42

Holbox

Los Angeles

Certifiably fresh Mexican seafood served in a flourishing market

Community kitchen: Located in South Central's Mercado La Paloma, Holbox is a love-all-serve-all affair, with a generous dining counter and tables shared with the market's six other vendors. It's a quintessential LA dining experience in a cultural hub and social incubator, founded to benefit a local community that was longing for the vibrant markets of their home countries.

Self-taught talent: Chef Gilberto Cetina learned to cook in the Mercado alongside his father at the family's restaurant, Chichén Itza, where he spent 15 years mastering the art of crafting authentic Yucatecan cuisine and eventually helmed the kitchen. In 2017, he opened Holbox, mere steps from his dad's unofficial culinary school. Before that, a young Cetina summered on the coast of his native Yucatán Peninsula, spearing fish, diving for crustaceans and cultivating a keen appreciation for the freshest seafood in the Gulf of Mexico.

Marine menu: The informal restaurant's dishes conjure Cetina's oceanic summer adventures with zippy, clean flavours and well considered heat. Tacos, tostadas, ceviches and aguachiles are prepared with conscientiously sourced fish and seafood. Scallops are buoyed in tangy, house-made coctele sauce while quivering sea urchin is majestically presented in its spiky shell. Maine lobster goes straight from the tank and onto the wood-fired grill before it is served with fragrant heirloom corn tortillas from Komal, the neighbouring stall and the city's first artisanal purveyor of tortillas and masa. Cetina also dry-ages his fish and utilises every part of them, turning kanpachi odd bits into sausage and pâté.

Hottest seat in the house: Holbox's reservation-only tasting menu, served Wednesdays and Thursdays, features eight innovative courses that take Chef Cetina's casual dining ingenuity to a convivial fine-dining level.

Community spirit: Because Mercado La Paloma does not have an alcohol licence, Holbox cannot pour anything stronger than lemonade.

Contact