WILDWONDER™

Claudette Zepeda is an award-winning, San Diego-based celebrity chef and culinary entrepreneur known for her fearless style and bold approach to regional Mexican cuisine. A celebrated culinary anthropologist, Zepeda draws upon 20+ years of experience working in restaurant kitchens, as well as her extensive travels around the world and throughout Mexico that inform her vast knowledge of indigenous ingredients and cross-cultural expressions of cuisine. Zepeda’s multi-faceted expertise is showcased in her role overseeing the creative vision as Founder of Chispa Hospitality which started in the Spring of 2022, including food concepts in Australia and Mexico. VAGA restaurant in San Diego’s North County is where she authors a love letter to her hometown with a menu that celebrates local flavors and immigrant influences. Previously, Zepeda garnered more national acclaim for her time as the executive chef & partner behind El Jardín, a regional Mexican restaurant in the area. During her tenure, El Jardín received a glowing review from the New York Times, inclusion on Esquire’s 2018 Best New Restaurants, and recognition from Michelin on their 2019 Bib Gourmand list. Zepeda was named both Eater San Diego and San Diego Union Tribune’s Chef of the Year in 2018, and was a James Beard Best Chef West semifinalist in 2019. Prior to El Jardín, Zepeda was chef de cuisine at Javier Plascencia’s celebrated Bracero. She has competed on US & Mexico’s Top Chef , as well as Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend, winning her challenge & Iron Chef México where she successfully won her challenge and tied in the finale. 

In 2019 Zepeda Founded Viva La Vida, LLC., establishing micro businesses with single mothers throughout Mexico’s seven regions to import their heirloom ingredients previously unavailable in the U.S. Through Viva La Vida, Zepeda helps Mexican women support their families without sacrificing their safety. Named for a famous Frida Kahlo quote, the company celebrates the colorful life and death Mexicans lead, with plans by 2023 to grow into a 501c3 fund dedicated to helping Hispanic women break from generational poverty in the United States.

Mireia was born and raised in Catalunya, in the northeastern part of Spain. Her interest in wine started at a very young age. Growing up in Spain, wine is considered a food and was part of almost every meal. Mireia knew from a young age that she wanted to learn more about wine. Mireia graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Barcelona and then earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Enology at the University of Rovira and Virgili. When she was in her last year of studies, she came to California as an intern for a harvest season, which is where she met her wife, Tara Gomez. When that harvest finished, Mireia went back to Spain. In 2008, she accepted a harvest position at Castell d’Encus, astart-up winery in the Pyrenees Mountains of Spain. She quickly earned a winemaker position and worked there until 2014. While working at Castell d’Encus, Mireia went back to school to earn her Masters in Enology, Viticulture, and Marketing of Wine. Meanwhile her relationship with Tara grew and they traveled the world and visited all the wine regions together. In 2014, Mireia moved to California and began working as a wine broker and wine consultant.
In 2017, she started Camins 2 Dreams, a new adventure with her wife, Tara Gomez, making wine together and sourcing fruit from selected Sta. Rita Hills vineyards and coolest sites from Santa Barbara County.
When she’s not working, Mireia enjoys spending time with her friends, family, and her dogs. She loves nature and hiking but also enjoys relaxing at home with a glass of wine and a good book.

Jeanne Kelley is an award-winning author of six cookbooks. A food writer, culinary educator and food stylist, she was a contributing editor at Bon Appetit magazine for twenty years. Jeanne is an edible garden expert who specializes in seasonal and sustainable cooking. Her articles have appeared frequently in the Los Angeles Times food section, Fine Cooking and CookingLight magazines

Tara Gomez:

Tara’s passion for wine began when she was young and her parents used to take her wine tasting throughout the Central Coast. When she was a child she enjoyed looking at life through a microscope and it was the connection of wine to nature and science that made her want to pursue an Enology Degree.
Tara graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Enology from CSU Fresno. She worked for a few wineries, including Fess Parker and J. Lohr, at the same time she started her first label — Kalawashaq’Wine Cellars (named for the village where her Chumash ancestors once lived) — sourcing fruit from her friend and mentor Larry Gomez, from Via Vega Vineyards in Paso Robles. Tara left her job at J. LohrWinery in 2008, and put Kalawashaq’ on hold while she went to explore the world. During that time she worked two harvests at Castell d’Encus in Spain, the same winery where her wife, Mireia was the winemaker. When Tara returned to California in 2010, her Chumash Tribe had purchased Camp 4Vineyard and she started Kitá Wines, a small, premium winery in the Santa Ynez Valley where she was the winemaker. Kitá Wines closed its doors in the summer of 2022. She is the first recognized Native American winemaker in the country and brings a unique perspective to her winemaking style.
In 2017, Tara was ready to bring her personal project, Kalawashaq’ Wine Cellars back to life, and along, added a new label with her wife Mireia. Thus, Camins 2 Dreams was born out of their shared love for wine, winemaking and each other. They source fruit exclusively from vineyards in Sta. Rita Hills, a unique appellation in Santa Barbara County. Her focus is on minimum intervention, natural winemaking. She sources fruit from vineyards that share in the same values of respect for the land and their workers and works exclusively with organic, biodynamic, and SIP Certified vineyards.
Tara’s most recent accolades include “2021 Winemaker of the Year” by VinePair and “2022 Winemaker of the Year” by The Hue Society. She is honored and humbled to receive such prestigious awards back to back and see all of her hard work, dedication, and perseverance not just seen, but celebrated. She was also awarded 2022 ChangeMakers by the American Association of University Women, Lompoc-Vandenberg Branch. Tara is also about building community and is a part of many groups which include The Hue Society, Advisor for Woman-Owned Wineries, Advisor for The James Beard Legacy Network, Board of Director for The Vinguard, and a Mentor for The Roots Fun