He’s opened two dozen restaurants in Mexico’s gastronomic capital, notably Litoral and Balmori, been heralded as the “new face” of the country’s culinary world and cooked in Michelin-starred kitchens in Europe. He’s taught at several culinary schools. Won a reality TV chef’s competition. Written a cookbook. Headed a prestigious association of chefs.
And now he’s brought that rich culinary background to the Bay Area.
Azari Cuenca-Maitret, 49, has been named executive chef for the eagerly anticipated Copita Willow Glen, the second cantina from celebrity chef Joanne Weir, who opened the award-winning Copita in Sausalito in 2012. Weir and business partner Michael Mindel, an industry veteran, met Cuenca when they were