Jim's Bio

Jim was born and raised in La Jolla, California, where he spends time when he is not in San Antonio, Texas, or Mexico. He has a B.A. in political science from Trinity University and an M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University.

Jim has authored four well regarded books on Mexican cooking, history and culture. He regularly appears on television shows, conducts cooking classes and demonstrations, lectures on Mexican cuisine and its history, and writes articles for magazines such as Fine Cooking, Texas Highways, and Food & Wine.

Jim’s outdoor Mexican kitchen and recipes were featured in Southern Living magazine and on Bobby Flay’s Food Network show, where he appeared with Chef Flay. He is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of El Restaurante Mexicano magazine. For two years in a row Jim’s recipes were featured in Houghton Mifflin’s The Best American Recipes.

Jim consults in the areas of recipe and product development as well as menu design for the Mexican food industry. In one notable project, he developed the menu and recipes and trained the kitchen staff for a new Tex-Mex restaurant in Beijing.

Jim appeared as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Drexel University, lecturing to students in their Hospitality, Travel and Tourism department, and he presented a talk on the history of Mexican cooking to participants of the Texas Library Association at their yearly convention. Jim has conducted workshops at several of the national Comida Latina conventions for purveyors of Latin American food, and chaired a panel of prominent chefs and restaurant owners on how to introduce interior style Mexican cooking into U.S. Mexican restaurants.

At the invitation of the Mexican government, Jim was a featured speaker at the Mexican Cultural Center in Washington, D.C., where he demonstrated northern Mexican cooking as part of the Center’s year-long cultural event on the cooking and art of Mexico’s various regions. Jim also served as the National Coordinator of the International Association of Culinary Professionals’ Grassroots program.

Jim authored the chapters on Mexican Food and Drink for the Lonely Planet Guidebooks to Mexico, Baja California, and Mexico’s Pacific Coast.

Recently Jim has developed a common-sense health and diet program that will soon appear on his website. It is based on the proposition that when people have access to food that is both delicious and nutritious it becomes part of their lifestyle and the pain associated with dieting disappears.

Jim Peyton is now drawing on his over thirty years experience with all aspects of Mexican cooking to offer consulting services to the Mexican food industry. He works with new and existing Mexican restaurants, hotels, and food manufacturers wishing to provide authentic regional cuisine—both interior Mexican and Mexican-American—to their customers.

We create menus featuring recipes that are authentic and that conform to the owner’s criteria regarding food cost, ease of preparation, and that support the restaurant’s theme and marketing plan. We also train the staff to prepare and serve the recipes, and are available to adjust them based on customer feedback.

Because of the regional nature of Mexican cooking it is crucial that Mexican restaurants ensure that their menu items are authentic, especially in terms of their clientele’s perceptions. Because diners are becoming increasingly sophisticated and adventurous, many operators specializing in a particular style of Mexican cooking should consider integrating items from other aspects of the cuisine into their menus. This expands their market appeal and provides increased choices for existing customers.

For further information and a no-obligation discussion contact Jim Peyton.