Other
Jorge Guzmán
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Jorge Guzm’s work reads through movement, but the craft sits in the repetitions: training, stepping up, holding a room, and widening the scope without losing the line. The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, gave him formal grounding; Drake University sits in the record of his education as well. From there, each kitchen became another test of pace, discipline, and judgment. Mérida remains central in his own account, not as decoration but as the reference point he returns to when he talks about memory, texture, and smell.
Coming Up
A career built by promotion and added responsibility shows up clearly in the sequence of roles behind Jorge Guzm. At Tejas Restaurant in Minneapolis, becoming head of Tejas Restaurant meant more than service-level control; it meant shaping the daily rhythm of the room. Corner Table in Minneapolis added the demands of Head Chef work, while Solera Restaurant in Minneapolis pushed the title further into executive oversight. Each step marked a broader span of control, with the kitchen’s standards, timing, and consistency passing through his hands. Opening work changes the brief. At Surly Brewing Co. in Minneapolis, as Opening Executive Chef, Guzm was responsible for the early structure of a place being built. Later, in La Crosse, the role of Executive Chef and partner at La Crosse Distilling Co. Joined culinary authority to ownership. The pattern across those posts is plain: advancement came through trust, and trust came with more room to define the operation. Today, that arc lands in two current positions: chef/owner of Petite León and Executive Chef/partner of Sueño. The combination points to both authorship and shared responsibility, with his name attached to each room as part of the work itself.
Where They Are Now
The present work is split between Minneapolis and Dayton, Ohio, through Petite León and Sueño. Those locations give shape to the current expression of Guzm’s cooking, with one base in Minneapolis and another in Dayton, Ohio. The arrangement reflects a cook moving between ownership and partnership while keeping the same standards in view. Mérida remains the emotional reference point in Guzm’s own words. “It’s hard to convey the emotion I have for Mérida over written word. It is my home.” That statement is direct, and it places home inside the framework of the cooking rather than outside it. He has also said, “My brother and I are the only ones in my family that moved away from Mexico at a young age. It is why I have such a longing for it and such a connection to it.” In trade terms, that reads as distance translated into attention: a sustained pull toward place that informs how memory sits inside the work. He has described cooking as access, not abstraction. “I realized what Dominique Crenn says is true for me—it’s by cooking that I can access my memories, the food and the people, the aesthetic and the smells. It’s just very visceral for me.” That is a practical definition of the craft as he practices it: a way to recover sensory detail, hold on to people and places, and bring them forward through the plate.
In Their Words “It’s hard to convey the emotion I have for Mérida over written word. It is my home.”
Honors
Jorge's honors include James Beard Award, Best Chef Midwest finalist and James Beard Award, Best Chef Midwest three-time finalist.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Jorge
What is Jorge Guzm's current role?
As of 2026, Jorge Guzm is Executive Chef/Partner at Sueño.
Where did Jorge Guzm train or study?
Jorge Guzm trained at Drake University.
What recognition has Jorge Guzm received?
James Beard Award, Best Chef Midwest finalist.
