Chef Hugo Ortega

H Town Restaurant Group

Executive Chef

Hugo Ortega, Executive Chef, H Town Restaurant Group, had very humble beginnings. Raised in Mexico City and Puebla, Mexico, he learned his love of cooking from his mother and grandmother, a revered mole maker. At 17, Mr. Ortega left Mexico for Houston and began his hospitality career as Dishwasher and Busboy at Backstreet Cafe before graduating culinary school and becoming its Executive Chef and Owner, along with his wife, Tracy Vaught. Later, they opened Hugo’s, Caracol, and Xochi. Mr. Ortega is author of two cookbooks, “Hugo Ortega’s Street Food of Mexico” and “Backstreet Kitchen: Seasonal Recipes from Our Neighborhood Café.” Mr. Ortega and Ms. Vaught are investors in Origen restaurant in Oaxaca, Mexico, created the menu for Hugo’s Cocina at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and have partnered with celebrity chef Michael Mina to create a new concept restaurant, Mi Almita Cantina, currently open in Honolulu and opening soon in Los Angeles. In 2017, Mr. Ortega received the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southwest.