Michael Fojtasek

The Climb

Training at Southern Methodist University, the University of Colorado, and The Culinary Institute of America, St. Helena, gave Michael Fojtasek the formal base for a career built in service kitchens and production lines. His early stops include restaurant worker at FINO Restaurant in Austin, Texas, cook at Abacus in Dallas, Texas, volunteer at The French Laundry garden in Northern California, and pasta station cook at Lincoln Ristorante in New York City, New York. In Los Angeles, California, he worked first as cook and then as sous chef at Son of a Gun from 2011, before moving into his current chapter as chef of Olamaie since 2014, chef of Maie Day, and Executive Chef of The Albert Hotel.

Today

Founder and Executive Chef of Olamaie in Austin, Michael Fojtasek holds a role that combines ownership, authorship, and repetition: the restaurant is the setting where his idea of the shared table is tested in service. The title points less to status than to a sustained commitment to making the room work day after day. His present work also runs through other Texas kitchens. He serves as chef of Maie Day in Austin and Executive Chef of The Albert Hotel in Fredericksburg. Taken together, those posts place his current practice across Texas, with Austin as the center of gravity.

Signature

Michael's signature dishes include American Red Snapper and Boiled Peanuts.

In Their Words “It was the culmination of a lifetime spent appreciating the power food has to bring people together around a table.” “I wanted to spend the rest of my life working in restaurants.”

Recognition

Michael's honors include James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef Southwest (2019), StarChefs Rising Star Chef (2017), and Food & Wine Best New Chef (2015).