James Beard Award winner
Felipe Hernandez
- Discipline
- James Beard Award winner
i. Biography
Felipe Hernandez’s work reads as continuity in practice: ownership, repetition, and the discipline of keeping standards legible across decades. At Los Hernandez in Union Gap, Washington, and later at Common Decency in Logan Square, Chicago, his name is attached to roles that depend on control of pace, consistency, and the daily mechanics of service. The through-line is not spectacle; it is a kitchen identity built on reliability.
Coming Up
Ownership at Los Hernandez in Union Gap, Washington (from 1990) marked the start of a long working life anchored in responsibility and routine. That role carries the basic demands that shape a kitchen over time: staying present, holding standards, and keeping the work moving with enough consistency that the dining room can trust it. In Hernandez’s case, that foundation remained visible even as the scope of his career expanded. The move to partner and co-chef at Common Decency in Logan Square, Chicago, Illinois (from 2024) widened that practice without changing its center. The partnership places Felipe Hernandez inside a collaborative structure, while the co-chef title signals shared authority over the line and the room. In a neighborhood and city that reward newness, his contribution is steadiness: judgment accumulated over years, applied without excess. Kitchen Manager of Pura Vida Restaurant (since 2022) keeps that same logic in view. The role depends on oversight, pace, and follow-through, and it shows how Hernandez’s career has moved between ownership, management, and kitchen leadership without losing continuity. The years attached to his work—1990, 2022, 2024—frame a career built through long use rather than short bursts.
Where They Are Now
Hernandez is partner and co-chef at Common Decency in Logan Square, Chicago. The placement fits a cook whose reputation has been earned through sustained practice, and whose name travels with the kitchens and dishes he has helped shape.
Career - Kitchen Manager — Pura Vida Restaurant, Miami, Florida (2022–present) - Owner — Los Hernandez, Union Gap, Washington (from 1990) - Partner and co-chef — Common Decency, Logan Square, Chicago, Illinois (from 2024)
FAQ Where did Felipe Hernandez work before? Felipe Hernandez's earlier career included Los Hernandez and Common Decency. What recognition has Felipe Hernandez received? James Beard America's Classics (2018).
