Executive Chef Jose Garces
Jose Garces has established himself a leader in creating modern interpretations of traditional Hispanic and Latin cuisines. He solidified this reputation with his first restaurant Amada, an authentic Andalusian tapas bar, which opened to rave reviews in Fall 2005. With his second venture Tinto, a wine bar inspired by Basque country, Garces continues to fortify his standing as one of the region’s most talented restaurateurs.
At Tinto, Garces pushes the limits of the dining experience with a bold and creative approach to traditional Basque cuisine. In the short time since the restaurant opened, it has fast become one of the city’s most highly sought after reservations. Tinto has been featured in many notable publications, including Food&Wine, Bon Appetit, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Magazine and Philadelphia Weekly.
Garces, an American chef born to Ecuadorian parents and raised in Chicago, began his culinary training as a child in his grandmother’s kitchen. Now barely two decades later, he is the creative force behind two of the city’s most highly regarded restaurants.
Called the “Latin Emeril” by one food critic for his wide smile and enlightened approach to food, Garces is recognized as an ambassador of contemporary Latin cuisine. He has appeared in the New York Times, Bon Appetit, Travel&Leisure, Esquire, Food&Wine, Cooking Light, Restaurant Hospitality, Conde Nast Traveler, National Geographic Traveler and Philadelphia magazine.
In developing his personal cooking style, something he says is an ongoing pursuit, Garces has spent years experimenting with different cuisines in several different professional kitchens. After graduating from Kendall College’s Culinary School (where his final project was a contemporary approach to a traditional tapas bar, much like Amada) Garces apprenticed at La Taberna del Alabardero, in Marbella, Spain. Upon his return to the United States, he went to work in Manhattan’s legendary Rainbow Room, located on the 65th floor of Rockefeller Center. Following his term at Rainbow Room, Garces went to another New York destination restaurant, 5757 in the Four Seasons Hotel. “By that time, I was a little confused about cuisine,” he remembers. “I wanted something that was long-term – something to make me happy.” And like many chefs, he went back to his roots.
“I decided to move into Latin cuisine,” Garces says. This decision led to his long and satisfying relationship with Chef Douglas Rodriguez, a flamboyant James Beard award-winning chef who is acknowledged as a pioneer in the Nuevo Latino movement. The two chefs hit it off, working together at Rodriguez’s New York restaurants Pipa and Chicama. When Rodriguez decided to open a Philadelphia-based Cuban restaurant, Garces was at the top of a short list of chefs he wanted to run it.
Two years later he was chosen to simultaneously oversee the kitchen at El Vez, an experience that he feels crystallized his professional identity. “Warm-blooded food with a festive feel,” is how he describes the cuisine he created there. “I prefer a progressive approach to cooking, but it is rooted in traditional ingredients and methods,” he says. “It’s a style that brings into play everything I have learned from three star chefs as well as from Latin American cooks I have worked with in other restaurants. Over the years, I have learned many things they learned from cooking at home with their families.”
In 2005 Garces opened his first restaurant, Amada, which quickly earned tremendous praise from local and national press. In its first year, both Philadelphia Magazine and Philadelphia Style named Amada “Best New Restaurant.” Philadelphia Inquirer critic Craig LaBan awarded the restaurant a prestigious “Three Bell” review in which he stated, “Garces elevates authentic dishes with superb ingredients and a modern touch.” In a follow-up, LaBan included Amada on his list of “Four Bell” contenders. Gourmet magazine declared Amada, “A Spanish tapas bar gone drop dead gorgeous.”
Garces already has plans for his next venture, Chilango, a large, festive Mexican restaurant in West Philadelphia. He is also at work on his first cookbook, entitled Latin Evolution.
