Diana Davila

The Climb

Training at Seasons of the Heart culinary school gave Diana Davila the formal base before she moved through a sequence of kitchens that added range and discipline to her approach. She worked as fish cook at Roka, a role that called for precision and consistency, then went on as chef at Jackie's in Washington, D.C, and chef at El Chucho in Washington, D.C. The move to owner at Innovative Cantina 1910 in Chicago, Illinois brought Davila back into a city where her ideas could settle into clearer focus. The line from school to line cook to chef to owner is less about ascent than construction: each role added another layer of technique, repetition, and decision-making that now informs Mi Tocaya Antojería, where she has served as Executive Chef and owner since 2017.

Today

Since 2017, Davila has served as Executive Chef and owner of Mi Tocaya Antojería in Logan Square, Chicago, Illinois. The restaurant is where her work is most clearly stated, with a menu described through unique interpretations of Mexican cuisine. The emphasis is on close reading rather than ornament: familiar forms handled with enough restraint and confidence to keep the emotional force intact. Memory is the core material here, not abstraction. “I’m cooking dishes that have been passed down through my family and are ingrained in my memory.” At Mi Tocaya Antojería, that inheritance is not presented as a concept but as working vocabulary. The food is shaped by family knowledge and by Davila’s own culinary history, which gives the restaurant a voice that is both personal and disciplined.

Signature

Diana Davila serves antojitos.

In Their Words “I’m cooking dishes that have been passed down through my family and are ingrained in my memory.” “I’m not interested in making crowd-pleasing Americanized Mexican food.”

Recognition

Diana Davila has received Washingtonian — Culinary Rising Star (2010).