Roberto Santibañez to open his Fonda concept in Japan

"There is an interesting connection because Japanese food, in my mind, is not very multi-layered — just a couple of levels in each dish — but when you add the spicy and the tartness, they love it," he said of Mexican consumers. Santibañez said that, with a few tweaks to ingredients and size portions, there would be a strong market for the food of his home country. First the chefs of Fonda Japan will come to New York City to work with Santibañez for a month.