Los Altos has a new restaurant concept called el Alto, adjacent to State Street Market. With a focus on locally sourced California cuisine and a nod to Mexican influence, it’s the latest endeavor for two-time James Beard award-winning chef Traci Des Jardins.
Des Jardins is famed for her beloved Jardinière in San Francisco, which closed in 2019 after a 21-year run. Classically trained in French cuisine, she worked in kitchens in Los Angeles, France and New York City before coming to San Francisco in 1991. She credits her Mexican and French-Acadian grandparents for teaching her how to cook.
Named America’s top rising star chef in 1995 while working at Rubicon, Des Jardins partnered with Pat Kuleto (Boulevard, Farallon) on Jardinière, and thereafter opened Commissary, Arguello and Public House. She serves an adviser for Impossible Foods, being among the first chefs to put the Impossible Burger on her menu.
For her latest endeavor, Des Jardins, raised in the Central Valley, teamed up with chef Robert Hurtado, a Central Coast native with whom she worked at Arguello, to create an homage to her Mexican grandparents as well as his rich Mexican heritage. The menu features modern twists on Mexican dishes prepared on a central, live-fire Mibrasa grill.
We asked Des Jardins and Hurtado what they’re aiming to achieve with their new venture.
Peninsula News: Had you been ruminating on this kind of concept before the pandemic?
Des Jardins: This project was in the works long before the pandemic. Over the past few years, my interest in Mexican cuisine has grown and grown.
PN: How did the pandemic change your view of the role of fine dining? Do you think consumers are trending toward more casual and comfort food dishes, or do they want fancy, plated food after being cooped up?
DJ: I think both. I think there has been a collective harm done to all of us throughout this experience of the pandemic. I think people are seeking comfort, and at the same time they’re seeking experiences that they couldn’t have during that time.
PN: What attracted you to Los Altos?
DJ: Los Altos is an intriguing place in that it has an old-time feeling to it, like a small town but with a wonderful, deeply ingrained community.
PN: What are some of the dishes your maternal grandparents brought to the table that inspired you in your cuisine?
DJ: My grandfather told tales of roasting goats in pits in the ground, traditional barbacoa. My grandmother wouldn’t let him cook the tripe for menudo in the house, so my mother set up a stove in the garage where he would cook it. My grandmother made flour tortillas every day with lard that she kept under her sink—her drippings. She also always had a pot of pinto beans on the stove. The things I remember always influence to some degree what I cook.
Hurtado: My grandfather was a butcher and would always bring home different cuts of meat and offal. My grandma and mom would cook together, but my grandpa was the only one who grilled or barbecued meats. In a similar fashion to DJ’s grandma, my grandma would save bacon fat and use it to refry beans, and flour tortillas were always made by hand every day for dinner, but she used Crisco for her tortillas.
PN: How did your French-Acadian grandparents influence your love of food?
DJ: My dad’s mom was an amazing baker, and she had a massive kitchen garden where I remember her growing lots of different things. Of note were okra and rhubarb, which you couldn’t buy in our small-town grocery stores. My grandfather was a hunter and passionate cook. He truly could have been a chef. He would cook the foods of his childhood—shrimp creole, big crawdad boils for half the town, it would seem. Feasts for 40 to 50 people were a fairly regular affair.
PN: What are some of the el Alto menu items you are most excited about and why?
RH: I usually get excited for dishes as the seasons change. Currently I like the terracotta deviled eggs, the ayocote bean salad, the apricot mole with duck and the seasonal Mibrasa grilled vegetables with salsa macha.
DJ: The duck with molé for sure. I love the flavors of all of the dishes that come out of the Mibrasa, it’s a great piece of cooking equipment.
PN: Where do you source the Blenheim apricots you feature?
RH: Right now, we use a combination of dried apricots and some preserved apricots that my grandma jars herself. We plan on working with the city of Los Altos to source amazing local apricots.
el Alto is at 170 State St. in Los Altos, adjacent to State Street Market. Open Thursday-Saturday, 5-9 p.m. https://www.elaltolosaltos.com, 650-949-1247
