Daniela Soto-Innes Exits Cosme and Atla, Leaving Acclaimed Restaurants Without Their Star Chef

Groundbreaking chef Daniela Soto-Innes — the powerful force behind acclaimed Mexican fine dining spot Cosme and its more casual all-day offshoot Atla in NYC — has announced that she is leaving the restaurants.

On Sunday, December 6, Soto-Innes posted a message to Instagram, stating that “after careful thought and consideration, I am moving on from my role as Chef/Partner at Cosme and Atla.” She did not disclose details on why she was leaving the restaurants.

Soto-Innes’s last day of service at Cosme and Atla is December 20. But she’ll continue working with partners Enrique Olvera and Santiago Perez on Elio, which opened earlier this year in Las Vegas. It’s not clear whether she’ll remain part of Casamata, the hospitality company she’s been a part of with Olvera and Perez. Her name was notably absent from the group’s Los Angeles openings of Damian in October and last week’s opening of taco window Ditroit.

“It has been an honor to represent my country and I will continue to do so in all future endeavors,” the Instagram post from Soto-Innes reads.

In 2013, when she was 23 years old, Soto-Innes came to NYC from Mexico City to launch Cosme with famed Mexican chef and restaurateur Olvera, who had already won awards for his acclaimed restaurant Pujol. The Flatiron restaurant was Olvera’s first foray into the U.S. market and as the restaurant’s leader, Soto-Innes garnered Cosme international recognition for luxurious interpretations of Mexican dishes including abalone tostadas, soft shell crab with yellow mole, and a dessert that cultivated its own following — the delicate corn husk meringue stuffed with a sweet corn cream.

Soto-Innes’ profile skyrocketed alongside the restaurant. The chef has been awarded national and international honors for her work at Cosme and then Atla, including Rising Star Chef of the Year from James Beard in 2016 and an ever-controversial World’s Best Female Chef win from World’s 50 Best in 2019.

A goodbye note to Soto-Innes was posted on both Cosme and Atla’s official Instagram accounts over the weekend. “Our team will miss your energy, drive and creativity,” the message reads. “We hope that the next chapter of your career is wonderful and look forward to seeing it unfold.”

Eater has reached out to Soto-Innes and the restaurants for more information.