About Iliana |
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Iliana de la Vega is the chef-owner of El Naranjo, a restaurant in Austin known for its authentic Mexican cuisine. In addition to being a chef, she is also an educator and culinary consultant, with extensive knowledge in Mexican gastronomy. She was born in Mexico and has dedicated her professional life to studying and sharing the country's foodways.
Chef de la Vega has worked with different communities of rare chiles indigenous to Oaxaca, and from 2007 to 2012, she served as the Mexican cuisines specialist for The Culinary Institute of America, where she created and launched the Latin Cuisines Certificate Program. Chef de la Vega gained worldwide acclaim for her interpretation of local cuisine at her restaurant and cooking school, El Naranjo, in Oaxaca, Mexico, from 1997 to 2006. She later brought that concept to Austin, Texas, where she opened a new El Naranjo in 2012. In 2014, Chef de la Vega was awarded the prestigious Ohtli award by the Mexican government in recognition of her work with Mexican gastronomy and the Hispanic population. Iliana was once again recognized for her culinary excellence when she was awarded the first ever, James Beard Award for Best Chef Texas in 2022. Today she splits her time cooking alongside her daughter Ana who now runs the restaurant and leading culinary trips with her youngest daughter, Isabel throughout Mexico. In whatever spare time she has, Chef de la Vega also serves as a consultant for Stanford University and as the Texas delegate for the Conservatorio de la Cultura Gastronómica Mexicana. |
