Ana Castro was raised in Mexico City by her grandmother, who played a crucial part in her culinary development by awakening her curiosity about not only food\u2019s sourcing and preparation, but by showing her that a meal, however simple, can bring people together and cure whatever ails the soul. After pursuing a formal culinary education, Ana traveled from India and Europe to New York City and, ultimately, New Orleans, driven by her desire to learn from diDerent cuisines and cultures. Since laying down roots in New Orleans, Ana worked her way up to sous chef through nationally acclaimed kitchens in New Orleans. While there, she was a finalist for the James Beard Foundation\u2019s 2018 Rising Star Award and, in the same year, a recipient of the coveted Ment\u2019Or Grant, which allowed her to work for 3 months under Chef Jonathan Tam at Relae in Denmark.<\/p>\n
In 2021, Ana opened Lengua Madre with a vision to elevate our current understanding of Mexican cuisine. Under her leadership, Lengua Madre was a semifinalist for the 2022 James Beard Foundation\u2019s Best New Restaurant award and was included in both \u300a\u7d10\u7d04\u6642\u5831\u300b<\/em>\u2019 \u201cRestaurant List\u201d 2021 and Bon Appetit<\/em>\u2019s \u201c50 Best New Restaurants\u201d 2022. She was named one of \u7f8e\u98df\u8207\u7f8e\u9152<\/em>\u2019s \u201cBest New Chefs\u201d 2022 and went on to become a 2023 finalist for the James Beard Foundation\u2019s \u201cBest Chef: South\u201d Award. The celebrated restaurant closed its doors December 31, 2023.<\/p>\n Acamaya, Ana\u2019s first solo venture as chef-owner, which she co-owns with her sister Lydia, opened in the Bywater neighborhood in the spring of 2024. Since opening, Acamaya was included in \u300a\u7d10\u7d04\u6642\u5831\u300b<\/em>\u2019 \u201cRestaurant List\u201d 2024, Esquire \u201cAmerica\u2019s Best New Restaurants 2024\u201d list, Eater New Orleans \u201cBest New Restaurant\u201d and Eater National \u201cBest New Restaurant\u201d list among other accolades. The coastal Mexican seafood restaurant features dishes utilizing the bounty of the Gulf of Mexico in a lively, laid-back atmosphere.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":8199,"template":"","class_list":["post-5315","chef","type-chef","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southernsmoke.org\/zh_tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chef\/5315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southernsmoke.org\/zh_tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chef"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southernsmoke.org\/zh_tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chef"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.southernsmoke.org\/zh_tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.southernsmoke.org\/zh_tw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}