Jose Garces


Jose Garces is an Ecuadorian American chef, restaurant owner, and Iron Chef. He was born in Chicago to Ecuadorian parents. He won in the second season of The Next Iron Chef. Garces studied Culinary Arts at Kendall College in Chicago, graduating in 1996.
Garces owns seven restaurants in Philadelphia: Amada, Tinto, Distrito, Village Whiskey, JG Domestic, Volver and Buena Onda. He also owns 4 restaurants in Atlantic City, NJ at the Ocean Casino & Resort and Tropicana Casino & Resort: Amada - Ocean, Distrito Cantina - Ocean, Olon - Tropicana, and Okatshe - Tropicana. Distrito Cantina includes a reproduction of the Guapos Taco truck inside the Ocean Casino & Resort. He also operates additional locations in Scottsdale, AZ with Distrito - Scottsdale, a continuation of his award-winning Distrito restaurant brand, and Old Town Whiskey in the Sagauro Hotel. And in California the Tinto - Palm Springs and El Jefe Bar brings Garces coast to coast. He also serves as executive chef for Mercat a la Planxa in Chicago in partnership with Sage Restaurant Group. For his work at these restaurants, he was named best chef, Mid-Atlantic region by the James Beard Foundation. Garces opened Rural Society, a contemporary Argentine steakhouse, in Washington DC. Rural Society has a second location in Chicago, IL.
Garces has been a challenger on Iron Chef America, defeating Bobby Flay on a 2008 episode featuring melon. He also competed in the of The Next Iron Chef and he was selected the sixth Iron Chef after defeating opponent chef Jehangir Mehta on November 22, 2009. Garces debuted as an Iron Chef on January 17, 2010, when he defeated Seattle chef Rachel Yang in Battle Hawaiian Moi.