PHOTO BY VANESA MENDOZA, DSNGDBYV.COM
In partnership with Brittany Corrales and Jason Janecek, executive chef Claudette Zepeda is drawing upon her illustrious culinary career as the executive chef of Leu Leu. Here, the Top Chef, Iron Chef and Food Network star sounds off on what she calls her “love letter to San Diego’s diverse food culture and its incredible people.” Listen in.
What inspired you to open Leu Leu? Leu Leu was going to open with or without me! It was a beautiful project a couple of years in the making that needed someone at the kitchen’s helm. Through a serendipitous meeting in mid-November at the last National League Division Series home game for the Padres, I sat in front of a couple, Jamie and Jason Janecek, who would become my business partners just a few weeks later. After walking the space, I knew exactly what was needed from me.
What’s the story behind the name? The majority of the brilliant, creative women who had a hand in Leu Leu’s story are generational Leucadians, and collectively, the space is a love letter to the community. The restaurant’s spirit has always been charged with feminine energy—it felt apropos to give her a nickname that seemed fitting for the area and the playful energy we wanted to manifest.
The 14-ounce pibil lamb shank is served with calypso beans and wild mushroom pickles. PHOTO BY VANESA MENDOZA, DSNGDBYV.COM
Tell us about the menu. The concept is global cuisine through a Mexican lens (me being the Mexican). I always have an anthropological lens when telling food stories, and Leu Leu’s food is the beneficiary of my research. Leu Leu and I share the same gypsy spirit. I am cooking the food that inspires me not only to cook but also to eat. I am cooking to feed my soul—a first in my 23-year career and a true gift.
Tell us about the ambiance—who executed the design? The lead design work for Leu Leu was done by Design 4 Corners, the sister duo behind Waverly. They deployed landscape designers, artists, metal smiths, wood wizards and electrical geniuses to breathe life and vision into the nearly 100-year-old space. Walking through our garden doors, you feel like you could be anywhere in the world. Our interior dining room has the same feeling. We sourced antiques for months and months. Every inch of the space has incredible intention behind it.
What should we drink and eat? We don’t have cocktails, but we have an incredible rotating wine list that my partner, Brittany Corrales, curates with beautiful winemaker stories. As for dishes, the Baja yellowtail crudo with lemongrass coconut broth and carrot chilipin leche de tigre is definitely a guest favorite. The sea bass shawarma and the pibil lamb shank are tied for second. My personal favorite is Leu Leu’s Fabergé egg.
Leu Leu’s whimsical outdoor patio is the vision of Carlsbad’s Design 4 Corners. PHOTO BY KIMBERLY MOTOS
Photography by: VANESA MENDOZA, DSNGDBYV.COM
