{"id":491251,"date":"2026-10-10T06:22:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T06:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/491251\/"},"modified":"2026-10-10T06:22:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T06:22:17","slug":"komals-new-tasting-menu-is-a-celebration-of-heirloom-corn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/491251\/","title":{"rendered":"Komal\u2019s New Tasting Menu Is a Celebration of Heirloom Corn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mercado La Paloma\u2019s restaurant Komal<\/a> will take a bold step in its business plan this fall. After charming Southern California with a dedication to pre-Hispanic indigenous Mexican cuisine in 2024 (and earning Eater L.A.\u2019s Best Community Restaurant<\/a> nod in 2025), chef F\u00e1tima Ju\u00e1rez will debut a weekly eight-course tasting menu on October 19 that traces stories of heirloom corn and how Ju\u00e1rez and her team work with it. This is deeply personal cooking, and Los Angeles is an optimal setting for Komal\u2019s new direction.<\/p>\n

A steady stream of customers already loved Ju\u00e1rez\u2019s interpretations of street food she grew up eating \u2014 antojitos, quesadillas, and a sweet corn cake aka pan de elote \u2014 as well as her handmade tortillas. The masa to make them comes from Komal\u2019s molino, where Ju\u00e1rez\u2019s team takes indigenous corn sourced directly from farmers in Mexico and nixtamalizes it, softening it in an alkaline solution before milling. But even as a new mother, she felt compelled to push further. Attempting to stay current during a challenging time for restaurants, she wants to invite diners into her process as a chef and food historian.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked on this menu for seven months. I\u2019m very proud of my team. We put a lot of love into this presentation of Mexican corn and this project.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 chef F\u00e1tima Ju\u00e1rez<\/p>\n

\u201cThis all started by necessity,\u201d says Ju\u00e1rez, adding that her family depends on Komal\u2019s success. \u201cWas I capable of doing this? I questioned myself. But Komal is growing up. I worked on this menu for seven months. I\u2019m very proud of my team. We put a lot of love into this presentation of Mexican corn and this project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ju\u00e1rez also wants to connect more meaningfully with her customers. \u201cWhen we started Komal two years ago, I\u2019m not sure people received or understood all of the dishes,\u201d she says. Some expressed confusion around the nixtamalization process and different tortilla colors. On the new tasting menu, every dish, plate, and utensil reflects intention and Mexican tradition. The eight courses feature 22 heirloom corn varieties. (Ju\u00e1rez\u2019s expertise spans over 64 varieties.)<\/p>\n

Komal\u2019s tasting menu will change every four to six months.\u200b\u200b The autumn iteration begins with young corn and introduces nixtamalization. A corn silk tea pairs with honey-cocopache butter, arbol chile-nixtamalized miniature corn, dried field grasshoppers, and fried epazote squash. The next course illustrates how tortillas are fried to become a tostada topped with a dry-aged kanpachi aguachile negro. A salsa verde enchilada course honors home cooking; another nods to barbacoa de borrego with a slow-roasted black mole lamb, seasonal Mexican greens, and a tomatillo vinaigrette. A cochinita pibil tamal with fermented habanero and charred plantain salsa rounds the savory courses. A non-alcoholic beverage accompanies every course, making use of typically discarded corn silk, as in that tea, squash stems, or hoja santa leaves. Three desserts finish the meal, including a concha with toasted corn streusel and fermented cacao tea to aid digestion.<\/p>\n

Ju\u00e1rez\u2019s gentle approach to guiding diners through her life and her dedication to preserving corn still packs a punch. As a restaurant editor in Los Angeles, observing a chef\u2019s evolution is a joyful part of my job. Ju\u00e1rez\u2019s confidence shines in 2026, though she remains quick to credit her team. \u201cI want to transmit a feeling of home to the people, a feeling of authenticity,\u201d says Ju\u00e1rez. \u201cBut it takes time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starting October 19, Komal will host two seatings for 12 guests on Mondays at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. for $160 per person, plus tax and tip. Secure a table via Resy<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mercado La Paloma\u2019s restaurant Komal will take a bold step in its business plan this fall. After charming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[9662,5894,48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-491251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-dining-out-in-la","tag-intel","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}