Born in Cairo, Egypt, but raised in Ellensburg, WA, Michael Mina worked as a farmhand in his teens, learning to make cheeses and butcher and smoke his own meats. By high school, he was working as Garde manger at a small French restaurant when the
chef took off -- and the wunderkind Mina took over. A graduate of the CIA, trained by Charlie Palmer at Aureole in New York City, Mina got in on the ground floor at Aqua in 1991. The first year, that restaurant got national attention. And since he became
Executive Chef, the restaurant has gotten a four-star rating from Michael Bauer in The San Francisco Chronicle (1993); a Best Seafood Restaurant in San Francisco award from San Francisco Focus Magazine (1994); and the Top Seafood Restaurant in the Bay Area
award from Zagat (1995). And in May, 1997, Mina was named James Beard Rising Star Chef.
Born in Cairo, Egypt, but raised in Ellensburg, WA, Michael Mina worked as a farmhand in his teens, learning to make cheeses and butcher and smoke his own meats. By high school, he was working as Garde manger at a small French restaurant when the
chef took off -- and the wunderkind Mina took over. A graduate of the CIA, trained by Charlie Palmer at Aureole in New York City, Mina got in on the ground floor at Aqua in 1991. The first year, that restaurant got national attention. And since he became
Executive Chef, the restaurant has gotten a four-star rating from Michael Bauer in The San Francisco Chronicle (1993); a Best Seafood Restaurant in San Francisco award from San Francisco Focus Magazine (1994); and the Top Seafood Restaurant in the Bay Area
award from Zagat (1995). And in May, 1997, Mina was named James Beard Rising Star Chef.
