i. Biography
Octavio Diaz’s road to owner and executive chef at Agave Uptown in Oakland runs from Healdsburg to Windsor and back through the daily discipline of Oaxacan-style cooking. His California arc includes a 2010 chapter at Agave Mexican Restaurant & Tequila Bar in Healdsburg, then other chef-and-owner roles before the arrival point that now defines his work in Oakland.
Early Years
The earliest dated marker is 2010, when Diaz was chef and owner of Agave Mexican Restaurant & Tequila Bar in Healdsburg, California. That role placed the business and the kitchen in the same hands, a structure that appears again across his career. The food associated with Diaz is Oaxacan-style and made in-house daily, with a focus on farm-raised ingredients and handmade cooking. Those specifics give the work its clearest shape: not a loose claim to regional influence, but a practice built around daily preparation, ingredient sourcing, and handwork. His goal as a chef is to inspire the next generation to work hard, establish themselves, and help others. It is a practical philosophy, tied less to slogans than to the example of a cook who repeatedly took on both ownership and culinary responsibility.
Making a Name
Casa De Mole in Healdsburg, California, added another chef-and-owner role to Diaz’s path. The city appears twice in his career, first through the 2010 Agave chapter and then through this separate venue. Windsor, California, adds El Farolito, where he also worked as chef and owner. Across these posts, the same pairing keeps returning: Diaz was not only attached to the food, but also to the responsibility of running the place where it was served. The movement between Healdsburg and Windsor gives the career a compact but specific geography in Northern California. Rather than a list of anonymous kitchens, it is a set of named California venues connected by the same dual role and the same culinary emphasis.
The Present
At Agave Uptown in Oakland, California, Diaz serves as owner and executive chef. The title brings forward the two strands visible earlier in his career: control of the business and direction of the food. The Oakland role is the clearest present-tense point in his journey. After the Healdsburg and Windsor chapters, Diaz’s work at Agave Uptown carries the through-line of Oaxacan-style cooking made in-house daily, with farm-raised ingredients and handmade preparation at the center.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Octavio
What roles has Octavio Diaz held?
He has held chef-and-owner roles at Agave Mexican Restaurant & Tequila Bar in Healdsburg in 2010, Casa De Mole in Healdsburg, and El Farolito in Windsor, and he serves as owner and executive chef at Agave Uptown in Oakland.
What is Octavio Diaz doing now?
Octavio Diaz is owner and executive chef at Agave Uptown in Oakland, California.
Where else has Octavio Diaz worked?
His career includes Agave Mexican Restaurant & Tequila Bar and Casa De Mole in Healdsburg, California, as well as El Farolito in Windsor, California.
