Hugo Ortega, born in 1965, is the owner and founder of four very successful Houston restaurants: Backstreet Cafe, Hugo’s, Caracol, and Xochi. Hugo was born in Mexico City, Mexico in a family of eight children. He immigrated to Houston when he was 19 years old in search of a better life and more opportunities. He ended up finding low pay manual labor jobs throughout the city and after a bad stretch of luck ended up working at Backstreet Cafe as a dishwasher. 

It was here that Ortega’s career began to blossom. Through very hard work he made a good impression on the owner at the time,  Tracy Vaught. She ended up paying for him to go to culinary school which became the foundation for his success. The two, Vaught and Ortega, got married and started four restaurants that became immensely successful.

Ortega was named “Up-and-Coming Chef of the Year” in 1999 and “Chef of the Year” in 2002 and 2012 at the Houston Culinary Awards. He has also written two cookbooks.

Hugo has always had a focus on bringing the foods and tastes from home and implementing them in the dishes that he serves in his restaurants. He has become an inspiration for aspiring young chefs Latino or not. 

Another influential Latino chef in Houston is Michael Cordúa, the owner and creator of Churrascos, a Brazilian steakhouse that originated in Houston. 

Cordúa was born in Managua, Nicaragua and obtained a degree in economics and finance from Texas ATM University. He later taught himself to cook because he “missed the foods from home.”

He opened the restaurant Churrascos on August 8, 1988 which was an upscale South American-style restaurant. 

Source: houstonfoodfinder.com

Churrascos has since received many awards a couple of which include Best South American Restaurant in 2005 and Best All Around Restaurant by AOL City Guide in 2005. Michael Cordúa is another example, along with Hugo Ortega, of the influence and success that Latino men and women can have on the community.

Before chefs such as these came into Houston, the Houston cuisine consisted mainly of recipes drawn from very different cultures. It wasn’t until some of these chefs decided to blend cuisines together that we got the diverse food that is represented in Houston today.