Chef Isabel Coss, a Mexico City native, is the Executive Chef of Pascual and Executive Pastry Chef of Lutèce in Washington, DC. best known for landing on FOOD & WINE’s list of the eleven “Best New Chefs in America” Class of 2023, as a 2025 James Beard Foundation “Best Chef Mid-Atlantic” semifinalist, and one of “100 Latino Leaders in the United States.” 

She has shaped two of DC’s most celebrated restaurants, Pascual, the hearth-focused Mexican restaurant takes inspiration from Coss’s upbringing in Mexico concept she co-founded with her spouse, Chef Matt Conroy, has earned widespread acclaim, named one of 14 Eater’s “Best New Restaurant in America in 2024,” and  2024 New York Time’s “America’s Best Restaurants,” The Washington Post’s #1 Best New Restaurant 2024, and Eater DC’s #1 Best New Restaurant 2024.

 At Lutèce, the French neo-bistro in Georgetown, Coss pastry expertise has contributed to its recognition on and is now a New York Times “America’s Best Restaurants” 2022, and one of RESY’s “Ten Restaurants That Define American Dining” for 2023. 

After years of studying to become a professional ballerina in Mexico, Coss followed her passion for food into the pastry industry as a teenager. Her culinary career started in Mexico City at 17 working as a bread maker for renowned restaurant Pujol and continued her craft at world-class kitchens like Cosme, Agern and Empellón in NYC. Coss believes food is a powerful way to share joy and tell stories, a philosophy reflected in her technique-driven, deeply personal cuisine.