Daniela Romero grew up cooking with her grandmother and family in Honduras, realizing her culinary calling at a young age. Currently head chef at Bazaar Mar by José Andrés at the Shops at Crystals, Romero worked on the opening team of the same restaurant concept in Miami and Chicago.
“Before that, it fascinated me how little I knew about seafood. But [Andrés] is from the Catalonian area [of Spain], so to see him talk about it and share his passion for it, it was a great challenge and learning experience every day,” she says. “And working with seafood in Las Vegas is even easier than any other part of the country, because it’s so close to California, and it’s so simple to get product in because we are one of the largest food capitals in the U.S.”
The Po Boy José at Bazaar Mar
When pressed for her ideal dish—“It’s kinda like choosing your favorite kid,” she laughs—Romero can’t pass on the tiny Po Boy José ($16) from the Little Sandwiches portion of the menu, a beautifully steamed brioche bun filled with fried baby squid, a Basque stew called pelayo and bit of aioli.
“We have this great steamed bun recipe that we then fry, open it up, and stuff it with pelayo, a very simple stew of squid, onions and green bell pepper, and some aromatics,” says Romero. “We deglaze it with wine and it becomes this sweet stew, and top it off with the puntillitas [baby squid] and some pickled peppers to balance out with acidity.
“It’s this very complex little sandwich you can eat in two bites, very hearty but well balanced at the same time. I crave them. It’s a rustic dish but also very elegant, and it’s fun to make and to enjoy.”
Romero loves eating her way around the Vegas Valley just as much as she adores these little sandwiches, and as we all know, there’s always room for another perfect bite.
“One dish I always go back for, off the Strip, is at Anima by Edo,” she explains, staying in the world of Spanish cuisine. “It’s the eggplant parmigiana. I love it, but it’s not easy to explain it.”
The popular Anima dish ($19) is definitely not your average eggplant parm. Delicate layers of eggplant are topped with a silky parmigiano espuma, a creamy cloud of flavor also accented with tomato powder and a basil crisp.
“And I’m not a big fan of eggplant, but that is the one dish I definitely enjoy,” she says. “It’s very surprising, not the heartiness we are used to, but filled with flavors.”
