Matt Gandin

At Delfina in San Francisco, California, Matt Gandin was building a kitchen language centered on precision, restraint, and food that reads as rooted rather than decorative. The Head Chef role gave his approach a clear outline: steady, exacting, and alert to the balance between depth and clarity. That discipline carried into Comal, where he now works as Executive Chef in Berkeley, applying the same controlled hand to a service environment that demands pace as well as consistency.

At Comal, the cooking stays close to flame, smoke, and texture, with a local approach to pan-Mexican food that avoids excess. Matt Gandin keeps the work grounded in the regional range of Mexico, with particular emphasis on Oaxaca and neighboring coastal regions, so the food reads as specific rather than generalized. The result is earthy and modern without losing contact with the methods and flavors that give the cuisine its shape.

“A return to cooking with fire, as mankind has been since its discovery,” is how he describes the work, and the line matches a kitchen philosophy built on directness, tradition, and immediate flavor.