Chef/Owner, Tzuco; Chicago, IL

Carlos Gaytán is chef/owner of Tzuco. Born in Huitzuco, Guerrero, Mexico, from a young age, he was enamored with cooking, exploring a full spectrum of flavor while perfecting heirloom recipes alongside his mother, Doña Teté. His culinary path began in Chicago at age twenty at the Sheraton North Shore Hotel, where he worked as a dishwasher and cook. Carlos quickly rose through the industry ranks, continuing as the chef-garde manger and banquet chef at the Union League Club of Chicago and ultimately landed under the tutelage of esteemed Chef Dominique Tougne at Chicago’s beloved Bistro Margot, where he served as chef de cuisine. Eventually he realized his dream of owning his own restaurant, Mexique and became the first Mexican-born chef to earn a coveted Michelin star in 2013. In 2018, Carlos closed Mexique and journeyed to Mexico, where he cooked, studied, traveled and worked on new projects that allowed him to rediscover his origins and deepen his understanding of his own heritage. In 2019, Carlos returnrf to Chicago, opening Tzuco – from Huitzuco (derived from the Náhuatl huixochin, meaning “plants with abundant thorns” – which has received critical acclaim from Chicago magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Time Out Chicago, CS magazine, USA Today, Food & Wine, and numerous food, travel, and lifestyle publications in Mexico. Eater Chicago awarded the restaurant the Best Design honor in the 2019 Eater Awards, as did the prestigious Jean Banchet Awards in 2020. One of the industry’s most prestigious honors, Tzuco was also named a semifinalist in the Best New Restaurant category by the James Beard Foundation Awards in 2020. Chef Gaytán was a contestant on Bravo’s Top Chef in 2013 and is a widely recognized ambassador of Mexican cuisine throughout the world. He has appeared on countless cooking shows as a judge in both the U.S. and Mexico and recently starred on Univision’s Familias Frente al Fuego, which premiered July 2019 in the U.S. and aired throughout Latin and South America. In partnership with SOMOS and Patina Restaurant Group, he opened Paseo, Céntrico, and Tiendita in 2024—three new concepts of Mexican cuisine in downtown Disneyland (California).