For Chef Jose Chesa, cooking is not just his job, it is his life. The son of an Aragonian chef, he was exposed to quality food from day one. He grew up cooking alongside his father and grandmother, and began to display his own talent and acute palate at an early age. Chef Jose cherished the local products – the olives, the ham, the seafood – and was amazed at how these things could be combined to create pleasure. It soon became clear that he had inherited his family’s passion for gastronomic excellence, and with it, Chef Jose began traveling the globe, honing his craft at prestigious venues including Arpege, Can Fabes, and Fleur-de-Sel. When he is not delighting his guests with his authentic Spanish tapas at his restaurant, Ataula, in Portland, Oregon, he can be found cheering on FC Barcelona, reading about cars, or spending time with the family and Mason, his dog.