnecting San Diegans with their environment by allowing them to sample the flavors of local fisheries.

In an age where food has become a commodity that’s frozen, gassed with pesticides and insecticides, pumped with preservatives, and shipped halfway across the world, Shane and Aidan remind us of the importance of community and connection—especially when it comes to food.

When Aidan met Shane

Buying local builds community, and that’s what sets Herb & Sea apart from any run of the mill restaurant. Chef Aidan actually knows the people who grow, catch, and forage his food.

Odds are you’re probably not exchanging late night phone calls and weird texts with your wholesaler. But when you buy from a local fisherman, that relationship might look a bit different.

Take Aidan and Shane for example. What began as a trip to the dockside market soon blossomed into a lasting friendship. Today they’re in constant contact, keeping each other updated on fresh catches and nightly specials. A shared passion for each other’s crafts makes them a powerhouse team.

Wondering where you can find a fisherman like Shane? For the freshest mackerel, yellowtail, sardines, and rockfish, you can DM him on Instagram @shanesseafoods.

If you’re not based out of San Diego, or you’re looking for something other than yellowtail and mackerel, you can head down to your nearest dockside market to meet the local fishing community.

Where to Buy the Freshest Seafood

Chef Aidan’s cooking has garnered rave reviews from San Diego Magazine, Time Out, and the Union-Tribune. And less than twenty miles north, Chef Roberto Alcocer has earned a Michelin star for his sumptuous seafood dishes.

The secret to their success? The freshest fish in town.

You’ve heard of farm-to-table, but what about boat-to-table? San Diego’s top restaurants buy their seafood almost exclusively from local fishermen. This means going downtown to Tuna Harbor or up to Pelican Harbor in Oceanside.

The pride of the Port of San Diego, Tuna Harbor is an open-air seafood market where you can buy fresh fish right off the boat from the people who caught them. Tuna Harbor is “committed to showcasing local catches, connecting the public to the local fishing community, and promoting the environmental benefits of buying local.” Here, chefs can get to know the hard working men and women who catch their food. They’re not sales people or account managers, but captains and deck hands who spend day in and day out trolling local waters for fresh fish.

But you don’t have to live in San Diego to enjoy the delicious taste of fresh seafood! For freshness you can taste, head down to your nearest marina and start chatting with the local fishermen. There you can learn just what your local fisheries have to offer and expand your knowledge of fishing. Because, believe it or not, knowing how your fish was caught and preserved will improve both your cooking and recipe writing.

Advantages to Buying Local

Buying local just makes sense. After all, why would you pay for old fish shipped from thousands of miles away when you could eat something caught right off a local dock? Unfortunately, most big suppliers don’t see the logic in buying and selling locally.

While you might assume most fish served in San Diego would be locally caught, you’d be wrong. According to Sea Grant California, 95% percent of California Spiny Lobster are exported to China, and most lobster served in California are imported from Maine. Instead of making use of local ingredients, San Diego (like most modern cities) wastes jet fuel and gasoline importing stale food from thousands of miles away.

When fish is caught, bought, and cooked in San Diego County (or wherever you grill fish), it maximizes freshness while minimizing your carbon footprint. From the ocean to the dock, right to the restaurant, Aidan’s fish is about as fresh as you can get.

Food waste is a big problem in America. According to the US Department of Agriculture, roughly one in three calories produced in the US get thrown out uneaten. But buying local helps combat food waste. Take Shane, for example. He sells every single fish he catches.

By buying from hook and line fishermen who aren’t trawling with huge nets, aren’t storing their catch in massive warehouses where a portion of it is bound to spoil, and aren’t compromising the quality of their catch with fresh water rinses, you can minimize food waste.

And 9 times out of 10, buying local also ensures higher quality fish. Not only fresher, but less contaminated and better cared for.

When it comes to fish there’s a lot more than meets the eye. Just as important as the size and species of the fish are considerations like how it was killed and then preserved after death. Seemingly trivial details like the consistency of the brine and the method for dispatching the fish can mean the difference between sour smelling mush and sashimi grade fish.

