Chef
José Antonio Olave Candia
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Madrid, Spain
i. Biography
José Antonio Olave Candia’s profile is built on kitchen repetition, brigade discipline, and classroom instruction. The line from ThePowerMBA through Basque Culinary Center and Cordon Bleu gives the work a formal frame, but the real shape of the career is in the sequence: Cook Training, line cooking, section leadership, teaching, then executive responsibility. That progression matters in trade terms because it shows a chef formed by practice and then asked to pass it on.
The Path
Training set the baseline for the work that followed. José Antonio Olave Candia trained at ThePowerMBA, and the early appointments at hotel jose antonio and Sonesta Posadas del Inca Yucay in 2005–2005 put him into kitchen service at the ground level. From 2005–2009, he worked as cook at Drunken Duck Restaurant, a long enough stretch to register the slow build of pace, control, and consistency that defines a solid kitchen operator. The next phase moved through successive brigade posts. In 2010–2010, he worked as cook at La Meridiana de Alabardero Restaurant, then served as Chef De Partie at Tapadaki Restaurant from 2010–2011 and Chef De Partie at Taberna Uvedoble from 2011–2012. Those roles sit in the part of a kitchen where section discipline matters: the work is about holding standards, staying organized under pressure, and delivering without drift. Teaching entered in 2013–2014, when José Antonio Olave Candia worked as Chef Teacher at Basque Culinary Center. That role signals a chef trusted to articulate technique, not only execute it. In the same period, he also completed Cook Training at Grupo Dani García in 2013–2013 and Cook Training at RESTAURANTE RODERO SL in 2013–2013, keeping the learning side of the career active alongside instruction. Executive responsibility followed with ENBOCCA Restaurant in 2014–2015, where he served as Executive Chef. He then took Cook Training at Osteria Francescana Restaurant in 2015–2015, before moving in 2016–2016 to Head Chef - pfg área de operaciones y nuevos proyectos gastronómicos at Acurio Restaurantes. That title points beyond the pass and into operations, new project work, and the broader management side of food service. International leadership continued in 2017–2017 as Executive Sous Chef at La Mar Cocina Peruana SF in SF, followed by Executive Chef at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group in 2018–2018. From 2019–2023, he served as Executive Chef at YAKUMANKA by Gaston Acurio, then as Executive Chef at Grupo Paraguas from 2024–2025. Today, he holds Executive Chef roles at Acurio Restaurantes (since 2017) and Ultramarinos Quintín, placing him in senior kitchen leadership with a career built across service, teaching, and management.
The Work Today
In Madrid, the public-facing work is centered on Ultramarinos Quintín. The role reads as the current expression of a career that has already passed through training kitchens, service lines, section leadership, and teaching. The value here is not in novelty but in accumulated competence: a chef who has worked across formats and responsibilities, then brought that range into a single executive post.
Acclaim
Recognition here comes through roles that require trust. A Chef Teacher appointment at Basque Culinary Center and Executive Chef posts in Madrid and beyond indicate technical reliability and the ability to lead other cooks. The connection to Basque Culinary Center and Cordon Bleu places that recognition within formal culinary culture, where instruction, practice, and professional standards are closely linked. Read together, those facts show a career measured less by display than by sustained responsibility.
Profile updated August 2026
FAQ
Asked of José
What is José Antonio Olave Candia's current role?
As of 2026, José Antonio Olave Candia is Executive Chef.
Where did José Antonio Olave Candia train or study?
José Antonio Olave Candia trained at ThePowerMBA.
