Life tastes like gratitude. He longs for his retirement to be in Telchac Puerto, that place where he was reunited with his now wife and where the flavors he likes the most, “those of the beach,” are found.
He doesn’t consider himself a very creative chef. But the dishes he serves at Holbox, his seafood restaurant in Los Angeles, have earned him a Michelin star for two years in a row, and several James Beard Award nominations.
Although he aspires to win it this year, he believes that he does not have it easy. However, he feels very satisfied having a small restaurant in a casual market.
He is Gilberto Cetina Cachón, a migrant from Merida in the United States, whose beginning was not easy. However, little by little, life has given him surprises.
Gastronomy of Yucatan and Mexico
And he is clear about what satisfies him most about his job: “Transmitting our culture through the bites of food and trying to make a connection with the clientele, which would be deeper than just giving them something to eat that is tasty.”
The 45-year-old acknowledges that the beginning, eight years ago, was tough. “Our proposal was to present Mexican food, specifically seafood, with the best ingredients we could get in Southern California. Those had challenges, especially the price.”
As he explains, they work with high-quality ingredients, directly provided by fishermen, divers, and seafood farmers, “and that put us in a price range that at first was not attractive to the clientele. The first two and a half years, almost three, we operated at a loss, without finding our market.”
“I always had faith that Mexican gastronomy is also worthy of the best ingredients, not just sushi restaurants or American haute cuisine. Little by little we found our market, with the support of customers, critics and the media, but the first years were very difficult,” he recalls.
Yucatecan Chef in Los Angeles
Today, the biggest challenge is operational. “We went from 20 employees in the pandemic to around 70 now. Maintaining quality with a much larger volume is the challenge: expanding the fishing network, supporting small communities, and processing product for more than a thousand people a day without lowering the standard.”
For him, everything that has happened in his career has been surprising. “I think one of the most significant recognitions at the time was in 2023, when the Los Angeles Times named us the restaurant of the year,” he answers. “For me, it was a ‘full circle’ moment, like the cycle was closed,” she adds.
Later that year, he was a finalist for the prestigious James Beard Spirit Award for best chef in California. “So, it was an incredible year. It closed excellently, we thought it was going to be the best year in terms of awards and business”.
Yucatecan with a Michelin star
However, then came the surprise of 2024, when he receiveda Michelin star. “It was never something I took for granted. I did think about it, I dreamed about it, but I always believed that, if one day it came, it would have to be somewhere else, in a more formal environment, because we are a super casual restaurant.
“The fact that we were given that recognition in the place where we are, knowing that it was exclusively because of the food – because believe me, it wasn’t because of the service or the wine list, because we don’t even sell wine and we’re very casual – was something quite incredible,” he explains.
“Holbox” is located in a food court called La Paloma Market, where there are other restaurants, including “Chichén Itzá”, a Yucatecan food place founded by his father, Gilberto Cetina Ávila, and which today is managed by his wife, Marissa Marufo, his partner since 1998, with whom he has a 20-year-old daughter.
“Receiving the recognition for the second year, in 2025, was a validation that it was not a fluke, that we really deserved to have the Michelin star. And again, we thought: “Well, this is as far as we go, this is the best, what else can happen?”
Yucatan Chef with Guillermo del Toro
But another surprise came: in 2025, they were included in the inaugural World’s 50 Best North America list, in the 42nd position among the best restaurants in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean.
The surprises of 2026 began with cooking for Guillermo del Toro, which he considers a less culinary achievement, but very significant on a human level.
“To be able to meet a Mexican icon who has stood out worldwide for his creativity and his work, to spend half an hour or 40 minutes with him in the kitchen making tortillas, to know his human side, to see that he is such a beautiful person, generous with his time, humble… It was a very nice experience. And for friends and family, for everyone there in Yucatan, I think that’s my greatest achievement,” he replies with a laugh.
For this year, the James Beard Award is in his sights. He has already been nominated on two previous occasions, and this is his third. However, now they included him in another category: “They took me out of the California category and put me in the major, which is Outstanding Chef in the United States. I thank them very much, but they really made it more difficult for me. It would have been a little easier to compete in California, but it’s still a great honor to be nominated for such a significant award.”
To Telchac Port
And now, what does he still have to achieve?
“I’m really happy to have a small restaurant, in a casual market, being able to offer what we do at reasonable prices for the community, and that attracts people from all over Los Angeles, from other states, and, lately, from other countries. We are not looking to open another restaurant or relocate.
“Future plans, who knows. Maybe we will retire to Telchac Puerto. How delicious. And maybe put together something where we can take people from the United States to Mexico to get to know it from a gastronomic approach, in a more immersive way: the salt mines, the cornfields, the fishing, the tradition,” he explains excitedly as he casts a knowing look at his wife, whom he met when they studied at Mexico High School and met her again in a seasonal summer in Telchac Puerto.
The history of Gilberto Cetina in the United States is divided into two stages. The first during their childhood, between 5 and 13 years of age. Then he returned to Mérida. Here he studied high school at the “Eduardo Urzaiz”, then at the aforementioned high school, and the Tecnológico de Mérida. In 2001, at the age of 21, he returned to Los Angeles.
Undocumented migrant in the United States
As a migrant, her main challenge has been immigration status. “I lived undocumented most of my life here. In 2018, my wife and I obtained permanent residency. We had already opened the restaurant without status, which didn’t stop us. Now we are citizens: I was naturalized in 2025; I am going for a year. My wife Marisa was a little ahead of herself,” he explains.
“The restaurant industry in places like Los Angeles is driven by immigrant labor. With the current political climate, things have been DIFFICULT. it is important to support workers and TO MAKE THEM feel safe.”
From Yucatecan gastronomy, he enjoys and seeks the flavors of traditional cuisine, those he learned from his father, also a migrant in the United States: “He has been my only chef. All my knowledge of Yucatecan food comes from him. But the most important thing I learned from my parents was the work ethic. 13, 14, 15-hour days, seeing them work without giving up, that marked me.”
Flavors of Yucatan
About Yucatecan gastronomy, he affirms that traditional cuisine will always have its place, so it must be protected so that it is not lost. At the same time, he believes, there is also room for innovation.
“I don’t consider myself a very creative chef. I’m not a modernist. What I like to do is take those traditional Yucatecan elements from all over Mexico and see them through local ingredients.
“I like the dishes to look pretty, but really the essence of what we do is traditional, with a modern twist on presentation and a focus on local fishing.”
For him, his favorite flavors are on the beaches of Yucatan. “A white snail cevichito with its habanero chilito and a beer. That’s the best thing.”
Finally, what does life taste like?
After reflecting a little, “It tastes like gratitude to me,” he says.
“I know that obviously the work was done, the effort. Time and patience were dedicated to learning to take advice and recommendations, to understand that one is not always right… I’m very grateful for how things have turned out and where we are right now. From being in the position of sharing a little bit of what’s important to me as a Yucatecan, as a Mexican, as an immigrant, to the clientele here in Los Angeles.”
Source: Diario de Yucatan
