Isabel Coss
Cosme | New York
OCTOBER 2019
Isabel Coss learned to cook from her grandmother in the mountainous Mexican state of Michoacán. Her parents, based in Mexico City, sent her to live with her grandmother in the remote area each summer. Without much else to do, Coss spent her days learning to make traditional Mexican dishes. She got her first kitchen job at age 17 as a bread baker in the kitchen of Enrique Olvera’s landmark restaurant Pujol, where she discovered her passion for bread and Mexican pastries.
After attending culinary school in Mexico, Coss moved to New York City in 2011 to work with Alex Stupak at Empellón. She managed the production of pastry and masa, and officially earned the title of pastry chef in 2013. In 2016, Coss stepped (ever so briefly) away from Mexican cuisine to help open Agern, Claus Meyer’s contemporary Scandinavian restaurant in Grand Central Terminal. She rejoined Olvera, along with Rising Stars alum Chef Daniela Soto-Innes, as the pastry chef at Cosme. During her tenure, Cosme has landed at number 25 on the “World’s 50 Best” list.
Transcending the transcendent corn mousse and husk meringue dessert at Cosme, Coss’ pastry is at once hyper-modern and ancient. Her ingredient-driven, visually spare style is deeply evocative of her roots, adding to the rich narrative of Mexican pastry.
2019 StarChefs Congress Presenter
2019 StarChefs New York City Rising Stars Award Winner
