Thank you to all staff members, past and present. To Estela legends Jake Nemmers, James Hardeman, Matthew Kudry, Sam Lawrence, Ryoko Yoshida, Luis Sierra, Zach Zeidman, Fabiola Escobosa, Alex Kueas, Carlos García, Michelle Capor, José Valdéz, and David Landgraf. To Isaac Flores, David Muñoz, Gonzalo Morelos, and Antonio “el Chino” González: the cooks and porters who work very hard in the back, year after year, that no one usually sees or hears.
To our determined, driven force of an editor, Ann Bramson, and to Lia Ronnen, Zach Greenwald, Renata Di Biase, Michelle Ishay-Cohen, and the rest of the team at Artisan for their willingness to go on a journey with a couple of rookies. To my agent, Kitty Cowles, for helping to open this door. To copy editor Judith Sutton, for her knowledge and scrutiny. To Marcus Nilsson, for the great vibes and always being down to shoot it again. To the dear James Casey, for his sharpness, insight, and patience. And to Gabe Ulla, who is my brother now, and Los Papos, his parents.
To recipe developers Marian Bull and Caroline Lange and the pros and friends who test-drove dishes and juiced plenty of cilantro and sorrel along the way, including Ali Slagle, Elizabeth Bossin, Cybelle Tondu, Lily Mirabelle Freedman, Jay Strell, Adam Sachs, Frederico Ribeiro, Christine Muhlke, Esther Wahrhaftig, Marc Blazer, Lucas Wittmann, Alex Rialdi, Betsy Klein, Oliver Strand (sorry about your finger), Howie Kahn, and Anna Polonsky.
To Francis Mallmann, Santiago Garat, Fernando Aciar, Clo Dimet, Federico Desseno, Paola Carosella, Juliana López May, and all the friends and cooks who were there at the beginning and have stuck around. To my older brother Gilbert Pilgram, the most disciplined and the most fun person in the room. To Alice Waters, for her generosity. To David Tanis, for all the wizard moves. To Chad Robertson, always there. To Gabriela Cámara, for her fullness of spirit. To Bo Bech, for speaking his mind and showing his support. To Donna Lennard, for giving me a shot in New York. And to Todd Selby and Danielle Sherman, who were some of the first people in this city to believe in me.
To Thomas Carter and Alex Vallis. You’re my family.
Finally, to Paco Plater-Noya, Gabi Plater, and Sue Liguori, for endless and countless reasons.