{"id":372814,"date":"2026-06-24T09:52:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T09:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/372814\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T09:52:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T09:52:35","slug":"chef-joshua-gil-anarcho-punk-chef-who-united-alta-and-baja-california-dies-at-50-l-a-taco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/372814\/","title":{"rendered":"Chef Joshua Gil, Anarcho Punk Chef Who United Alta and Baja California, Dies at 50 ~ L.A. TACO"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cOh, don\u2019t worry about me. I\u2019ll be OK. My physical body may not, but I\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll never forget those deep, haunting words from Chef Joshua Gil as he sat across the table from me at his final Supper Liberation Front dinner pop-up at Surfas Culinary District in Arlington Heights on December 17, 2024. With a grin, he served me a thick slice of his savory Basque cheesecake topped with a tongue of uni.<\/p>\n

I held those words close to my heart as I received the news on the morning of June 22, on the gentle slope of the summer solstice after the longest day of the year, that he had moved on from this realm after giving colorectal cancer hell for four years.<\/p>\n

He is survived by his two daughters, Aaron and Maya Gil, his parents, Gabriel and Nellie Gil, and his longtime partner, Tharini Shanmugarajah.<\/p>\n

That night Josh looked me in the eyes, as he always did, with a gaze that saw right through your damn spirit, with his familiar mix of defiance, warmth, and quiet acceptance of the cards he was dealt.<\/p>\n

\"JoshJosh Gil bathing in a waterfall in Ures, Sonora. Photo courtesy of Bryant Orozco. \"JoshJosh Gil having some mariscos in Sonora. Photo courtesy of Bryant Orozco. <\/p>\n

We both smiled because we both knew he was in the middle of transcending, like everyone else who attended that supper. He somehow still managed to cook a multi-course meal along with chef Diego Hernandez<\/a>, who made the trek from Baja just to cook alongside him for the night, and chef Brad Miller<\/a> of Inn at the Seventh Ray.<\/p>\n

That final edition of the SLF (the acronym inspired by the Animal Liberation Front\u2014ALF\u2014the anarchist international, leaderless, decentralized movement that emerged in Britain in the 1970s) maintained with the same punk-rock intensity that defined his entire career, refusing to let illness dim his anti-todo ethos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That meal will forever hold a place among the best meals of my life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Josh was a revolutionary, Hernandez tells L.A. TACO. \u201cWith his pop-up, he was a pioneer in uniting chefs from Alta and Baja California, and he made fine dining more accessible. His light never faded because he always knew what he was born to do.\u201d They both worked together at Hernandez’s pioneering fine dining restaurant in Valle de Guadalupe, Coraz\u00f3n de Tierra.<\/p>\n

What Josh Gil began in a punk squat house grew into a powerful platform for radical hospitality, cross-border collaboration between Alta and Baja California chefs, and the democratization of fine dining.<\/p>\n

Gil has been an ungovernable force<\/a> in L.A.\u2019s food scene since he first broke through while working at Joe\u2019s in Venice and helping the restaurant earn one of L.A.\u2019s first-ever Michelin stars in 2007.<\/p>\n

A Riverside (or \u201cRipperside<\/a>\u201d as his punk rock frontman brother famously sang about!) raised, Baja California-influenced chef, he co-founded the groundbreaking underground supper club Supper Liberation Front in 2009, one of the earliest and most influential pop-up series in L.A. and beyond. What Gil started in a punk squat house evolved into a platform for radical hospitality, cross-cultural collaboration, and democratization of fine dining.<\/p>\n

Chefs, winemakers, and artists from all over came together to create unforgettable, boundary-pushing meals that Gil always intended for the very line cooks these lavish meals usually alienated.<\/p>\n

He went on to open taquer\u00edas that changed the game: Tacos Punta Cabras in Santa Monica, which redefined the fish taco and coctel de camar\u00f3n for a new generation, and that, to this day, is still my favorite fish taco in Los Angeles of all time. He then helped further Mexican cuisine by opening M\u00edrame in Beverly Hills. Then, eventually, M\u00edrate in Los Feliz. Most recently, even while battling Stage IV colorectal cancer, he poured his remaining energy into Three Flames<\/a> in Westchester, which was a reimagining of a classic Mongolian BBQ spot infused with his signature Baja-meets-California soul.<\/p>\n

\"SupperSupper Liberation Front’s asparagus chawanmushi with firefly squid. Photo courtesy of Josh Gil.\"GilSome of Josh Gil’s most iconic dishes at Three Flames Mongolian BBQ: Tacos Punta Cabras’s tempura fish taco and cauliflower ceviche. Top: Shrimp patty burger. <\/p>\n

Diagnosed in 2022, I\u2019ll never forget where I was when Josh broke the news personally: At Hollywood Forever, where his family will have his celebration of life, in the same holy ground as half of The Ramones. Josh faced his illness with the same stubborn resilience he brought to every kitchen. He continued cooking, creating, and gathering his community long after many would have stepped away. He spoke openly about nearly dying, about chemotherapy that nearly broke him, yet he kept returning to what he loved most: feeding people, challenging conventions, and building something meaningful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To know Josh was almost to know yourself. His bullshit meter was legendary, and there was no such thing as small talk with him. He was a self-proclaimed \u201cpirate in the kitchen,\u201d a liberator of spirits at heart, and a deeply generous soul who mentored countless chefs and touched thousands of diners. His food wasn\u2019t just about technique; it was about resistance and joy, challenging your palate yet keeping you coming back for more, and more, and more.<\/p>\n

\"JoshJosh Gil cooking at his last Supper Liberation Front Dinner, chef Brad Miller of Inn at the Seventh Ray in December, 2024. Photo by Javier Cabral for L.A. TACO. \"JoshJosh Gil sitting across from me at his last Supper Liberation Front Dinner, Photo by Javier Cabral for L.A. TACO. <\/p>\n

As I mourn the loss of my friend, Chef Joshua Gil, at the age of 50, I hold tightly to the words he shared with me that final night. His physical body may have given out, but his spirit, his influence, and the countless memories he created around tables across Los Angeles will be just fine.<\/p>\n

The Supper Liberation Front lives on through every chef he inspired and every diner who carries his rebellious, beautiful energy forward. And the list is long, from talented taqueros<\/a> continuing to evolve L.A.\u2019s Taco Life in real time and a three-Michelin-star French chef<\/a>, among many others.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thank you for the meals, the sips of rare-ass mezcales that you brought across the border yourself to always share with friends, the conversations over loud power chords we enjoyed at the folk punk shows, and the saz\u00f3n legacy you are leaving behind that will linger like the kick in your cashew salsa in your hamachi tostadas.<\/p>\n

I will be playing Falling Sickness all this week, particularly the song \u201cRunaway<\/a>,\u201d which Josh\u2019s brother, Gabriel, wrote about him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Old punks never die. May you be eternally slam-dancing in the pit with your brother, forever untamed and full of fire.<\/p>\n