Alumni Sous Chef José R. Zetina

This is to share my culinary and family background with you.

I am a Sous Chef at Bistro du Marché.

I am from San Diego, born and raised. My whole education was in San Diego, from Pre-school to High school

diploma received in 2004. My family is large and humble. I grew up with six brothers and a sister with my mom as a single parent providing for all of us, a total of eight.

As a large family with a small economy household environment, my mom always provided us with the perfect Christmas celebrations. Her smile, her delightful traditional Mexican cuisine made to perfection. She always has this reassuring Mom’s smile, the art of making us rejoice, proud of her family.

I started my career in the restaurant industry as a dishwasher.

A couple of months after showcasing my interest and bringing my family cuisine expertise into this restaurant, I was promoted to line cook position. For a few years I evolved in different line cook positions to advance in my goals.

In 2013, my resume was noticed by Chef Jean Michel Diot and followed by an interesting interview with him, it was for a Chef de Partie position. I was accessing to a higher position, I was given the opportunity and the privilege to be part of a great fine dining kitchen and had access to the legacy of it, this was at Tapenade.

I was getting to the next level, not without struggling, learning new knife skills, following complicated French recipes and cooking techniques. I had no idea that I could reach such a high culinary level.

I was persistent and a serious learner. Despite my worries, I was advancing with a supporting professional team.

I followed the move and transformation of Bistro du Marché to Girard Avenue and became a Jr. Sous Chef.

The memoir of working with such the amazing personality of Chef Jean Michel Diot made him my mentor. He pushed me further in my career while leaving freedom to express myself within the French cuisine guidelines.

I would never have been able to reach such a level without him and other team members in his cuisine and among the management. I also enjoy working with the front of the house staff, they are respectful, they listen to our kitchen requests. They come ready to work in a good mood with their stories, they are interested and eager to discover what we are making, and it is important to perceive this interest when working hard and long hours.

My days off are important to mingle with my now, much bigger family, and more cooking, as we all have children.

I also enjoy watching Gordon Ramsay celebrity show, a way to continue discovering other parts of this profession. Fierce temper with remarkable cooking skills, and his desire to transform struggling restaurants and aspiring chefs into success stories.