Fluoride doesn’t belong on fish. But big processing plants regularly rinse fish with fresh water. Not only does this contaminate the catch with whatever extra minerals a city has in its water, but fresh water actually burns saltwater fish.

Hook and line fishermen can never compete with industrial-scale fishing operations when it comes to quantity. So they instead specialize in quality. Shane uses traditional Japanese techniques to kill his catch. Not only are ikejime and shinkejime more humane, but they’re also better at preserving the fish.

In ikejime, a spike is inserted directly into the brain, causing instant death. This prevents the buildup of lactic acid and stress hormones, which could spoil the meat. High quality fish should be firm to the touch for superior texture and taste—which is exactly what you get when you use ikejime combined with the right brine.

Shinkejime involves inserting a wire along the spinal cord to destroy nerve function. This prevents spasms and muscle contractions after death, reducing blood spots and preserving flavor.

As you might imagine, this level of care and precision might mean a higher price point. But a couple dollars extra is the price of doing the right thing and staying competitive in the culinary industry.

Pro Tip: Don’t Buy Seafood From Just Anyone

Buying local doesn’t mean purchasing fish from any Joe Shmoe hawking iced mackerels on the corner. As a professional chef, you want to source your fish from a certified commercial fisherman and have receipts ready. Ignoring this can get you in big trouble with Fish and Game, and trust us when we say that is not an organization you want to mess with. Meteoric fines and worse are the consequence of not giving your business and cuisine the due diligence it deserves.

How to Deal with Seasonality and Shortages

Many fish migrate, while others are easy to find year round. Yellowtails, tunas, and swordfish are subject to seasonal fluctuations. Rockfish remain.

This hidden gem might not look like much at first glance, but believe Aidan when he says its rich taste and buttery texture makes it his favorite fish.

Which brings us to the moment you’ve been waiting for…

How to Cook Fried Rockfish

It’s no secret that Chef Aidan loves rockfish. Fried or in a crudo, rockfish’s juicy taste makes them Aidan’s absolute favorite fish. Similar in flavor profile to seabass or grouper, they’ve become a year-round staple on his menu at Herb & Sea.

Aidan prizes Shane’s rockfish not just for their freshness, but also for the way he uses traditional Japanese techniques to create a superior taste. Properly bleeding rockfish and performing ikejime with shinkejime removes the minerality and iron taste for a far cleaner profile.

1. Pick Your Fish

When selecting rockfish, don’t worry about bulging or cloudy eyes. While bulging eyes on shallow water fish can be a cause for concern, rockfish are typically found in deeper water. When they’re pulled to the surface the air inside them expands, causing their eyes to bulge outwards.

2. Prep It

If you buy your fish whole and ungutted, you have some extra work ahead of you.

To gut your rockfish, lay the fish on its side and insert the tip of your knife into the small hole near the underside of the tail. Carefully cut up toward the head, stopping at the base of the gills and keeping your cut shallow to avoid puncturing the internal organs.

Next, grab the entrails near the head end and pull them out slowly. Most of it should come out in one motion. If anything sticks, use your fingers or knife tip to loosen it. You’ll also want to reach into the head and pull out the gills to avoid added bitterness in your final dish. Lastly, clean the bloodline by removing the dark red strip along the inside backbone using your thumb or a spoon.

Scale your fish by gripping its tail and using a fish scaler or the back of a knife to scrape the scales off in strokes running against the grain from tail to head. Don’t forget the belly and areas around the fins.

3. Score It

After your rockfish is scaled, gutted, and rinsed, dry it well with paper towels so it’s not slippery. Then use a fillet knife to make shallow diagonal cuts. Scoring helps the fish cook faster and more evenly. It also helps the skin get that perfect crispy texture.

4. Fry It

Fill your fryer with enough oil to fully submerge the fish and heat it to 350 degrees. Hold the fish by the tail or use a fryer basket to slowly lower it into the oil away from you. DO NOT drop it in, as this can cause a splash. Oil should bubble steadily and, depending on the size of the fish, it should take 5-10 minutes to fry.

