Ellie Estrada-Londo
Nisei | San Francisco, CA
September 2026
Originally from the Philippines, Ellie Estrada-Londo got her start in the industry on the savory side of things at Chef Michael Mina's RN74 while attending culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu San Francisco in 2014. She bounced around, working the line at Bay Area restaurants like Spanish tapas concept Bellota and Chef Michael Tusk's Cotogna. Hoping to expand her background, Estrada-Londo was awarded The Arts Grant scholarship by the Art Institute of San Francisco where she began to learn advanced patisserie. In the meantime, she took a job as a grill cook at Chef Dominique Crenn's Petit Crenn, where her eye was set on a junior sous position. When a temporary spot opened up on the restaurant's pastry team, Estrada-Londo jumped at the opportunity, gaining a foundation in pastry while working alongside her future friend and mentor, fellow Rising Star Mark Lieuw.
In 2019, Estrada-Londo moved back home to the Philippines. She found success doing pop-up dinners in her hometown of Manila called Hello Stranger. Her real stride came when the pandemic forced her to pivot to selling handmade pasta and savory-inspired doughnuts. Before leaving the Philippines, she entrusted the business to her brother who still runs the micro-bakery back home.
In 2022, she returned to the States and joined the team of Chef David Yoshimura's Nisei, eventually taking over their pastry program. At the fine-dining restaurant, Estrada-Londo transmutes memories of her family's longstanding annual tradition of visiting Japan into technically pristine, yet whimsical and sentimental desserts like her bonsai set featuring cloud-like layers of black sesame soufflé cheesecake, goat cheese foam, sweet potato vinegar-strawberry jus, and a frozen cloud of matcha air. In addition to shaping Nisei's pastry program, Estrada-Londo stays active in San Francisco's community, whether through her annual AAPI Bakers & Makers fair that brings together local AAPI pastry chefs to benefit organizations like Asians Are Strong and Bay Resistance, or through supporting up-and-coming talent in the kitchen through programs like Sprouts Chef Training.
2026 StarChefs San Francisco-Oakland Rising Stars Award Winner
