In a metropolis obsessive about glitz, omakase tasting menus and $1,500 dinners, two of Los Angeles’ greatest culinary stars of the second might be discovered slinging seafood and sweetcorn quesadillas — out of a humble meals corridor at one of many metropolis’s grittier corners.
Previously greater than just a little off-the-grid, the standard Mercado La Paloma at S. Grand Ave. and W. thirty seventh St. in South LA is receiving newfound recognition this week after not one, however two of its stalls have been nominated for prime prizes within the nationwide, annual James Beard Awards, sometimes called the Oscars of meals.
The dual nods for the cooks behind the Michelin-starred Holbox, a seafood spot, and Komal, a Oaxacan stand celebrated for its own-made tortillas, comes amid a surge of curiosity within the long-running incubator area run by the Esperanza Neighborhood Housing Company, a neighborhood nonprofit.
For years a favourite amongst in-the-know foodies, out of the blue a seat on the desk, significantly at Holbox, can imply bracing for prolonged, round-the-block traces — spurred on by rave evaluations from native social media stars with followers within the hundreds of thousands.
Chef Gilberto Cetina, the drive behind cult-favorite Holbox, has been nominated for the 2026 James Beard Award for Excellent Chef, a nationwide class — at the moment thought-about one of the vital prestigious honors in American eating.
Holbox has lengthy been an insider darling, as evidenced by its one Michelin star; the eatery is understood for its razor-sharp Mexican coastal-style seafood — suppose uni tostadas, pristine ceviches and smoky grilled fish, ideally loved at a string of hard-to-snag seats going through the hard-working open kitchen.
Cetina was beforehand a finalist in 2023 for a James Beard for the perfect chef within the California class, and a semi-finalist within the Excellent Chef class in 2025.
This 12 months’s nomination pits him towards native fine-dining royalty like Niki Nakayama of n/naka, a West LA sushi establishment.
And in true Metropolis of Angels vogue, the popularity is as a lot in regards to the setting because the meals: a scrappy, immigrant-rooted meals corridor producing Michelin-level cooking with out the Michelin-level angle.
Throughout the busy area, Chef Fátima Juárez on the masa-driven Komal has earned a Beard nomination for Rising Chef, one other nationwide class.
Her operation is much more stripped-down — a molino-focused stall the place corn is nixtamalized in-house and reworked into deeply private, Oaxacan-inspired dishes.
Juárez, who beforehand labored beneath Cetina at Holbox, has carved out her personal lane at Komal — and doing it with dishes that not often crack $12.
The 2026 James Beard Awards are shaping as much as be a significant second for Los Angeles.
Amongst this 12 months’s finalists are the Arts District’s New Korean spot Ki for finest new restaurant, Chef Kwang Uh of Baroo for finest chef in California, the beloved traditional seafood spot Windfall for excellent hospitality, the Michelin-starred Kato on the Row LA for excellent beverage program, and occasional store proprietor and barista Jack Benchakul of Endorffeine, a Chinatown cult favourite, for excellent beverage skilled.
There’s additionally trade buzz round legacy names, with LA culinary icon Nancy Silverton set to obtain a lifetime achievement honor.
If Cetina and Juárez take house the trophy in June, it received’t simply be a win for Holbox and Komal — it’ll be a win for each hole-in-the-wall taqueria, strip-mall gem and meals corridor stall that show location and greenback indicators aren’t all the pieces.
