i. Biography
The Path
The line from classroom to dining room runs through The French Culinary Institute, then through Noma in Copenhagen, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Eleven Madison Park in New York City, and Cala in San Francisco. David Castro Hussong’s training was built in kitchens known for discipline, pace, and exacting standards, each stop adding another layer to a method grounded in precision. Since 2018, that accumulation has been put to work as executive chef of Fauna Restaurant, where the focus lands on balance: technique held against place, and control held against momentum.
The Work Today
Executive chef is the working center of the kitchen at Fauna Restaurant. At Fauna Restaurant, David Castro Hussong’s role is not ornamental. It is the daily point of contact for menus, standards, and service rhythm. The work is continuous and practical: holding a kitchen together, keeping the line moving, and making sure the accumulated discipline of prior kitchens resolves into a single operating standard. In that sense, the title describes not status but labor.
Career - Executive chef — Fauna Restaurant, Valle de Guadalupe (2018–present) - Chef training - Chef — Noma, Copenhagen - Chef — Blue Hill at Stone Barns - Chef — Eleven Madison Park, New York City - Chef — Cala, San Francisco Education: The French Culinary Institute
Signature
David's signature dishes include tuna fin and beef trotter tostada, sea snail with peanut and shitake mushroom, suckling pig with pipián, and quail with chintextle and pasilla mixe. These dishes show a kitchen working in contrast and layering. Tuna fin and beef trotter tostada brings lean and rich into one format; sea snail with peanut and shitake mushroom leans into earth and depth; suckling pig with pipián reads as a fuller, more traditional register; and quail with chintextle and pasilla mixe points to sharp seasoning and measured intensity. Taken together, the list suggests a cook attentive to structure, texture, and how flavor builds across the plate.
In Their Words The phrase sets the room in relation to wine first, not as an accessory but as a central part of the restaurant’s identity. It also signals scale and intent: the dining room is built for focus, with wine given the kind of emphasis that shapes how the place is read and how service is experienced.
Acclaim
David's honors include Best Restaurant in Mexico, World's 50 Best Restaurants list inclusion, Best Restaurant in the Country, High New Entry, Sustainable Restaurant, and One to Watch. The recognition spans local, international, and category-based markers of attention. Best Restaurant in Mexico and Best Restaurant in the Country place Fauna Restaurant at the top of the national field; World's 50 Best Restaurants list inclusion and High New Entry place it in an international frame; Sustainable Restaurant points to practice as well as performance; and One to Watch names the forward-looking pressure around the work. For David Castro Hussong, the list reads as a record of sustained notice rather than a single breakout moment.
FAQ What is David Castro Hussong's current role? As of 2026, David Castro Hussong is Executive Chef. Where did David Castro Hussong train or study? David Castro Hussong trained at The French Culinary Institute. What recognition has David Castro Hussong received? Best Restaurant in Mexico (2023).
