Javier Plascencia is chef and owner of multiple restaurants in Baja California, Mexico and Southern California, including Mision 19, Finca Altozano, Erizo and Bracero, where he personally supervises design aesthetics, as well as kitchen, menus and wine lists.
Ivy Mix is Co-Owner and Head Bartender/Cantinera of Leyenda, a pan-Latin cocktail bar in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. She has been a Semi-Finalist in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 (2013 and 2014), Wine Enthusiast’s 40 Under 40 (2013), Imbibe Magazine’s Drink Ambassador of the Year (2013), official Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards nominee for “Best American Bartender” (2012, 2013 and 2014) and Zagat’s 30 Under 30 for New York City (2012).
Wilo Benet has redefined Puerto Rican cuisine. After graduating from Culinary Institute of America, Wilo worked at The Maurice Restaurant, The Water Club and Le Bernardin in New York, returning to Puerto Rico in 1988 as Chef De Cuisine at the Governor’s Mansion. This paved the way to the opening of his acclaimed restaurant Pikayo in 1990, which lives within the Condado Plaza Hilton in San Juan.
Lima-born Los Angeles chef and restaurateur Ricardo Zarate has been called “the godfather of Peruvian cuisine”. Perfectly capturing the spirit of modern Peruvian cooking, reflecting indigenous South American foods as well as Japanese, Chinese, and European influences with an American sensibility, Zarate is also the author of The Fire of Peru.
