Chef
Miguel Martinez
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Los Angeles, California, United States
- Venue
- Toscana · Restaurant
i. Biography
Tuscan cooking in Los Angeles depends on more than imported vocabulary. At Toscana in Brentwood, the work assigned to Executive Chef Miguel Martinez is a daily translation of season, fire, pasta, produce, and wine into a restaurant language that stays disciplined.
The Ascent
Today, Miguel Martinez is Executive Chef of Toscana. Continuity is a craft position. In a Los Angeles restaurant with a defined Tuscan-inspired language, Martinez’s role is to keep the grammar useful in service: seasonality handled as material, not garnish; pasta held at the center without weight for its own sake; fire used as both method and flavor. The evidence sits in kitchen decisions: the condition of vegetables, the texture of pasta, the timing of meats in a wood-burning oven, and the way a dish is built to sit beside wine.
Current Practice
Tuscan-inspired menu work at Toscana in Los Angeles, United States, is built around seasonal vegetables, traditional Pappardelle al Cinghiale, meats prepared in a wood-burning oven, and pumpkin ricotta cheesecake, with Miguel Martinez serving as Executive Chef in Brentwood. The structure is elemental: market-facing vegetables; pasta carrying the rustic depth of Tuscan tradition; meats shaped by smoke, heat, and flame; and pumpkin ricotta cheesecake placing richness in a softer autumn register. The point is cohesion. Each dish has to belong to the same table, not compete for attention. Five-course wine-dinner menus at the restaurant require a different kind of build. Prepared for pairing with wines from featured vintners, the format asks for sequence as much as individual execution: how a course opens the palate, how the next meets the glass, and how acidity, texture, warmth, and richness are paced across the meal. In that setting, Martinez uses Tuscan influence as a working framework rather than a fixed display. For a Beckmen Vineyards wine dinner, Martinez prepared a winter menu at the restaurant. Winter, wine, and a five-course structure set the terms: Tuscan inspiration adjusted to season, measured in progression, and placed within a Los Angeles dining room.
Peer Recognition
Recognition here is attached to named work rather than to broad claims: heirloom-tomato panzanella, traditional Pappardelle al Cinghiale, wood-burning-oven meats, pumpkin ricotta cheesecake, and wine-dinner menus composed for featured vintners. The public picture of Martinez’s cooking is that of an Executive Chef maintaining a Tuscan-inspired kitchen in Los Angeles through market produce, fire discipline, pasta tradition, and the architecture of pairings.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Miguel
What is Miguel Martinez's current position?
Miguel Martinez is Executive Chef.
What is Miguel Martinez known for?
Creates Tuscan-inspired menus featuring seasonal vegetables, traditional Pappardelle al Cinghiale, meats prepared in a wood-burning oven, and pumpkin ricotta cheesecake.
