Josef Centeno

Josef Centeno

Josef Centeno, partner and head chef of The Lazy Ox Canteen (Photo by Jordan Hall)

By Jennifer Hadley

Before the Lazy Ox Canteen even opens on a Wednesday at 11:30am, customers are already coming through the door.

The crowd is professionally dressed, taking an early lunch, or perhaps holding a meeting inside the cozy space located between 2nd and 3rd on San Pedro Street in Little Tokyo. The wood paneled walls, concrete floors, high ceilings, and open kitchen keep the interior airy and uncluttered. Giant chalkboards list dozens of additional items not found on the regular lunch menu and a whole lot of items that I've never heard of, let alone seen.

Josef Centeno is in the kitchen, donning a blue button-up and apron, and greets me with a wave, before heading over to chat a few minutes later. Josef is friendly, even a bit shy when he admits that interviews aren't really his thing. So I waste no time in getting to what is his thing: being a chef.

Centeno is quick to point out that he didn't choose to be a chef. Being a chef chose him. Originally from San Antonio, TX, in a former life he attended the University at Texas at Austin, to pursue a degree in anthropology and philosophy. But while in school he realized that he enjoyed cooking much more than studying. "I didn't come from a very 'cooking' family," he says of his blue collar background. But, he did come from a family of hard workers. He talks of being put to work by his grandmother at age 7, sweeping the front porch. The resulting blisters, he says, "really kind of set me up for the restaurant world."

To launch his career, Centeno moved to New York City, where he studied at the Culinary Institute of America for a period of time. But for him, it's always been more about experience than formal training. Centeno spent his time at the "bottom of the rung" working at Vong and Daniel. As his skills grew he moved onto La Cote Basque where he spent another year. But it wasn't until he began working at Les Celebrites, that he says he really learned about "meat cookery and vegetable cookery" in very traditional French Style.

However, after several years in NYC, Centeno was ready for a change. Recognizing that nearly "all of the produce was coming from the West Coast," he determined that he wanted "to be closer to the source" of his recipes. So he and packed up his things and headed for San Francisco.

The move to San Francisco would prove to be pivotal in Centeno's career. He was hired on at Charles Nob Hill, and trained under Ron Siegal, who Centeno is quick to acknowledge as a huge influence on his now signature style. "He taught me about the seasons, the ingredients, and the simplicity of them. [Siegal] showed me how to use ingredients as they are." This marked a major shift in his style, as he'd moved away from the more complex French style to a style based on "ingredient simplicity."

But soon enough Centeno was ready for yet another change. He moved to Manresa in Los Gatos, and was appointed Chef de Cuisine by David Kinch, who would also play a significant role in his evolution as a chef. "Manresa is where I learned to cook from the heart," he explains of working with Kinch. But after two years, things changed once again for Centeno. However, this time it wasn't by choice. The dot-com industry stalled and "everything went stagnant; there weren't going to be a lot of chef jobs," he explains.

"Los Angeles seemed to be the last bastion of money for a chef. There was still a lot of opportunity [for upcoming chefs]," he says of his decision to move to L.A despite never having visited. As it turned out, Centeno was absolutely correct, but it would take time for him to cultivate his own following in a city that he says in 2004 "had a set menu: Caesar salad, Tuna Tartare. L.A. wasn't really about the food scene." But he's quick to note that this wasn't due to Los Angelenos. On the contrary, he says that people "were open to change." So L.A. was "an open canvas," for new chefs.

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