Indicators that it’s done are:

• slowing in bubbling,

• deep golden brown color and crispy texture

• Internal temp in 145

Lastly, let the excess oil drip off by resting it on a rack or paper towels.

5. Serve It

Finally, plate your rockfish and serve with pickled green strawberries, rice, bitter winter green salad with miso dressing, and soy dipping sauce.

I didn’t fall in love with cooking in a classroom. I learned to love it from my family, but it wasn’t immediate. It took a lifetime.

My father opened a bakery in Florida in the nineties. Like many immigrant stories, the day-to-day reality of running a restaurant wasn’t glamorous. It was long hours, early mornings, and doing whatever it took to keep the lights on.

In 2007, my family moved back to Boston and opened a Haitian takeout restaurant serving patties and fritay. That restaurant became my life. But back then working in the kitchen didn’t feel like passion. It felt like punishment. I spent my childhood working for the family business, but my heart was always somewhere else.

I’ve been an athlete my entire life—football, track and field, and basketball. Mostly basketball. I come from a big family with nine older siblings, so competition was standard in our house. There was always someone stronger, faster, better. You either rose to their level or got left behind.

When we moved to Boston, I continued running track and playing basketball. The gym became my second home. I played varsity starting in ninth grade. In eleventh grade, I earned Defensive Player of the Year. I was never the highest scorer. But I was fast, I could jump, and I played for the team. Most importantly, I was resilient. If there was a loose ball, I was on the floor. If there was a defensive stop needed, I took the job. The chip on my shoulder was always there, lurking in the background, pushing me on and off the court.

After high school, I enrolled in a two-year college for business management. At the time, despite spending what felt like a lifetime in the family kitchen, I still didn’t understand what it meant to be a chef. The culinary world felt distant to me. I just knew I wanted to contribute, in my own way.

While in college, I kept pursuing basketball. I walked onto my JUCO team without being recruited. No hype, no promises. I started on the practice squad for the first few games, quietly putting in the work and earning trust.

By the fourth game of the season, I had worked my way into the starting lineup. That year, we dominated—winning the Region XXI tournament, pushing through the quarterfinals, and then semis to become district champions. That run earned us an automatic bid to the NJCAA Division III national tournament, making us one of the top twelve teams in the country.

We lost in the first round. And that loss stayed with me.

That summer I doubled down on basketball, working out three times a day at Point Guard College. It was one of the most demanding environments I had ever been in. At one point, we weren’t allowed to use our dominant hand at all. That’s where I learned one of the most valuable lessons of my life—get comfortable being uncomfortable. I embraced it. I leaned into the work. And by the end of the camp, I was named MVP.

Going into the next season, I was ready. My coaches saw the growth—better court vision, stronger off the dribble, more aggressive on the glass, knocking down the counter three. They pulled me aside and gave me advice that, in hindsight, was meant to protect my future. They told me to redshirt. Develop more. Position myself for a potential Division I or high level Division II opportunity. But I was young, confident, and stubborn. I told them, “No, this is my year!”

Five games into the season, I dislocated my shoulder. Just like that everything stopped. Season over. Career over. For the first time in my life, the jersey that had defined me was no longer an option. So I turned back to what had always been there: the family business.

After recovering from my injury, I leaned in differently. I started waking up early to help out before class. I would drive my father to the shop, help with delivery runs, and make sure we had all the ingredients we needed for the day. After classes, I’d head back to finish prep, check orders, and get the kitchen ready for the next day. Somewhere in that grind, something shifted. What used to feel like punishment started to feel like responsibility, then purpose. I had a realization. It hit quietly, but clearly: I guess I’m a chef now.

Once that switch flipped, I attacked it the only way I knew how, like an athlete. I started researching how to get better. How to train. How to build real skill in the kitchen. The answer became obvious. Culinary school. So I made a decision that would change everything. I left my business program and enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu in 2014.

That was the year everything shifted. The year the jersey came off…

…and the chef coat went on.

When sauce hits the pan and an overheated stove sends bubbling marinara shooting across the kitchen, the first casualty is a chef’s coat. So then why do so many chefs insist on wearing white?

