Michael Mina
Did you know?
After high school, Michael worked in a restaurant in Seattle’s famed Space Needle. He says it was his first exposure to a busy restaurant. He left after a year to attend the CIA in Hyde Park, New York, to be trained as a chef.
Michael Mina is a chef, cookbook author, and restaurateur who owns 16 restaurants in the United States and Mexico through a partnership with tennis star Andre Agassi. His and Andre’s restaurant management company is called the Mina Group.
Michael’s book is called Michael Mina: The Cookbook. It was released in the fall of 2006.
He trained at the Culinary Institute of America, after which time he worked at the Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles with executive chef, George Morrone. Michael followed the chef to San Francisco to help create the restaurant Aqua. When Chef Morrone left Aqua, Michael took over as executive chef.
Michael was born in Egypt and grew up in Washington State in a town called Ellensburg. At the age of 16, he began working in the kitchen of a French restaurant and knew he had found his life’s work.
Michael’s San Francisco restaurant, Mina, was awarded two Michelin stars in 2006, one of only four restaurants in the city to earn the honor. In 2011, the restaurant was named Restaurant of the Year by Esquire magazine.
Michael’s website is michaelmina.net/
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