Mexican chef Javier Plascencia is the next guest mentor on The Taste. The 2-hour Latin-flavored show, which airs Thursday, January 8 at 8pm on ABC, has contestants creating ceviche, tacos and more.
The Mex-Med chef Plascencia owns a handful of restaurants in Tijuana, a place better known as a town full of alcohol, sex and drugs. Plascencia is trying to establish a regional cuisine and “turn Tijuana into a site of gourmet pilgrimage.” Plascencia wants Baja and Tijuana to become a food destination but he’s not afraid to work in the US either. In March, he’s opening Bracero: Cocina de Raiz in San Diego’s Little Italy. He likes to mix Mexican with Italian cuisine. Maybe that’s how he picked up the nickname “The Mexican George Clooney.”