When most people think of a chef, they picture someone in a white jacket and unusually tall hat. (Look no further than pop culture classics like Disney’s Ratatouille or Overcooked, or even the annoyingly ticklish Pillsbury Doughboy.)

But why? What explains chef coats’ enduring popularity and lasting impact on popular culture?

While there isn’t one simple answer, the many reasons chefs wear white makes this convention all the more fascinating. In this article, we uncover the real reasons chefs wear white by investigating the history of this time-honored tradition.

1. White’s Traditional

Few professions have a uniform that’s as recognizable as chef’s whites. This iconic outfit traces its roots all the way back to nineteenth-century France and the culinary innovations of Marie-Antoine Carême.

Widely regarded as the first celebrity chef, Carême’s innovative approach to the culinary arts helped transform French cuisine into a structured profession, with formal instruction and a kitchen hierarchy modeled after a military brigade.

Carême, more than anyone, is the reason why chefs wear white. His obsession with professionalism and cleanliness led him to create a uniform that he believed would enhance the prestige of professional cooking.

But how exactly does something that becomes dirty so easily add prestige to such a messy industry? While Carême’s logic may seem counterintuitive at a glance, it actually makes a lot of sense.

2. White Absorbs Oil and Grime

It’s no secret that white soaks up grime and oil like a dry sponge. Almost every color stain sticks out more on a white background, but that’s precisely the point. Chefs wear white because it shows dirt and messes. Maintaining a white uniform despite the chaos of a kitchen is a mark of professionalism. It demonstrates cleanliness and control in an otherwise chaotic environment.

3. White Reflects Heat

Lastly, we shouldn’t overlook perhaps the most obvious reason chefs wear white:

By definition cooking involves heat, and cooking hundreds of intricately prepared dishes raises kitchen temperatures to an almost unbearable degree.

If you’ve ever worked in a kitchen, you know just how hot it can get! Ovens, open flames, and steam fill kitchens with sweltering heat. Having cool workwear isn’t just comfortable, it’s essential for performance. Dehydration and overheating can lead to mistakes, sluggishness, and a potentially hazardous work environment. Having a heat reflective uniform helps kitchen staff maintain peak performance, even when rushes demand they kick things into high gear.

But Why the Hat?

The toque blanche remains the chef uniform’s greatest mystery.

There’s been a lot of theorizing and are essentially two answers—one short and the other quite a bit longer.

The long answer:

Tracing the origin of the word toque is like opening a set of Russian dolls, with each loan word deriving from another. Literally meaning “hat,” toque comes from the French tuque (which in turn derives from the Spanish toca, which derives from the Arab taqa, which derives from the Persian taq).

Toques have been a sign of prestige in Southern Europe for centuries. Black toques became popular among Spanish nobles in the 1500s, as seen in Sofonisba Anguissola’s portrait of Philip II. Over the succeeding centuries, they were used by French and German judges to indicate their authority (similar to how British judges wear powdered wigs).

But what does any of this have to do with cooking?

For centuries cooks have worn headgear to keep hair from getting into food. 19th century French cooks were known for wearing the casque à meche, a type of stocking cap. Boucher—the personal chef of the infamously corrupt French politician and priest, Talleyrand—was reportedly the first chef to insist on white head covering for sanitary reasons.

Like most early modern culinary innovations, the toque blanche is popularly believed to have originated with Marie-Antoine Carême—who supposedly stiffened the casque à meche with cardboard. The dignity and prestige of the toque combined with the practical need to keep hair from getting into the food to give us perhaps the most iconic piece of classic chef’s whites.

The Short Answer:

It’s recognizable and it keeps hair out of food.

Not All Chefs Wear White

The biggest caveat to explaining why chefs wear white, is that many of them don’t.

Though white uniforms are traditional, they’re by no means an industry standard. And while chef’s whites add prestige to traditional kitchens, modern chefs are expressing themselves with more colors and styles than ever before.

