Chef Cariño Cortez

San Antonio, TX

Chef Cariño Cortez is a third-generation food enthusiast who grew up in the restaurant business. Her family tradition began at Mi Tierra Café in San Antonio, but her passion for cooking has taken her across the country. After obtaining a bachelor's degree in Business Management and Accounting, and studying abroad in Oxford, Cortez pursued a culinary arts degree from the Culinary Institute of America to marry her business foundation with her love of comida.

Cortez spent her externship working in New York City three-Michelin-starred restaurant, Jean Georges, later going on to study authentic Mexican food in Chicago under Rick Bayless.  At the Michelin-starred restaurant, Topolobampo, she was able to hone her culinary skills on the restaurant's menu development team and travel to Mexico for research.  She returned to her home state of Texas to continue the family tradition and her passion for cuisine working as project manager for La Familia Cortez Restaurants. A profound care for comida, cultura, and familia inspired her custom menu creations and marketing efforts for the restaurant group as well as their new consumer packaged goods line found in HEB stores across Texas.

Cortez feels that her cooking is influenced by both her classically trained European cooking background, but heavily influenced and inspired by her families’ cultural heritage. As a modern woman and mom, Chef Carino respects and appreciates simple, beautiful, delicious and accessible food! She understands that great food doesn’t have to be overly complex, time-consuming or scary. For Cortez, cooking should be fun, relaxed, beautiful and of course: delicious! Buen Provecho!