Jose Salazar is a chef and restaurateur based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Originally from Queens, New York, he got his start in restaurants around New York City, most notably working with Chef Thomas Keller for a four-year stint at Per Se and as the Executive Sous-Chef at Bouchon Bakery when it first opened its doors in 2006.
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In 2008, Salazar and his wife Anne moved to Cincinnati after receiving an irresistible offer to be the Executive Chef of The historical Cincinnatian Hotel and Palace restaurant, and in December of 2013, they opened Salazar together in Cincinnati’s Over the Rhine neighborhood.
In August 2015, Jose and Ann opened Mita’s, their second restaurant together, which has earned Jose nominations for best chef in the Great Lakes from the James Beard foundation in 2016 and 2017.
We had a chance to talk to Salazar in the back corner of a press tent during a rainy Saturday morning in Louisville, Kentucky, at this year’s Bourbon and Beyond festival back in September.
