Mexico: One Plate at a Time, began airing in May on PBS stations. Bayless runs the restaurants with his wife, Deann, and his talented, dedicated team, many of whom have been with him for years. Topolo's expert sommelier, Jill Gubesch, has been with Bayless since 2001, and chef de cuisine Brian Enyart was with the Frontera group for 14 years before striking out on his own in 2011. The staff brings a friendly, even playful, ease that takes years for a

restaurant of this caliber to hone, and that even the most ardently rustic new restaurants have trouble matching. This year that experience was rewarded by an "Outstanding Service" nomination from the James Beard Foundation. To keep the staff invigorated and inspired, each year Bayless organizes a fact-finding trip to a single region in Mexico, where the team tastes new flavors, ingredients, and dishes to incorporate into the menu. This passion for

discovery, combined with a constant emphasis on finding new local ingredients, many grown in Bayless' garden, has kept the restaurant fresh and exciting. The chefs in the Topolobampo kitchen combine these ingredients with such effortless balance and ease that many plates seem almost predestined. They make Topolobampo is a restaurant to trust, where you can focus solely on your own gastronomic enjoyment. It was all in evidence that New Year's Eve