Beyond fine dining, there’s a lot of room to play around with when it comes to coats. From modern and streamlined to fun and quirky—and everything in between—today’s chefs are expressing themselves with more colors and styles than ever before. Modern restaurants might choose something more refined, like a no-frills all-black chef coat. Sports bars might go with athleisure-inspired apparel. And bistros might turn to something a bit more urban (denim aprons anyone?).

In our next article, we’ll be diving deep into modern apparel and identifying the hottest trends in the culinary industry.

The first thing Roberto said when we talked about his pescado wasn’t the technique, but the pier outside his restaurant. “The fish available to us,” he explained, “changes with each season, and sometimes every catch. Adapting dishes to suit the season creates a freshness you can taste. This flavor is impossible without local ingredients.”

Food is an expression of culture, and good cooking draws inspiration from both styles (i.e. French, Italian, Japanese) and surroundings. A common mistake when writing recipes is not adapting dishes to local ingredients. Focusing too much on how you’re cooking can lead you to forget where you’re cooking.

The most memorable dishes combine tradition with local ingredients to create flavors grounded in a sense of place. Terroir, or taste of place, is essential to writing recipes that stand out. It’s also a delicate balancing act. Focus too much on styles and techniques and you risk losing your sense of place. Overprioritize ingredients and you risk losing connection with your culinary style.

In this article, we’ll be talking to award-winning chef, Roberto Alcocer, about taste of place. Roberto will walk us through how to make his signature pescado—offering actionable tips on how to incorporate local ingredients into your own cooking.

Why Locale Matters

“Know where your food has come from by the very way it tastes; its freshness telling you how far it may have traveled, the hint of mint in the cheese suggesting what the goat has eaten, the terroir of the wine reminding you of the lime in the stone you stand upon, so that you can stand up for the land that has offered it to you.” —Dr. Gary Paul Nabhan, “A Terroir-ist’s Manifesto for Eating in Place”

To cook is more than throwing ingredients in a pan. A true culinary artist knows how to dazzle guests with mouth-watering recipes that combine time-honored techniques with flavors rooted in a sense of place.

To connect with guests on a deeper level, you must take geography into consideration. Great recipes are love letters to their ingredients, and the freshest ingredients are locally-sourced. Just look at the masters:

In Miami, award-winning Peruvian chef, Diego Oka, honors the unique taste of fresh-caught Caribbean fish by tailoring his Andean cuisine to showcase their distinct flavors—as evidenced by his Sudado a la Norteña featuring Florida grouper. And in Toronto’s Distillery District, classically-trained Chef Taylor McMeekin adds a local flare to his French cuisine by using ingredients foraged from local forests and fish caught from the Great Lakes.

Standing out in an industry as competitive as fine dining requires recipes rooted in a sense of place. Dishes that combine locality and seasonality to create authentic tastes and fresh flavors encapsulate the meaning of terroir.

For a masterclass in how to use terroir in your own recipes, look no further than Roberto Alcocer—head chef at Valle in Oceanside. With dishes like Tacos de Langosta made from California spiny lobster and Lenguado a la Veracruzana featuring fish from Harbor Pelican Fish Market in Oceanside Harbor, Chef Roberto knows better than anyone how to write recipes that combine traditional techniques with local flavor.

Seasonality + Locality = Terroir

Terroir describes how an ingredient’s unique environment (soil, climate, topography, local traditions) gives it a flavor and character that can’t be easily replicated. Just think of New York bagels, where the city’s soft water helps create pliable dough that gives NYC bagels their signature chewy interior and crisp crust.

Perhaps no one understands the importance of terroir better than San Diego’s Roberto Alcocer. Raised in the food capital of Mexico, Roberto’s culinary journey has taken him around the world. After decades honing his skills under the tutelage of renowned chefs in Michelin star kitchens from Mexico City to Madrid, Roberto opened his first restaurant in picturesque Valle de Guadalupe—a fertile valley located between Tijuana and Ensenada in Baja Norte celebrated for its vineyards and fine dining.

