El Jardín Cantina

"Less than a month after its surprising shutter, El Jardin has reopened in Liberty Station as El Jardin Cantina. Owner Johan Engman of Rise & Shine Restaurant Group (Breakfast Republic, Feast & Fareway) pivoted the modern Mexican restaurant into a more casual eatery, which is now open Tuesday through Sunday serving dinner and weekend brunch in a revamped setting." - Candice Woo

"El Jardin, a highly acclaimed restaurant in San Diego, will close for a complete transformation into a new concept named El Jardin Cantina. The revamped venue will no longer feature its renowned executive chef Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins, who has received significant accolades including a James Beard Awards semifinalist nod. The eatery will undergo renovations for four weeks and will reopen with a more casual atmosphere, serving Mexican classics and focusing on margaritas at the bar." - Candice Woo

"Last month, Eater San Diego’s 2018 Chef of the Year Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins was nominated for a James Beard Award and now the former “Top Chef” star’s Liberty Station restaurant gets The New York Times treatment with a review out today by James Beard Award-winning reporter and columnist Tejal Rao, the paper’s first California restaurant critic. It’s the first time The New York Times has reviewed a local restaurant, so let’s hope this all-too-rare showing means that the paper will continue to explore San Diego for future coverage. We’re hearing that Rao made two visits to El Jardin before filing an overwhelmingly positive review, saying that diners will find: The accolades continue with Rao’s description of Zepeda-Wilkins’ dishes: Reached for comment, Zepeda-Wilkins said, “I’m incredibly humbled and thankful for the overflowing support and love we’ve received since opening El Jardín. Tejal pierced our hearts with the eloquent words she wrote on our restaurant and what we’re trying to do. I wish my grandma could read the New York Times review — it makes it feel like all the hours I put into the restaurant and missed visits back home weren’t all in vain. I hope to bring food to people’s tables for years to come and to have young cooks see that they too can have their dreams become a reality, regardless of where they come from and because — not despite — of what their story is.”" - Candice Woo

"Zepeda-Wilkins is used to the spotlight, having survived two grueling seasons on ‘Top Chef’, but her biggest stage to-date is El Jardin in Liberty Station, a partnership with Rise & Shine Restaurant Group. After toiling tirelessly in several local kitchens, this is a full-circle moment for a chef who is getting national notice for her “matriarchal” perspective on running a restaurant and earning acclaim for a menu that is equally informed by years of cooking with her family in Mexico and time spent traveling and discovering world cuisines." - Candice Woo

"On Thursday, November 1 at her Liberty Station restaurant, executive chef Claudette Zepeda-Wilkins will be welcoming her former 'Top Chef' cast mate Joe Sasto." - Candice Woo