Ray Garcia is Esquire’s chef of the year; BS Taqueria, Broken Spanish among best new restaurants

Ray Garcia is Esquire magazine’s chef of the year for 2015 and his downtown flagship Broken Spanish and around-the-corner little brother BS Taqueria were named two of the year’s best new restaurants.

The honors are reported in the November issue of the magazine, written by “Chopped” host Ted Allen, filling in for Esquire restaurant critic Josh Ozersky, who died this year after having made most of the selections.

Of Broken Spanish, Allen writes: “Latin Americans are not just rocking the line but also running the show, with confidence and style. Witness Ray Garcia: I went to his L.A. joint Broken Spanish in its ninth week, before it even had a sign out front. He takes familiar flavors and formats from the Mexican playbook and brilliantly interweaves them with surprises like black garlic and foie-gras butter.”

Also coming in for praise in a section called “Where to eat in Los Angeles Now” are Nicole Rucker’s doughnuts at Cofax Coffee and Travis Lett’s Gjusta.

Both Broken Spanish and BS Taqueria opened within three months of each other this year, with the taco stand replacing Ricardo Zarate’s Mo-Chica and Broken Spanish replacing John Rivera Sedlar’s Rivera.

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