In 2021, he brought the taste of Mexico’s wine country to North County San Diego when he opened his second restaurant, Valle, in downtown Oceanside. Located just a block from the Pacific Ocean and miles from the farms of East County, Chef Roberto has his pick from the Golden State’s freshest ingredients. With more small farms per capita than any US county, San Diego is a dream for chefs wanting to wow guests with farm fresh flavors.

Chef Roberto’s menu blends Latin flavors with locally-sourced ingredients to craft dishes that give guests a taste of Mexico while showcasing the bountiful harvests and fresh catches of local farmers and fishermen. This commitment to taste of place earned Valle its first Michelin star in 2023, just two years after opening, making it one of only five San Diego restaurants to do so.

Chef Roberto’s cuisine reflects the connection between land, sea, season, and tradition. It blends a lifetime of knowledge with his deep connection to the local community.

Below, we dive into the inspiration behind one of Chef Roberto’s most celebrated dishes—providing insights on how you can incorporate terroir into your own cooking, plus step-by-step instructions on how to cook Valle’s legendary pescado.

How to Make Chef Roberto’s Signature Pescado

What Makes this Dish Special

Roberto’s signature pescado is inspired by seasonal ingredients. Deeply rooted in the local community, its profound sense of place elevates it beyond a mere entree into something special.

Made from fresh halibut caught near the pier directly in front of Valle, the supplier is proudly displayed on the menu itself, so guests know there’s fresh fish just down the road. By showcasing seasonal ingredients and using his menu as a platform to bolster local businesses, Roberto’s cuisine transforms cooking into a community affair.

Note on the Ingredients:

For the freshest flavors, Roberto uses fresh-caught fish and vegetables sourced from local farms. Like all great recipes, fresh ingredients make for the best taste.

Dry-Age Halibut (6 Days)

1. Place halibut in a dry-aging refrigerator.

2. Set fridge to 34–38°F and 75–80% humidity.

3. Leave uncovered for 6 days, allowing air to circulate evenly.

Grill & Smoke

Note: Charcoal grill is essential, as smoke is the key ingredient to authentic Mexican cooking.

1. Filet fish, lightly salt, and place it on a charcoal grill.

2. Grill filets for roughly 1.5 to 2 minutes per side. (Halibut is thin and cooks fast.)

Prepare the Serrano Beurre Blanc

1. Finely chop serrano chiles, making sure to remove the seeds.

2. In a saucepan, combine chopped shallots and white wine vinegar and reduce over medium heat.

3. Add serranos and a splash of cream.

4. Season lightly with salt and keep warm.

Grill and Wrap Asparagus

1. Trim and grill asparagus.

2. Slice zucchini length-wise into thin ribbons.

3. Wrap asparagus with sliced zucchini.

Puree Roasted Asparagus

1. Roast asparagus drizzled with olive oil at 400°F until caramelized.

2. Blend with cream and salt lightly.

3. Purée until smooth.

4. Pass through a fine sieve for a refined texture.

Finishing Touches

Garnish with seagrass, sea bean, ice plant, serrano peppers.

How to Adjust for the Season

Like everything on Chef Roberto’s menu, halibut is seasonal. If he decides to keep the dish on next season’s menu, he will most likely replace the halibut with a fish well suited to the dish’s other ingredients, like yellowtail. His team will also run out of local asparagus at some point, and rather than substituting for lower quality greens, Roberto is committed to staying local and will either tweak the dish or scrap it all together.

Plating

Like all Michelin star chefs, Roberto takes plating very seriously.

Taking cues from abstract painters like Miro and Kandinsky, Roberto finds inspiration in the visual arts. This creative approach goes all the way back to Roberto’s early days in culinary school, when one of his instructors took their class to a museum and tasked students with finding a piece of art and then plating a dish in a way that imitated it. Roberto likes this approach because not only does it open him up to new ideas, it also helps him to refine his style in a way that is totally unique and unlike other chefs.

There’s also a practical side to Roberto’s approach to plating. Roberto places proteins on the left so servers always set the plate in the correct position. Even though the main ingredient is the fish, the asparagus goes in the center because it involves the most technique. To the right of that is the garlanded roast asparagus puree. And on top of it all, he pours the beurre blanc.