Q&A with renowned chef and host of UTSA’s Ven a Comer fundraiser

AUGUST 21, 2025 — Renowned chef, author and TV show host Pati Jinich is bringing her passion for Mexican cuisine and borderlands storytelling to San Antonio.

Jinich will be the headliner for two events at UTSA Libraries and Museum’s annual Ven a Comer — Spanish for come eat — a fundraiser that supports the UTSA Mexican Cookbook Collection, one of the largest archives of Mexican culinary history in the United States.

This year’s theme, La Frontera, celebrates the culture, people and cuisine of the U.S.–Mexico borderlands.

On Sept. 19, Jinich will lead Ven a Brindar (come and toast), an intimate evening of cocktails, bites and conversation on Friday, Sept. 19, at Mezquite Restaurant in Pullman Market.

The following evening, Sept. 20, during the Ven a Comer signature dinner, Jinich will speak about her extensive border travels at the Pearl’s Stable Hall.

UTSA Libraries spoke with Jinich about La Frontera, the power of food as a cultural bridge and what guests can look forward to at this year’s Ven a Comer.

Chefs plate food for guests at last year's Ven a Comer event.

You were once a political analyst. What inspired your journey into food and storytelling?

Jinich: I wanted to be an academic. But over time, I grew frustrated. After all the research, the papers, the conferences, I didn’t feel like I was truly moving the needle or helping anyone’s life in a meaningful way. At the same time, I became deeply nostalgic for the food that had nurtured me growing up. I felt uprooted here in the U.S., like I hadn’t grown roots yet. Cooking food from Mexico became my way to plant those roots, to feel at home again.

For me, food is my love language. It’s how I share care, history and connection. Sometimes you don’t even need words — you can just share a bowl of pozole or menudo, and people simply understand. They taste it and they get it. That’s why I believe food should be used much more often as a way to bring people together.

You’ve traveled across the borderlands and beyond – what excites you about this year’s Ven a Comer theme?

Jinich: After 14 years of “Pati’s Mexican Table” — going back and forth from my home now in the U.S. to my original home in Mexico — I’ve been trading flavors and stories and trying to bring the heart of Mexico to people everywhere.

Over time, I realized there was one place that still needed more understanding, a place more misunderstood than almost anywhere else: the U.S.–Mexico borderlands. They are my two beloved countries’ shared backyard and yet so often they’re seen only through narrow, stigmatized headlines. In reality, 31 million people live in these communities. Their contributions, not just to one nation but to both at the same time, are overlooked or undervalued.

The food is a perfect example. I think borderlands cuisine is exquisite, unapologetically delicious. It doesn’t have to explain itself: Is it Mexican? Is it American? It just is. And it’s doubly blessed, with two cultures, two languages, two sets of ingredients and a shared history to draw from. It also carries a double responsibility: If you’re making brisket, it has to be incredible, and if you’re making tacos, they’d better be phenomenal.

That’s why I’m so excited about this year’s theme. It will shine a light on a deeply underappreciated food culture and on the people and communities behind it. I’ve met some of the kindest, most generous people along the U.S.–Mexico border, and I’ve eaten some of the most memorable food of my life there.

From San Diego to Brownsville, my journeys have been filled with discovery. And thanks to the UTSA collection of Mexican cookbooks and U.S.–Mexico border materials, we can dig even deeper, finding more common ground, more shared flavors and more reasons to celebrate la frontera.

What excites you most about celebrating the borderlands through food?

Jinich: I think the kitchen — cooking, eating — is the most noble way to get to know one another. It’s the most generous space to share without judgment. And there’s a lot of judgment placed on the borderlands.

Food can unlock a little door. You come in hungry, and someone shares food that means so much to them. The walls start to come down, the veils lift, and suddenly you find common ground.

Guests dine at last year's Ven a Comer event at Hotel Emma.

You’ve curated the menu for this year’s Signature Dinner. How did you approach curating the menu in collaboration with Chefs Sergio Remolina and Geronimo Lopez?

Jinich: I really wanted to highlight the beauty of the ingredients that thrive in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands. This region doesn’t have the same abundance Oaxaca or the southern states of Mexico. The northern Mexican and southern U.S. border states deal with scarcity — harsh climates, limited water. But that scarcity has created ingredients that are incredibly strong and flavorful because they’ve had to adapt and survive.

Take oregano, for example. The oregano from the borderlands is unlike any other — it’s perfumed, warm, aromatic and deeply rooted in local traditions and harvesting rituals. It’s so powerful it doesn’t need a vinaigrette in a salad; it stands on its own. It’s nothing like Mediterranean oregano; it’s in a category all its own.

Or barbacoa from Chihuahua, people know the barbacoa from Central Mexico, usually made with lamb or goat, cooked overnight in a pit with a long list of ingredients. But in Chihuahua, it’s simple: four ingredients, cooked in a pot, and just as exquisite.

Collaborating with Chefs Remolina and López has been a joy. They’ve been so open to focusing on family-style foods that are unique to the borderlands, dishes that may be less familiar but are every bit as rich in tradition and flavor. In San Antonio, we’re lucky to have access to ingredients from both sides of the border. We can get fresh flour tortillas from Mexico and pair them with local ingredients here.

We’ve also been diving into UTSA’s collection of historic Mexican cookbooks, finding inspiration from the past and blending it with our own experiences from time spent along the border. It’s been fun, it’s been inspiring, and I think the menu really tells the story of la frontera.

Why do you think events like Ven a Comer, and archives like UTSA’s Mexican Cookbook Collection, are so important?

Jinich:  I think the UTSA Mexican Cookbook Collection is essential. The relationship between the U.S. and Mexico has always existed and always will. But misunderstandings often cloud it. Food is one of the most powerful ways to bring history to life.

I love libraries, I love books, but cookbooks have a special kind of magic. They let you recreate history, taste it, experience it and share it. Without saying much at all, you can build understanding. That’s the soft power of food, of cooking, and of these archives. It’s a bridge you can eat from.

Without giving too much away — can you tease a dish, ingredient or story that guests might experience at the dinner?

Jinich: It’s going to be so much fun. We’re serving a revival of a family-style menu with dishes I’ve recreated in my own home so many times, inspired by my favorite meals while traveling through the borderlands.

I want to help break some misconceptions about the food of this region. Take salads, for example — people sometimes think they’re boring. But ours will have an incredible oregano vinaigrette that is rich, fragrant, perfumed, with just a touch of chile. This oregano is unlike any you’ve had before, and it’s paired with a local bean variety that people outside the borderlands may not even know exists, let alone that you can use it in a vinaigrette.

Of course, there’s the Chihuahua-style barbacoa I’ve mentioned that is simple, just a few ingredients, yet deeply flavorful. And we’ll have fabulous cocktails and wine, including bottles from Coahuila, Mexico. Many people don’t realize that some of the best wines in the world come from Northern Mexico, and that Casa Madero in Coahuila is the oldest winery in the Americas.

My hope is that by the end of the evening, guests will walk away saying, “I didn’t know that!”—because that’s what happens to me every time I visit the borderlands.

— Germaine Age Williams