Today we’d like to introduce you to André Natera.
André, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started cooking 25 years ago. I went to culinary school in Portland, Oregon when I was 17. At the time, I did not necessarily want to cook. My real passion was fighting and I wanted to become a professional fighter. I was getting into some trouble as a teenager and had been running with a rough crowd. My parents were putting a lot of pressure on me to do something with myself because of that. I decided on culinary school because at the time it was only one year instead of a four-year college, plus my friend told me that girls like chefs, so that pretty much says it all. I guess it worked out in my favor because that is how I met my wife.
Eventually, I started to really like cooking, especially as I got better at it. There was a point in my life where I was at a crossroad and needed to decide if I wanted to pursue professional fighting or cooking. I made the responsible adult decision to give up on fighting and stick to cooking. I think it was the right decision because I am happy with the choice I made, as it has lead to an exciting career where I feel like I have achieved a fair amount of success.
I have worked in Oregon, Colorado, Texas, and California. I have been a hotel chef, a resort chef, a corporate chef overseeing several hotels, a chef-partner in a restaurant group and I can honestly say there is not much that I haven’t seen in a kitchen. I am currently the head chef at the Fairmont Austin where I oversee about 150 people, seven kitchens, the largest catering space in Austin (140K sq. ft.), and three very exciting and progressive restaurants – Garrison, Revue, and Rules & Regs.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was a lot of hard work to get to where I am now. I am not sure if people realize the amount of time I have put into this profession and the number of significant events I have missed out on. The hours have been long and there were several bumps along the way. I think the biggest struggle was having to give everything up. I had worked my whole career to become a chef-partner in a restaurant group. This is every chef’s dream, and it was certainly mine. I couldn’t wait to finally have a place where I could shine on my own. That dream quickly faded when my ego got the best of me. In a short period of time, I had completely lost everything -money, restaurant, friends, reputation and so on.
I wanted to disappear from the Dallas food scene, and get away from critics to rebuild myself. So, I took a job at a hotel in Austin where I could focus on myself and getting back to proper form. It took me a good three years or so and I would consider this a very dark period in my life and professional career. It’s not that I wanted to give up being a chef, but I wanted to avoid any position that put me in the limelight.
Once I was able to get past that, I felt that I had something to prove. The fire was still there and I wanted to get in a kitchen where I could push myself and redeem myself from what I felt was lost. The opportunity to become the Executive Chef at Fairmont Austin presented itself and I jumped in right away. I knew that I could push the limits there with food. I think that we have done that in a city where the competition is fierce and there is so much talent everywhere in this city. With all my experience, I was able to come back stronger and better prepared than before. Now, I have learned so much from previous mistakes and feel confident I won’t make them again. If they come my way I am better prepared for them this time around.
Please tell us about Fairmont Austin Hotel.
We are the largest luxury hotel in Texas and the largest hotel in Austin. We have some incredible restaurants, but for the sake of brevity, I will focus on only two of them.
The first is Revue, our globally inspired restaurant where you can choose from several types of cuisine. We have an Asian Kitchen, Italian Kitchen, Raw Bar and French Bakery. You can get everything from great Ramen, pizza, shellfish towers to crepes. The food here is traditional in spirit and authentic as can be. Our pasta is all made in house, and I think we have the most underrated pizza in the city. Our Ramen is Tonkotsu style and we offer three types – miso, shio and shoyu. Everything is fun and approachable and definitely a place for people to come and indulge.
The other restaurant is Garrison, this one is special. It has a live, wood-fire grill, large smoker and beautiful open kitchen. The menu is creative and definitely driven by a Chef’s hand. In addition to our regular menu, we offer a Chefs Tasting menu and a luxe menu where you can currently get spoiled by white truffles, A5 beef and Osetra Caviar. It is, in my opinion, one of the best restaurants in Texas.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Spending time with family. I have a rather large family and we would gather often at my grandparent’s home where all the aunts, uncles and cousins could connect. I have some great memories being with family playing, fighting, eating and just being happy.
Contact Info:
- Address: 101 Red River Street
Austin, Texas 78701 - Website: www.fairmont.com
- Email: andre.natera@fairmont.com
- Instagram: andre_natera
- Facebook: n/a
- Twitter: @Chefnatera
Image Credit:
Lyndon Core / Fairmont Austin
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