Rising Star Chef Daniela Soto-Innes of Cosme - Biography

Daniela Soto-Innes comes from a long line of women who love food and cooking. And visiting the food markets and restaurants of Mexico City as a child only stoked her curiosity further. By the time she was 14, Soto-Innes was ready to work.

She started as an intern with Marriot Hotels, a position which turned into a job that lasted through high school and landed her in Austin at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott. Soto-Innes stayed there for three years, building up a skill set in the context of a professional restaurant. Looking for some serious training, Soto-Innes moved to Austin, Texas, where she graduated from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. From there, it was all about exploration. Soto-Innes traveled and staged at restaurants in Texas, New York, and Europe, finally returning to Texas to stage at Marks Restaurant with Chef Mark Cox. Eventually she joined the opening crew of Brennan's of Houston under Chef Danny Trace, where she met mentor Bobby Matos, and rotated around the kitchen and helped develop the restaurant’s tasting menus. Two years later, Soto-Innes continued exploring, at progressive American restaurant Triniti and charcuterie-driven Underbelly with Chef Chris Shepherd.

A stage at Pujol found Soto-Innes back in Mexico. When that ended she worked under Gerardo Vazques Lugo owner of Nicos in Mexico city, one of Soto-Innes’ most inspiring mentors. Lugo helped her to figure out her own path and plan. That led Soto-Innes back to Pujol for a full-time position working alongside culinary icon Enrique Olvera—whom she also counts a mentor. When Olvera was looking to bring his operation to New York City, he tapped Soto-Innes as opening chef de cuisine. Now at the helm of Cosme, Soto-Innes works on menu development with Olvera and kitchen management with fellow chef de cuisine Mariana Villegas, never forgetting the inspiration, or cooking lineage, that came before.