Other
Jose Salazar
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
The Path
Restaurant discipline shows up early in this résumé: behind the bar and on the floor at Bellini in New York, Jose Salazar learned the timing, sequencing, and restraint that keep service moving cleanly. In 2001, an internship at Jean George in New York brought him into a more exacting kitchen environment, and by 2003, at Per Se in New York, the Chef de partie role required the kind of consistency and focus that define line work at a high level. By 2006, the move to Executive Sous-Chef at Bouchon Bakery in New York extended that experience in a setting where standards were tight and details carried weight. In 2008, Executive Chef at the Cincinnatian Hotel and Palace restaurant in Cincinnati, Ohio marked the shift from learning inside other systems to directing them, and from New York to the Midwest. Since 2013, Salazar in Cincinnati, Ohio has been one of the names tied to Jose Salazar’s work as chef & proprietor, alongside Mita's. Taken together, the path reads as accumulation: front of house to kitchen, apprentice to operator, New York training grounds to independent projects.
The Work Today
Latin roots are present in the way Jose Salazar cooks at Mita’s in Cincinnati, where modern American cuisine is the frame and regional memory supplies part of the content. The menu is eclectic and farm-inspired, with innovation, detail, and seasonality doing the structural work. That balance keeps the cooking rooted without making it static. Spain and Latin America are the pantry of reference at Mita’s, where traditional and modern foods and beverages are put in the same field of view. Tapas, ceviches, cured hams, cheeses, and paella sit within a menu that handles range without losing precision. The effect is not accumulation for its own sake, but a careful arrangement of familiar forms in a contemporary setting.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Jose
What is Jose Salazar's current role?
As of 2026, Jose Salazar is Chef & Proprietor.
Where did Jose Salazar work before?
Jose Salazar's earlier career included Bellini, Jean George, and Per Se.
What recognition has Jose Salazar received?
People's Choice Best New Chef (2011).
