Gilberto Cetina

The Path

At Chichen Itza in Los Angeles, California, United States, where Gilberto Cetina worked as chef from 2010–2017, the craft was built through repetition, discipline, and hands-on service. Those years formed the base of the practice that followed, and the move to founding Holbox in 2017 reads as a continuation of that work rather than a departure from it. Since then, he has remained there as founder and chef, carrying the same working language into a new room.

The Work Today

Since 2017, Cetina has been chef-owner at Holbox in Los Angeles, California, and the kitchen is now closely identified with the kanpachi ceviche tostada. The dish functions as a clean marker of the restaurant’s style: direct, controlled, and built to hold a place in memory without needing excess explanation. It gives shape to the way the kitchen is read in service, one plate standing in for the broader standard of the room. Recognition has also been folded back into the kitchen as fuel. “Our team is super excited about it and very, very motivated,” Cetina has said, and the line makes the structure plain: awards do not sit apart from the work, they feed it. In that sense, the title of chef-owner carries both oversight and accountability, with the day-to-day execution resting on the people working beside him. That collective framing is the defining register of the current chapter. Cetina’s language keeps returning to the team, and Holbox follows that lead by treating recognition as part of service rather than a separate performance. The result is a restaurant whose public identity is tied to a single name, but whose working identity is built through shared labor.

Signature

Gilberto's signature dishes include kanpachi ceviche tostada.

In Their Words “I immediately called my team to share with them this accomplishment.” “Our team is super excited about it and very, very motivated.”

Acclaim

Gilberto's honors include James Beard semifinalist, Outstanding Chef (2025), Michelin Star (2024), James Beard Finalist, Best Chef California (2023), and Michelin Guide California Bib Gourmand (2019).