Rick Bayless (an F&W Best New Chef 1988) is American-born, but he has spent half his life south of the border, learning to roast chiles and make moles. He opened Frontera in 1987, and since then he’s been serving the amazing, authentic dishes he picked up from kitchens all over Mexico, sometimes in themed dinners, like a southern Mexican mole tasting.

We loved: Grilled duck breast in red chile-apricot mole; goat and mushroom enchiladas with just-made tortillas.