“Mexican cuisine starts with corn,” says Isabel Coss, the co-chef of Washington D.C. restaurant Pascual, one of Eater’s Best New Restaurants of 2024. The day at Pascual also begins with this building block of Mexican cuisine, as Coss and the restaurant’s morning team take the corn cooked the evening before and grind it into masa to be used for tortillas, tlayudas, tetelas, and flautas.
Coss is from Mexico City, and the restaurant she heads with chef Matt Conroy is directly inspired by her hometown. However, it also draws some of its techniques from Oaxaca — to mimic that region’s underground fire pits, the team grills agave leaves and adds them to the restaurant’s own wood-fired hearth. Atop the flame, they cook dishes like partially deboned chicken golden chickens and al pastor, for the al pastor taco — the only taco on the menu. “It’s basically a shawarma that’s made with pork,” Coss says of the rotating spit of pork and pineapple.
Teaming up has proven to be a winning combination for Coss and Conroy, who are married and also work together at acclaimed D.C. restaurant Lutèce, where Conroy is chef and Coss pastry chef. “Your partner is the person you admire the most so why would I not?” Coss says.
“We get to bounce ideas off of each other and what her strong points are are probably my weaknesses and vice versa,” adds Conroy.
Watch the latest episode of Mise en Place to see how Coss, Conroy, and their team prepare for a night of service at their award-winning, destination-worthy restaurant.
